The Fairest of Them All

One of Walt Disney’s biggest gambles and biggest payoffs is 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  Still an amazing achievement today, it’s almost hard to believe that this was the very first feature length animated movie.  So much care was made into the making of this movie, that watching the restored Blu-Ray you can almost see each paint stroke on each cell.  It’s truly a painting brought to life thanks to the vision ofconcept artist Albert Hurter.  You can imagine living in that lush, Bavarian-esque forest.

Snow White as a character is often criticized for being bland, but she’s sweet and kind.  Where she falters is that she is a complete product of her time.  As the movies progress, you’ll definitely notice that the heroines reflect the time they were created, from the dainty damsels to the strong women of today.

Where the film shines like a million diamonds is in its supporting cast. Each dwarf is named after their main personality trait, and that could have come off cheesy but it works by bringing them to their cores making each as lovable as the next.  They bring the obvious comic relief and cut the tension but they bring a large amount of emotional punch, especially in the funeral scene.  Each one of them cries and cries hard for their fallen princess, but the moment the viewer completely loses it is when Grumpy sobs. Grumpy’s arch is a delightful surprise as he goes from disliking everything about Snow White to caring for her so much as to warns her about the Wicked Queen’s trickery to possibly being the one that cries the hardest for Snow White. 

Finally, the Wicked Queen, though Snow was the fairest, I have always found the Queen to be so damn sexy.  That killer stare, those pouty lips, those dramatic eyebrow, oh man!  The animation of her walking down the dungeon stairs is breath taking.  I could live in that cape. Her transformation scene is horrifying and really highlights the power of animation with visuals that could have never been created in the live action cinema of the day.  She’s so cruel that she wants proof of Snow White’s death by asking the Huntsman to bringer her heart back in a jeweled box.  She taunts a dead prisoner with a drink.  Than is practically salivating before Snow White takes the infamous bite of the poisoned apple.  If you couldn’t tell, I love this villain.  It’s so powerful that her last line in the film is, “Now I’ll be the fairest in the land!” has she’s disguised as the disgusting old crone as she is crushed in the thrilling climax.

OK, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is not perfect.  The love story quick and under developed ( hey, it’s a fairytale) and some of the character designs are planted firmly in the 30’s (Huntsman, I’m looking at you) but it still holds up really well.  We have the success of the little princess and her 7 little heroes to thank for a paving the way for Disney and for the animated art form.