Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge

The lampoons, the snark, the mockery, the chorus of disapproval. Snow White Rebooted (not its official title) of 2025 has had such opprobrium heaped upon it, no doubt well deserved, that I found myself suddenly curious to see the 1937 original. I'd never wanted to before. Never saw it as a kid. Maybe I was just curious to see how far we have fallen as a species since those more innocent times.

Were they more innocent though? 1937. Before Pearl Harbor. Between the world wars. The dawn of Disney. The origin point. The first animated feature length movie, isn't it? But this was, basically, the same generation that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, the same US of A, right? Maybe just as Reds and Blues today regard each other as different species, maybe there was a duality of sorts even then? The human heart is a mystery, is it not?

Anyways, I was tickled by all the 1930s booty twerking going on (very innocent twerking), and it was a pleasant surprise to discover this film has operetta stylings, with coloratura trilling by Snow White, crooning by the prince, and a post-prandial party full of yodelling dwarves. All the forest creatures have the cutesy Bambi look, but I don't mind telling you, when the princess got scared in the forest so did I, and when she fell down weeping my heart ached for her. I also don't mind telling you that I did wish the movie would move along just a bit faster. Just five minutes. A bit more witchy Queen, a bit less tiptoeing dwarves, that would have suited me.

The Evil Queen is a marvellous meanie, and the princess Snow White is so adorably, queasily wholesome, so pure it makes you want to vomit (or possibly to ennoble yourself and become her protector?) that I felt some appreciation of why Alvy said he preferred Snow White's nemesis (in rom-com Annie Hall, 1979).

Seeing this chaste, landmark (birthmark!) fantasy, this jewel of cinema, one can better comprehend the shamelessness, the utter hubris of Disney's foolish decision to, ahem, 'update' the story for today. As I'm sure you know, Snow White 2025 was pilloried and lampooned, almost to oblivion, months before it even opened. What a saga it has been. A gift for social media snarks, but one can't blame them. To decide to remake an immortal classic is the kind of decision that could only come from the sort of people who are today busy crushing all the dreams in Hollywood's dream factory. Let them all be sacked and float away down river, eke out there remaining days in the wilderness; no fairytale cottage, just a one-room cave for the lot of them.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Virtue, not virtue-signalling. Pure of heart, not pure thru filters. Delight your children and the child within.

Snow White is the fairest one of all. The queen wants to be number one, so decides to come after her. Snow White, cut loose from the castle, stumbles upon a hut where seven dwarves are living - which is where the Queen comes for her, in disguise, with a poison apple...

This has classic written all over it. Disney's first major feature, the grand debut, cements the major features of those to come. It draws from very dark but fantastic material, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and alternates scenes of evocative darkness (the Queen's castle, the man sent to cut Snow White's heart out, and the forest that's alive, are some brilliant examples) with scenes of superlative cuteness and song and dance numbers.

Drawbacks:

There are some beautiful compositions, but the movement of the animation is not as fluid as it would become, even with Pinnochio, Disney's very next feature. Plus, the singing styles are very 1930's opera-style. I can see why i always used to just think of songs during musicals as things i had to wait through till the story got going again - its because almost every song in Snow White doesn't advance the story. Great musical numbers, like the ones in West Side Story, do. They don't feel like we're just waiting around. When most of the Snow White songs come on, the story gets put on hold.

Snow White is too naive, plain and perfect a character to hold our interest these days. Contemporary audiences just don't worship "perfect" people like this. Plus, the attempts at animation of real people is not good. Snow White and the Prince in particular just don't work - whereas the cartoony dwarves really come alive. Try watching her face when she talks.

Highlights:

All of the Queen's scenes are absolute gems, actually. And the dwarves are great. Seven great characters.

One of the best things Disney ever did was the Queen's angry walk down the staircase to the dungeon, and her subsequent making of a potion to transform herself into an old witch. The way the liquid she's mixing comes alive is fantastic, and the close-ups on the crow sitting on the skull are a nice touch.

The poison flooding towards the centre of the pot, engulfing the apple, and the jack o'lantern face on it afterwards.

Some of Disney's most classic songs come from Snow White: Whistle While You Work, Heigh Ho (its off to work we go), and one of the most beautiful Disney songs ever, Some Day My Prince Will Come.

There's also a very memorable piece of theme music that plays during the climactic storm scene.

10/10. An essential, marvellous work. A thing to see.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

**** (out of 4)

The beautiful and charming Snow White comes under attack by a man who has been hired by the evil Queen to kill her. She ends up taking shelter in the forest with seven dwarfs but soon the Queen has more plans to destroy her.

There's no question that this is a legendary film and a very important one to history as it was the first feature-length film from Walt Disney Studios. The film was a tremendous hit when it was first released and it really broke new ground in regards to what people would be willing to sit through. After all, it was a mystery if people in 1937 would be willing to sit through a feature-length cartoon and whether or not they'd be able to show emotions towards animated characters.

As for the film itself, it's certainly a great one from Disney's original Golden Age. There's no question that the most impressive thing is how great the actual animation is. I've seen plenty of cartoons from this era and the quality is usually good but there's no question that the amount of detail was just taken to a new level here. Just take a look at how much detail is in the forest scenes. Look at the detail to the seven dwarfs. Look at the terrific detail in the Queen's potions.

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS features a memorable and lovable lead character, a great villain and seven great comic relief characters. I also liked the fact that the darkness of the Grimm's Fairy Tale was also left in and this certainly makes the film more adult in a way. Disney would make a major breakthrough with this film and it remains refreshing all these years later.

This was Walt Disney's first animated full-length movie. I've read where it took somewhere between two to five years to make, and the artwork still stands up to today's standards. It still looks good, especially with today's DVD technology and great-looking television sets. This film, along with Bambi, exhibit some fantastic watercolor-type artwork with the latter being ever more spectacular than this one.

The story is "cute" because of the seven dwarfs. The evil character - the queen - doesn't have that big a role so most of the time it's just a sweet, enjoyable film with nice characters. It's one of the those movies that makes you feel good as you are watching it.

To be honest, some of the scenes lag a bit and Snow White's operatic voice is a bit much for me, but those are the only complaints I could find in this classic film, one of the best ever from Disney.

Quite simply, this one reigns supreme. Although much of the praise this film receives, may be due to the fact that it was it's creator's first attempt at an animated feature, I think it's obvious merits and artistic triumphs are enough to maintain it's place at the top.

First, there is the artwork, which is stunning. The color isn't at it's most vibrant, such as with, say, "Cinderella" (1950), but it is suitable and lovely all the same. A virtual watercolor painting come to life. The details in the animation never fail to amaze. Just look at the raindrops in the chase sequence towards the end. Look how they hit the rocks, and slip away. Such attention to detail was rarely matched in an animated feature, except maybe, in "Pinocchio" (1940).

The characters are of various degrees of interest, with Snow White, probably the least of these. The dwarfs are all charming, and it is they who carry the film during their screentime with the princess. However, one should not deny, that the true star of this film, is the evil queen. Both in her presence of glamour, and in her transformation as an old crone, she is fascinating to watch. I don't believe another Disney villian has ever been both frightening and enchanting, like she has.

Lastly, the music in this film is truly memorable. The "Heigh Ho" sequence is visually impressive, and the dwarfs song as they bathe is a great comedy bit. Not to mention Snow White's anthem "Someday My Prince Will Come"; another gem in the Disney library.

All in all, a tremendous production. Beautiful, thrilling, and memorable.