Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Welcome Back! Today, we will watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. If you haven’t seen the film, well I’m not sure what you have been doing, but go watch it now. Everyone, young, old, female, and male has seen this film. Most people love it. This film has accomplished many things.

People say that Frozen is the highest animated film, but that is not true. Once, the movies are adjusted for inflation, Frozen is all the way in #105 for all movies and #16 for animated movies. Do you want to know what the number one most highest-grossing animated film is? The answer is Snow White. Snow White is also #10 of the highest grossing film ever. That’s an impressive feat. You don’t believe me? Well, here’s the evidence from two sources: Box mojo and Wikipedia. The box mojo is up to date while Wikipedia is from 2014, but the top 10 is the same for either website. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

Highest-grossing films adjusted for inflation as of 2014[28][29][TFA]
Rank	Title	Worldwide gross (2014 $)	Year
1	Gone with the Wind	$3,440,000,000	1939
2	Avatar	$3,020,000,000	2009
3	Star Wars	$2,825,000,000	1977
4	Titanic	T$2,516,000,000	1997
5	The Sound of Music	$2,366,000,000	1965
6	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	$2,310,000,000	1982
7	The Ten Commandments	$2,187,000,000	1956
8	Doctor Zhivago	$2,073,000,000	1965
9	Jaws	$2,027,000,000	1975
10	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	S$1,819,000,000	1937

Also, many people tend to confuse Snow White as being the first animated movie ever, and if you’ve been reading my blog, than you’ll know that’s not true. Snow White is the first full-length cel animated feature film, but I think people say Snow White is the first animated movie, because it’s a lot simpler to say. It was also the first of many other things. It was the first commercially successful film of its kind, the first film with an official soundtrack, and the first film to release a motion picture soundtrack album. Snow White was the first animated movie to be created in the United States and the first animated movie to be in English. It was the first in Technicolor. And, last but not least, the first movie of The Walt Disney Company.

So, as you can see, Snow White has been the first of a lot of things. Snow White was released on December 21, 1937. It was produced by the Walt Disney Company in the United States. It was distributed on February 4, 1938 by the RKO Radio Pictures.

 History:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is based on the German story Snow White by the Brothers Grimm. The story was adapted by storyboard artists Dorothy Anne Blank, Richard Creedon, Merill De Maris (Most early Mickey Mouse comics), Otto Englander (Pinocchio, Dumbo, Don Donald), Earl Hurd, Dick Rickard (The Country Cousin, The Old Mill, Mother Goose Goes to Hollywood), Ted Sears (Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Disney Package Films, etc.), and Webb Smith (Pinocchio, Dumbo, Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, etc.). David Hand (Bambi, Fantasia, Three Orphan Kittens, etc.) was the supervising director. While William Cottrell (Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, etc.), Wilfred Jackson (Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, etc.), Larry Morey (Heigh Ho, Looking for Romance, I bring you a song, etc.), Perce Pearce (Bambi, Cinderella, Treasure Island, etc.), and Ben Sharpsteen (Dumbo, Pinocchio, Fantasia, etc.) directed individual sequences.

Snow White premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater. It earned $8 million during its initial release on a budget of $1,488,423. Due to the popularity of the film, it has been released to the theaters many times until the 1990s with the home video release.

The Making of:
The amount of work that went into this movie is unbelievable. They poured their hearts into this movie and it really shows. It is a timeless classic that is adored by all.

Development started in early 1934, and in June 1934 Walt Disney announced production of his first feature. Disney estimated that Snow White could be produced with a budget of $250,000. Since the movie was the first full cel-animated feature in motion picture history, he had to fight to get it made. Both his brother and his wife tried to talk him out of making it. Most people didn’t believe that an animated movie would sell or that anyone would want to watch 10 minutes let alone 90 minutes. Hollywood referred to the film as “Disney’s Folly.” He ended up having to mortgage his house to help finance the film, which ended up costing $1,488,422.74 which was a lot of money in 1937. (Adjusting to inflation of the cost in 1937 to the cost of today, I believe that the price of today is $25,146,370.61)

Disney wanted the main attraction of the story to be about the seven dwarfs. Their gags would be great for a cartoon. He decided that the seven dwarfs would have their own names and personalities. The dwarfs had some interesting names in the beginnings, from Jumpy, Deafy, Hickey, to Lazy, Tubby, and Burpy. They used process of elimination to choose the dwarfs. “The leader of the dwarfs, required to be pompous, self-important and bumbling, was named Doc; others were named for their distinguishing character traits. At the end of the October story meetings, however, only Doc, Grumpy, Bashful, Sleepy and Happy of the final seven were named; at this point, Sneezy and Dopey were replaced by ‘Jumpy’ and an unnamed seventh dwarf.” (Wikipedia)

Along with the dwarfs, the Queen was supposed to have a continuous flow of gags: the Queen killing Snow White with a poison comb, which happened in the Grimm’s book. Once the Queen persuaded Snow White to use the comb, she would have escaped alive, but the Dwarfs would remove it in time. The comb failing, the Queen has the Prince captured and taken to her dungeon. She would visit him; using magic to bring the skeletons to life and having them dance for him. One skeleton even had a name, Prince Oswald. The Queen only has power in her castle. Since the Prince refused to marry the Queen, she leaves him to die. The Prince is trapped in an underground chamber filled with water. She leaves to go to the Dwarf’s cottage. The forest animals help the Prince to escape. The Prince rides to save Snow White, but took the wrong road. He doesn’t save her in time, but he still saves her with true love’s kiss. Many of the sketches were done by Ferdinand Hovarth.

Other suggestions were to make the Queen fat, batty, and self-satisfied. The Prince was to be more of a clown, and to sing to Snow White in a comical way. Disney decided that a more comical approach would lessen the characters. On November 16, they finally came up with the character Dopey. The rest of 1934, Disney developed the rest of the story himself. He decided the Queen could not be fat or batty, but a stately beautiful type. Disney stopped working on it until the fall of 1935, with his trip to Europe restoring his confidence.

Many of the sequences were written for the Dwarfs, because originally they were the main characters. However, the main part of the story was to be Snow White and The Queen. Several sequences of the Dwarfs have been deleted. One showed Doc and Grumpy arguing over Snow White staying with them. Another was the Dwarfs eating soup noisily and messy. Snow White teaches them how to eat like gentleman. Another is the Dwarfs holding a meeting trying to think of a gift for Snow White. They make a bed for Snow White. The soup and bed sequences were animated by Ward Kimball (supervising animator of Jiminy Cricket.)

Animation:

The primary authority of the design was Albert Hurter (Pinocchio, Fantasia: Chernabog, dancing animals, mythical creatures of the Pastoral Symphony, props for Dumbo, etc.). All designs in this film had to be approved by Hurter. Two other concept artists Ferdinand Hovarth and Gustaf Tenggren (Snow White, Pinocchio, Bambi, Fantasia: Night on Bald Mountain/Ava Marie segment) contributed to the visual style of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Joe Grant was the designer for The Queen’s Witch form. Art Babbit (probably one of the most well-known; has received 80 awards for animation; developed Goofy; Drunken Mouse in The Country Cousin, Gepetto, Fantasia: Zeus, Vulcan, Dancing Mushrooms, Dumbo- Mr. Stork; It is also known that him and Disney hated each other.) Anyways, Art Babbit invited the other animators to an art class in his home.

Natwick animated Persephone for experience, in order to animate Snow White. “Though live action footage of Snow White, the Prince and the Queen was shot as reference for the animators, the artist’s animators disapproved of rotoscoping, considering it to hinder the production of effective caricature. None of Babbit’s animation of the Queen was rotoscoped; despite Graham and Natwick’s objections, however, some scenes of Snow White and the Prince were directly traced from the live-action footage. The studio’s new Multiplane camera gave a three-dimensional feeling in many sequences, and was also used to give a rotating effect in the scene where the Queen transforms into a witch.” (Wikipedia)

Music:

The Music is by Frank Churchill who wrote most of the songs in Snow White (Heigh Ho, Whistle While You Work, and Someday My Prince Will Come), and other Disney movies like Dumbo, Bambi, Peter Pan (Never Smile at a Crocodile), and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. He also scored many of the Disney’s shorts, for example, Whose Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?  He earned an Oscar in the Scoring of a Musical Picture for Dumbo. He received an Oscar Nomination for Dumbo’s Baby Mine.

Paul Smith was another composer who worked on Snow White. He is one of the studio employees in the orchestra in Fantasia. Most of his life he’s worked on the scores for many Disney movies, for example Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, Cinderella, etc. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Score in Pinocchio. In 1994, he was posthumously honored as a Disney Legend.

Leigh Harline had scored Disney’s Snow White, including songs I’m Wishing, Whistle While You Work, Heigh Ho, and Someday My Prince Will Come. He scored more than 50 tunes, including for the Silly Symphonies. He has scored for Pinocchio winning him an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score and the song When You Wish Upon A Star won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

“Since Disney did not have its own music publishing company at the time, the publishing rights for the music and songs were administered through Bourne Co. Music Publishers, which continues to hold these rights. In later years, the studio was able to acquire back the rights to the music from many of the other films, but not Snow White. Snow White became the first American film to have a soundtrack album, released in conjunction with the feature film. Before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a film soundtrack recording was unheard of and of little value to a movie studio.” (Wikipedia)

Cast:

Adriana Caselotti (1916-1997)- Snow White; she was named a Disney Legend in 1994.

Lucile La Verne (1872-1945) – Evil Queen/Old Hag

Harry Stockwell (1902-1984) – The Prince

Roy Atwell (1878-1962) – Doc

Pinto Colvig (1892-1967) – Sleepy and Grumpy; In 1993, he created a Disney Legend for his contributions to Disney. He’s the original voice of Goofy, the second voice to Oswald, Practical Pig/Brick Pig, Mortimer Mouse, the barks for Pluto, Ichabod’s screams, apparently a voice in Dumbo, but I can’t find who, and many more.

Otis Harlan (1865-1940) – Happy; He also played Mr. Mole in Bambi

Scotty Mattraw (1880-1946) – Bashful

Billy Gilbert (1894-1971) – Sneezy; He also played Willie the Giant

Eddie Collins (1883-1940) – Dopey; Also, recorded the sneezing sounds of the chipmunks and squirrels.

Moroni Olsen (1899-1954) –Magic Mirror

Stuart Buchanan (1894-1974) – The Huntsman; Voiced the Flight Attendant in Saludos Amigos and voiced Goofy in The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air in 1938.

(Non-speaking roles for the Forest Animals, Raven, and the Vultures.)

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Original Story:

Some differences included: One is that in the original tale, Snow White is only 7 years old. The Queen is more evil in the books. When the Huntsman brings back “Snow White’s heart” (it is actually boar’s heart, lungs, and liver) the Queen brews them into a soup, and eats it. In the book, Snow White does not have any animal friends.

In another Snow White film (which came out like in the 1990s) was a little more based off of the book. In that film and the book, Snow White was laced up until she couldn’t breathe, used a poison comb, and then the apple.

In the book, Snow White is in the glass coffin for many years until she grows up. In the movie, Snow White only sleeps through the seasons (estimated one year). In the book, the Prince buys the coffin from the dwarfs and they help him carry it to the castle. When one trips, the apple becomes dislodged from her throat, and she becomes alive. Then the Prince kisses her.

The ending I assume most people heard, but if you haven’t in the book: The Queen attends the wedding, not knowing that it is Snow Whites, and is forced to wear iron slippers that have been sitting on hot coals and dances until she drops dead.

Fun Facts:

• It is thought that with Disney’s newspaper job. He raised enough money to see a play of Snow White. (The 1916 silent film version starring Marguerite Clark) This is assumed where he got the idea to do Snow White.

• Disney first revealed his plans to his key animators by giving them .50 and taking them out to dinner. After, he took them to the studio’s sound stage, where he told them the story, acting out every part.
• Snow White is one of the few classical Disney movies to not have a sequel; most likely, because there is no story to be continued.
• The Dwarfs only have 4 fingers, 1 thumb, and 3 other digits.
• The National Film Registry has preserved Snow White as the first. Four other animated Disney movies: Fantasia, Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast, and Bambi.
• Using live-action footage as a reference for character movement was used exclusively to bring Snow White to life. The young dancer Marjorie Celeste Belcher was the live-action model for Snow White. Marjorie also modeled for the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio.

• Disney wanted Snow White’s voice to only be associated with Snow White. Adriana Caselotti was forbidden to sing in a movie or on the radio. Adriana agreed and signed a contract earning $970 which is now worth approximately $15,967.
• The actor and dancer JoAnn Dean Killingsworth was the first person to portray Snow White at Disneyland in 1955.

• A few months ago, I read this book, I got from the library. I didn’t get to finish it, but I did read the Snow White chapter and took a few notes. I believe the book is called “The illusion of life : Disney animation / Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.” Anyways, I found some interesting notes:
• “Snow White is envisaged passing through a whole sequence of enchanted places before the woodland animals lead her to the dwarf’s cottage. These include the Morass of Monsters and the Valley of Dragons, as well as upsidedownland and Backwardland, and the Sleepy Valley. (124) Snow White-Janet Gaynor type- 14 years old The Prince-Doug Fairbanks type- 18 years old The Queen- Mixture of Lady Macbeth * Big Bad Wolf Huntsman 40
• “Toward the end of 1934, several animators were put to work on a silly symphony titled The Goddess of Spring, which retold the Greek myth of Persephone. The character of Persephone- if not exactly a prototype was certainly conceived with Snow White in mind.” (136)
• “Disney had a loudspeaker installed in his office. So, that he could hear singers auditioning on the sound stage without having to see them. (He did not want his decision to be influenced by their looks.”
• The reason the Prince isn’t included as much in the film is, because the animators couldn’t design him realistically.
• When Snow White premiered in theaters, many children found especially the witch scene to be so terrifying that they peed their pants.

Awards/Accomplishments:

At the 11th Academy Awards, Walt Disney was awarded an honorary Oscar. The film was nominated for Best Musical Score the year before. In 1989, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. It is ranked in The American Film’s Institute’s list of the 100 Greatest Films of all time, and named as the greatest animated film of all time in 2008.

When the film originally ran, it received a standing ovation including Judy Garland and Marlene Dietrich. Six days later, Walt Disney and the dwarfs appeared on the cover of Time Magazine. The NY Times thanked Disney. “Variety suggested that “[so] perfect is the illusion, so tender the romance and fantasy, so emotional are certain portions when the acting of the characters strikes a depth comparable to the sincerity of human players, that the film approaches real greatness.” (Wikipedia)

It became a major box-office success making four times more money than any other movie released in 1938 (when it was available to the general public). In its original release in the US and Canada, it made 3.8 million and by May 1939 its total international gross was 6.5 million. “By the end of its original run, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had earned $7,846,000 in international box office receipts. This earned RKO a profit of $380,000.” (Wikipedia)

Snow White was first re-released in 1944 to raise revenue, because of World War 2. This made the tradition of re-releasing Disney movies every 7 to 10 years. Snow White was re-released in 1952, 1958, 1967, 1975, 1983, 1987, and 1990. “In 1993, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became the first film to be entirely scanned to digital files, manipulated, and recorded back to film. The restoration project was carried out entirely at 4K resolution and 10-bit color depth using the Cineon system to digitally remove dirt and scratches and restore faded colors. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs have had a lifetime gross of $418.2 million across its original release and several reissues. Adjusted for inflation, and incorporating subsequent releases, the film still registers one of the top ten American film moneymakers of all time.”

The film has tremendous critical success. Most reviewers hail it as genuine critical art.  Disney received an Oscar and seven miniature Oscars presented by Shirley Temple. The film was nominated for Best Musical Score. Filmmakers like Sergei Eisenstein and Charlie Chaplin (one of Disney’s favorite comic actor) praised it as a notable achievement in cinema; Sergei even saying it was the best movie ever made. The film inspired The Wizard of Oz in 1939. Max Fleischer produced Gulliver’s Travels in 1939 to try to compete with Snow White. The American film institute has rated Snow White in numerous lists many times, choosing it as number 1. “The song “Some Day My Prince Will Come” has become a jazz standard that has been performed by numerous artists, including Buddy Rich, Oscar Peterson and Miles Davis.” (Wikipedia)

Controversy/Complaints:

Many people dislike Snow White, but I like her. She gets a lot of flak, but I don’t think she deserves it. People accuse her of being the opposite of feminism, except, feminism is about the choice of doing things. Snow White chooses to clean and cook, because she likes it. No one forces her to do it. Cleaning and cooking make her happy. Also, it is her job. Instead, of going with the dwarfs to work, she takes care of the house and cleans. She helps them by giving them a better living environment and they help her by letting her stay there.

Also, Snow White even though barely just meeting the men won’t put up with certain things. She orders them to go wash her hands, refusing to let them eat until they do. Also, Grumpy originally does not like Snow White. He doesn’t even like or trust women, but she changed that. By being herself, and showing kindness and love, she changed how Grumpy thought of women and in the end he grows to love her.

She has some of the most important characteristics you could want in a person, boy or girl, genuine kindness and not letting things get her down. She was nearly murdered (as a teenager I remind you), and instead of rightfully being upset. She cries and then apologizes to the animals for making a fuss. She doesn’t let anything get her down.

In the end, the Prince isn’t really the one that ends up saving her. Yes, he kissed her and woke her up, but that was it. It was the dwarfs and her animals that saved her. The dwarfs and the animals were the ones that killed The Queen, and mourned for her death. And, the huntsman, even though he feared for his own life, he still saved Snow White. But, it was actually Snow White that saved herself in a way. It was her being herself, loving and compassionate which is what saved her. The Huntsman would’ve killed her if he didn’t see how kind and loving she was. The Dwarfs and animals loved Snow White, because of her kindness.  They saved her, not because she was beautiful on the outside, but because of her beauty within.

Another complaint is that Snow White and The Prince’s romance isn’t believable enough. While, that does have some merit. It isn’t entirely true and The Prince doesn’t get enough recognition. The Prince was searching for nearly a year for Snow White. How many people do you know that would search for someone they just met for nearly a year? That at least shows that he did care about Snow White.

Another complaint is one that people mention a lot, which is necrophilia. Necrophilia is sexual intercourse or attraction towards corpses. The problem with that is that she wasn’t even actually dead. She was in a death-like sleep. (Basically, a coma) Also, people complain that The Prince rapes her, but that isn’t true. If he didn’t kiss her, than she would’ve never waken up. She would basically be “dead.” In the end, she goes off with him and lives happily ever after, which means she didn’t have a problem with him kissing her.

The final complaint is that Disney characters, especially Disney Princesses get a lot of hate on their bodies. Apparently, they are not realistic. Well, one they are a cartoon, so they aren’t meant to be realistic. Cartoons are known to exaggerate features. Second, Snow White, along with most of the other Disney Princesses, has a live-action model. They are literally modeled after someone else and that person is really tiny. Third, if you watch older movies, or look at pictures from people back then (you could even look up old photos of your grandparents), and most people were very tiny. People were a lot smaller than today’s people. Snow White is most likely based in the 1400s-1500s. Could you imagine how small people were back then?

Setting:

Like, most Disney movies, Snow White doesn’t have a confirmed country. Usually, the Disney Company will say for most of the Disney movies are that it is a fantasy world which is true, but they also used real countries to get inspiration and research from. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are obviously very European and I think everyone can agree on that. Now, I’m going to try to place where Snow White is located, but remember this is just an estimate. It hasn’t been fully confirmed.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are based on the German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. The Queen’s castle may have been inspired from buildings in Bavaria (Germany), the Rhineland (Germany), and Cyprus (country near Turkey). The dwarf’s cottage was most likely inspired by the ancient home of Dr. Rotwang in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. (The country is Germany) The Disneywiki page says Germany, although it doesn’t offer any evidence to why. Most people also assume Snow White is German. Germany also has forests. So, with not really any other evidence and only these things as evidence, one can only assume Snow White is from modern-day Germany. If not Germany, then it is most definitely the Low Countries which would fit her assumed timeline. Since, Germany wasn’t an official country back then. The timeline is most likely in the 1400s-1600s, but I’m not entirely positive. Anyways, my theory is Snow White is set in modern-day Germany in the 1500s.

Characters:

1. Snow White- “Lips red as the rose. Hair black as ebony. Skin white as snow.” She wears a yellow, red, and blue dress usually. Snow White who is a 14-year-old girl who likes to clean, cook, and sing. She is extremely kind and always happy. She longs for true love. She loves animals and has many animal friends. She is able to be friends with anyone or anything, besides The Queen of course.
2. The Prince- The Prince is named The Prince. His name is not Prince Florian or whatever else name people keep trying to give him. His name is The Prince. “As confirmed by Dave Smith, Historian of the Walt Disney Studio Archives, the Prince was never given a name in the film and “Ferdinand” has never been used as one by the company. Despite this, many Disney fans still believe that the Prince’s name is Ferdinand.” (DisneyWiki) The Prince is a tall brunette who wears a blue shirt, dagger, red cape, and tights. The Prince is barely in the film, but from what we know is that he likes to ride horses. He longs to find someone to love. He is a romantic and likes to sing.
3. The Queen/Evil Queen/Wicked Queen- Any of those names are acceptable, nothing else. “Her name was given as Queen Grimhilde in some old publicity material and comics, but the Walt Disney Company does not seem to acknowledge it as canon.” The Queen is a beautiful woman (on the outside) who wears a long purple dress. She is extremely vain, selfish, and cruel. She is truly evil. She wants to be the fairest in the land and will kill to be that. As evidenced by the skeletal prisoners she keeps in her dungeons, it also shows she is a cruel ruler. As evidenced by her cruelty to the raven, she enjoys tormenting others.
4. Doc- The leader of the dwarfs. He has glasses and wears an orange shirt. He has a white beard and is pot-bellied. Doc likes to boss people around and take charge of any situation. He is smart and rational, but also kind. He likes gooseberry pies, singing, and dancing. He and the rest of the dwarfs are miners.
5. Bashful- The shy one of the group. He gets embarrassed easily and is prone to blush. He is also secretly in love with Snow White. He wears a green hat and bright orange shirt. He has a long beard and is pretty skinny. He is very friendly. He likes music and dancing.
6. Sneezy- He always has to sneeze, and tries to control it, but can’t. He wears a brown-orange shirt and yellowish hat. He has a short beard and is a little chubby. He is very friendly. He likes music and dancing.
7. Sleepy- He likes to sleep and can fall asleep anywhere. He wears an olive-green shirt and a dark green hat. He has an extremely long beard and is skinny. There is a fly that constantly bothers him. He is the most observant and logical of the dwarfs. As evidenced by him figuring out that The Queen was attacking Snow White at the cottage. He likes music and sleeping.
8. Happy- He is the happy one of the group. He wears a brown shirt and blue pants. He is the biggest one in the group and has a short beard. He likes soup and gooseberry pie. He is very bubbly and bright. He tends to giggle a lot. He likes to yodel and dance.
9. Grumpy- Grumpy is grumpy like his name suggests. He has a red shirt, long beard, and is really skinny. He always has his hands folded. He has a temper and gets angry quite easily. He originally doesn’t like women or Snow White, but eventually does. He is very stubborn, but has a compassionate heart. He is very competent.
10. Dopey- The silly one of the group. He doesn’t know how to talk, but is very friendly and happy. He likes to joke around and is also very clumsy. He wears a long green shirt and a purple hat. He has no beard and is really small. He likes Snow White’s kisses, dancing, and playing around.
11. Magic Mirror- The slave in the mirror. He is forced to work for The Queen. He only speaks the truth, normally in verse form. He is very wise.
12. The Huntsman- He is the servant of The Queen. He ends up disobeying The Queen though to save Snow White’s life.
13. The Forest Animals- They are Snow White’s friends and try to help her many times. They range from chipmunks, squirrels, birds, opossums, deer, and a turtle.
14. Minor Characters: Doves, Fly, Ravens, and Vultures

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Songs:

1. I’m Wishing: Snow White is a teenage girl who like most teenage girl is thinking about boys. “I’m Wishing for the one I love To Find Me today I’m Hoping and I’m dreaming of The Nice things he’ll say) She only wants for someone to love her and say to compliment her. I don’t think that is asking for too much.
2. One Song: The Second Part to Snow White; The Prince’s Verse “One Song I have but one song. One Song only for you. One heart tenderly beating Ever Entreating Constant and True.” Snow White wants someone to love her, and The Prince wants to be the one to love her. He offers to be the only one and her for him.
3. With A Smile and A Song: This is the song that Snow White sings while being traumatized in the forest and crying. She apologizes to the animals and sings. “There’s no use in grumbling, When the raindrops come tumbling, Remember, you’re the one, Who can fill the world with sunshine.” This song helps us to get to know Snow White. It establishes that she feels there is no point in complaining. Complaining won’t solve anything. It is up to you to provide your own happiness.
4. Whistle While You Work: This is the song that she sings when she and the animals clean. “Just whistle while you work, and cheerfully together we can tidy up the place, So hum a merry tune, It won’t take long when there’s a song to help you set the place.” This song shows that she actually does like to clean or that by trying to like it, it won’t feel like work.
5. Heigh Ho: This is the song the Dwarfs sing after leaving from work. This is probably the most well known song in the movie. “Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it’s home from work we go, heigh ho heigh) The song is basically used to introduce the Dwarfs.
6. Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum- Also known as the washing song. “Then scoop up the water and rub it in your face and go blud-dle-ud-udle-ud-dle-um-dum) Basically, this song is a filler. It’s meant for gags.
7. The Silly Song- This is the scene of them dancing and having a good time. “Ho hum the tune is dumb. The words don’t mean a thing. Isn’t this a silly song for anyone to sing?” Basically, it’s to show them having fun and being silly.
8. Someday My Prince Will Come- Snow White’s Solo; “Someday my prince will come, someday we’ll meet again, and away to his castle we’ll go, to be happy forever I know.” This song shows how innocent and naïve Snow White is. She is a hopeless romantic. Again, like most teenagers she wants to fall in love and live happily ever after.

Before the Film:

As I mentioned previously, you should watch this movie first. I own the movie, but if you don’t I found the clip on YouTube. Well, I hope you enjoy and let’s begin.

Plot:

I think everyone knows the story. So, I’ll just give a basic summary. We are introduced to the Magic Mirror and The Queen. The Queen wants to know who’s the fairest in the land, and the Magic Mirror says Snow White. The Queen becomes jealous. We are then introduced to Snow White who is singing and scrubbing the floors when The Prince comes. He frightens her, and she runs away. He sings to her and she smiles, closing the window. The Queen orders the Huntsman to kill Snow White. Snow White is picking flowers. The Huntsman attempts to kill her, but he can’t go through with it, so he orders to run away. He brings The Queen a pig’s heart. She thinks Snow White is dead. Snow White runs through the forest imagining monsters and evil things. She is terrified and begins to cry. The Forest Animals come near her, and she apologizes to them for making a fuss. She begins to sing With a smile and a song. The forest animals take her to the Dwarf’s cottage, which she doesn’t know yet. Her and the Forest Animals clean the cottage and sing Whistle While You Work. After, the long day, she goes to sleep. We are then introduced to the Dwarfs, who work in the mines. It is time for them to go home, and they sing Heigh Ho. They get home and realize someone is there. They are about to attack when they realize it is Snow White. Introductions take place, and they agree to let Snow White stay. Snow White makes dinner and forces the Dwarfs to wash up. They sing the washing song. Afterwards, they have some fun, singing and dancing, besides Grumpy. They sing the silly song, and then Snow White sings Someday My Prince Will Come. The Queen realizes Snow White is not dead, and plans to kill her. She makes a poisoned apple. The next day the Dwarfs go to work while Snow White makes an apple pie. An old lady comes and offers her some apples. Snow White eats one and then falls down. It is revealed the old lady is The Queen. Snow White is “dead.” She leaves as the Forest Animals run to go get help. They find the Dwarfs. The Dwarfs run after The Queen. She falls off a cliff, a boulder falls on her, lightning strikes her, and the vultures go down to eat her, signifying her death. The Dwarfs go inside the cottage to see Snow White “dead.” They mourn her and put her in a glass coffin. Nearly a year passes, when The Prince shows up. He kisses Snow White goodbye, but instead she wakes up. Everyone is happy. She says goodbye to everyone, and they all live happily ever after. The End

Positive:

The animation is beautiful. It is absolutely stunning. All the pain-staking detail and work that went into this film is unbelievable. It makes you admire it even more for it. The animals are absolutely adorable, and really catch your attention from a little bird to the deer to a slow turtle. You are constantly watching and can’t keep your eyes off the screen. The script is great.

The Queen is perfect. She’s truly evil and memorable. Kids were so scared of her that they would pee their pants. Once you think of how evil she is, it really hits you. She wanted to kill Snow White who is a teenager at that, all because she was prettier than her. The Queen is Snow White’s stepmother which makes it worse. And, before trying to kill her she kept her as a slave making her scrub the floors and has no one to talk to except the doves. She enslaved the man in the mirror. She enslaved and probably killed those people in the dungeons. We saw at least one skeleton. Also, the only “friend” she has, the Raven, she scares the poor thing just for fun. She is everything you would want in a villain though.

The dwarfs are perfect the way they are. They are as memorable as any of the other characters. Dopey and Grumpy are probably the most memorable of all the characters in the movie. Their names reflect their personality, and it fits them well. They provide the humor and truly love Snow White. Grumpy goes through the biggest change of them all.

Snow White has many great characteristics. She’s extremely kind and always happy.

The songs are pretty enjoyable and most of the songs are extremely well-known from Heigh Ho to Whistle While you Work to Someday My Prince will come. The only two that aren’t really needed is The Silly Song and The Washing Song, but as the names suggest they are just silly songs. They aren’t really bothersome though.

Negative:

The things that I think are negative aren’t their fault. It is one of the first animated movies and came with a lot of troubles, also not having the same kind of technology. So, a lot of the things are things that I understand why they couldn’t do.

It would’ve been nice to include the Prince more. He’s in the film for basically like 5 minutes. We know nothing about him. The poor man does not even get his own name. I wish they had kept the whole dungeon scene and the Prince attempting to save Snow White. It would’ve given his character personality and depth. It would make their romance more believable. And, maybe by keeping the scene, The Prince could’ve “dropped” his name or something.

Also, a lot of the things they deleted. I think it would’ve been amazing to keep. Could you imagine Snow White having to cross the monster and dragon world? It would’ve given her more personality and more of a role. (I like her fine the way she is, but she gets a lot of complaints; so, maybe this would’ve kept people from dissing her) Also, it would’ve been super cool to see some dragons especially in the earlier days, because how much the artists would dedicate to it.

Overall Opinion:

Snow White is a classic film. It is nearly 100 years and is still as popular as ever. Most of the characters are great. The villain is amazing, the leading lady is amazing, and the minor characters are amazing. The voice actors and actresses do an amazing job. The animation is perfect and can still hold by today’s standards. The music is great. This is an almost perfect film and is truly a notable achievement in cinema. So, far this is the only movie I would recommend to letting children watch and obviously I do recommend this movie to everyone. Overall, I give it an A+.

Favorite Character: Dopey

My favorite character has always been Dopey. I always found him adorable and he is the star of the show. He always manages to catch your attention and make you laugh.

Favorite Song: I’m Wishing

I always sing and try to mimic Snow White’s voice all the time. Snow White isn’t a selfish person, but it shows a little of her personality. Her only friends are the doves and all though she is content with that. She must be very lonely. This song shows that all she wants is for someone to love her. Her parents are dead, and her stepmother hates her. She won’t let her have any friends. So, all she wants is for someone to love her.

Favorite Scene:

When the animals are helping Snow White clean; I think this scene made everyone want animals that would help them clean. The song playing Whistle While You Work is extremely catchy. The animals are cute and charming. Snow White looks content and happy with life. The animation is beautiful. The scene is just cute and very cheery.

What did you think of the movie? Who is your favorite character?

One last movie and we will begin the 1940s. Next, is Gulliver’s Travels in 1939 from the United States. I don’t think I’ve seen it, and let’s hope it isn’t anything like The New Gulliver. Well, I hoped you enjoy. Thank you for reading and I bid you Adieu.

(I do not own pictures, videos, etc. My information came from my own knowledge of the film, the Snow White DVD and bonus DVD, Wikipedia, DisneyWiki, and “The illusion of life: Disney animation / Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.”)