SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARFS

REVIEWED BY SHANNON H.

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

The Disney company has a way with putting classic fairytales on the big screen. They appeal to both kids and adults. Films like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, "he Little Mermaid, etc. are classic animated gems that have been enjoyed for at least three generations. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is no exception. For its time, it was considered revolutionary in the field of animation. Even though that Disney produces computer generated films through the Pixar company, these computerized images cannot compete with the classic Disney creations created almost 70 years ago.

The film, based on one of the fairytales from the famous Grimm Brothers, is about a young and beautiful servant girl known as Snow White. She is seen doing chores for her wicked stepmother known as "the Queen" (for some reason, step-relatives seem to be portrayed as evil in Grimm fairytales). Her singing catches the ear of a handsome prince who, following Snow White's voice, meets up with her. Frightened, Snow White hastens inside her home. Previously, Snow White was the offspring of a good King and Queen. However, the good Queen dies and the King marries a vain snob whose sole goal in life is to be beautiful than all women.  hen the King died, leaving poor Snow White at the mercy of her horrible step-mother. Later, the evil Queen consults her magic mirror with the famous words "Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who's the fairest of them all?" The mirror replies that Snow White is the "fairest of them all."  n anger, the Queen hires a hunter to go kill Snow White so that she won't have any competition and keep her vanity. 

While Snow White was walking about in the woods, picking flowers, singing, and enjoying herself, the hunter approaches her with a knife but then couldn't get himself to do the nasty deed. He tells Snow White about the Queen's hatred toward her and the horrible plan to have her killed (and have her heart brought back as proof). Scared, Snow White flees for her own safety and ends up at a small cottage not far away. She notices the peculiarity of this particular home; messy, unkempt, and a bedroom full of seven, tiny beds. Snow White is disgusted by the lack of good housekeeping and with a few animal friends, she helps clean up the cottage, which is a home to seven dwarfs that work in a diamond mine (that figures; men are always known for being sloppy housekeepers). Meanwhile, the evil Queen's proverbial hit man is punished for not killing Snow White and she decides to create a potion that would turn her into a hideous witch who would soon take care of Snow White once and for all.

Snow White is an animated film made in the mid 30's, so obviously, there are no content issues. The evil Queen and her transformation to a witch might scare younger viewers. The seven dwarfs are seen pushing a boulder over the evil witch to save Snow White (the witch falls off a cliff to her death), which might also be seen as a little scary. As far as the Christian content is concerned, there isn't mention of God or Christ, but I believe that there's a Biblical allusion. The heroine of the story lives in paradise, in her own little world until she bites into a poisoned apple given to her by the witch/Queen/wicked stepmother. She then "dies" but must be awakened by love's first kiss. Adam and Eve lived in paradise but got themselves kicked out by eating the forbidden fruit (disobedience of God's rules). When Snow White was given the responsibility of watching over the dwarfs' cottage, they told her not to answer the door to any stranger. She disobeyed them and it cost her life, but  she is awakened by the kiss of a prince.

This symbolizes, to me anyway, the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some may disagree with me on this but this is how I see it. I enjoy watching this film. It's a wonderful piece of filmmaking. It's also the first major animated motion picture to come from the United States (the first animated movie came from Europe in 1926). However, it's not the first sound animation feature. Old black and white cartoons from the 20s and the 30s were prevalent (i.e. Steamboat Willie). My advice is to get this on DVD and watch it with the kids. You won't be disappointed. 

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