Movie Analysis : Snow White And The Seven Dwarves

What images come to mind as one reflects upon his or her childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the fondest of memories. Yet, for many, mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept off their feet, and lions roar to their royal place in the animal kingdom. Disney films have captivated the American culture for years and have become a pivotal part of popular culture as well as a form of education. However, these films have devoured the youth of America and, in the process; have perpetuated an institutionally racist society based on harsh stereotypes. Minorities are often underrepresented, and even completely left out, of many Disney films such as Dumbo (1941), The Lion King (1994), Aladdin (1992), and

Though this could be explained away by luck or coincidence seems magical since most cannot simply request a child possess specific features. Then when the dear child is seven years old she begins to outshine the beauty of her stepmother who employs a hunter to kill the child. This huntsman though reluctant almost kills the young girl until she speaks; overcome by her beauty and innocence the huntsman cannot kill her and lets her escape (84). This again could be explained away as him simply having a soft spot for the beautiful child. Next she meets the seven dwarfs whose house she invades, whose food she steals, and whose beds she uninvited sleeps in, yet after seeing her face they invite to live with and by supported by them in exchange for some simple housework (85). Finally, after being poisoned by an apple and lane to rest in a glass coffin, Snow White is spotted by a traveling prince who is so enchanted by her beauty that he convinces the dwarfs to let him take her with him so that he might look upon her face always. And when the apple is jostled from her throat he professes his love to a girl he has only ever seen (89). Not only is her birth enchanted but her beauty appears to be as well. The older she gets the more people follow and obey her simply by looking at her. She enchants them. Her beauty is so magical that she, maybe unintentionally, controls the actions of those around her. This means that she not only saves herself from the

Everyone loves a good fairytale, and nothing is quite as magical and heartwarming as a Disney fairytale. The themes of love, comedy, and morality deem them as more than just little kids' stories, but suitable and entertaining tales for the entire family. This is known by a majority of the stories' readers. However, what one may not be so familiar with is the origin of these tales. Where did the stories of Cinderella, Ariel, and Rapunzel come from? The Disney writers certainly did not create them themselves. The differences in the originals will shock anyone familiar with Disney. And what about Snow White? There are differences between the original Brothers Grimm version of the ebony-haired, white-skinned princess and the Disney movie, believe it or not. Some major differences between both versions are the multiple ways the evil queen tries murdering her stepdaughter, the cause of Snow White's revival, as well as how the evil queen died. Why the story was altered is obvious:

The dwarves are amazed by the girl’s beauty and allow her to stay with them forever as long as she handles all the household chores. Snow White happily obliges and begins to take care of the dwarves. Unfortunately, the evil step-mother gets word of Snow White’s death being a fraud and makes three attempts to trick and fool the princess. On the third attempt, the old hag is successful and upon biting in to a deliciously plump red apple sends Snow White tumbling to the ground. The seven dwarves decide Snow White is to captivating to be buried underground so they decided to encase her in glass and take turns guarding her remains. One day a handsome prince happens to come across the beautiful dead princess and begs the dwarves to let him purchase her. Reluctantly, the dwarves give the prince Snow White and a bump on the transport home causes the poisonous apple to fall out of her mouth and the princess magically comes back to life. The prince marries Snow White, and the evil step mother is forced to dance in hot-iron boots until she dies.

Starting its movie premiered in 1937 and introduced the first princess who is Snow White kind, sweet, and generous so that people knew the story about her escaped the witch and went to the forest, then she found a refuge in the seven dwarves’ house which so dirty everywhere. So, she cleaned all rooms and cooked a good porridge. Finally, the witch sought and got her. She ate a poisoned apple which had a

Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs is about a princess who finds love in a prince while at the same being preyed upon by her evil

Before analyzing the characters of these classics, here is a summary of the fairytale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The story begins with Snow White singing and dancing in the forest in the birds. She meets prince charming having an immediate connection, with the prince. Meanwhile the stepmother, the current Queen of town, asks the mirror who is the fairest of them all the mirror states, Snow White. The Queen is appalled that she is no longer

My daughter and I went to the play “The Snow Queen” at the Marquis Theater in Northville, Michigan on December 10, 2016. The Marquis Theater is a beautifully restored historic landmark. Upon entering, you are transported back to an earlier time. The lobby features the original french doors, the stained glass windows, and the old fashioned ticket booth. The theatre is a victorian design that has two aisle ways with red upholstered seats on the left, right, and middle. The theater is quaint in size but that only adds to the magical allusion that is created when you watch “The Snow Queen.”

In the brothers Grimm version, the queen still demands the death of Snow White and the Huntsman still lets her go. Only this time he kills a boar and brings the queen back its lungs and liver and she eats them, thinking that they are from Snow White’s body. Snow White still meets the dwarves in the woods, but their introduction to her was more akin to that of goldilocks and the three bears. Then, when she is poisoned by the apple, the kiss of the prince is not what awakens her. Instead the prince begs the dwarves to have her dead body and the trip to the castle dislodges the apple bite caught in her throat. Finally, at the marriage of the happy couple, the queen arrives and is forced to dance in red hot iron shoes until she dies. Definitely not what one would remember from the Disney adaptation.

“Through the cheerful music, funny characters, and happy ending, the character of Snow White starts the Disney trend of a domestic woman who becomes a damsel-in-distress relying on a prince to come and save her” (Barber, 2015). The original 1812 tale of Little Snow White by the Brothers Grimm portrays Snow White as a small, naive, self centered little girl who can’t seem to listen to anything she is told, and who has to rely a prince she doesn’t even know to wake her up from the dead. Two hundred years later, in the 2012 movie version Snow White and the Huntsman, the director Rupert Sanders revisits the original tale of Snow White, but decides to change it up a bit. In this version of the tale, Snow White is a strong, independent young woman who seems to be able to do anything she decides to do. In Sander’s version, Snow White not only conquers the cruel queen, but she conquers the labels society often places on women. Unlike the Grimms Brothers, Sanders develops his Snow White's character in a way that fits with women’s empowerment that the current generation now fights for everyday.

A routine pattern in Disney movies is the inclusion of a prince to save their princess from danger. This repeated relationship between the two love interests is a major reason why Snow White is not only illustrated with mother-esque traits but is constantly seen child-like; a scared and passive girl who never acts to save herself. Disney deems it obligatory to the plot to depict a female character whose survivals relies on a man. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs depends on this theme heavily by having the life of Snow White hang on a thin thread if not saved by the prince and his non-consensual kiss of true love.

The story of “Snow White” depicts what a beautiful girl has to endure from her evil stepmother, whose vanity and cruelty know no boundaries, is there more to the story though? The Brothers Grimm give us clues here and there, about how they both have similarities. Little by little, Snow White’s character can be seen changing from the pure character at the beginning of the story, to someone that if you look close resembles the evil Queen by the end of the story. Snow White’s and the evil stepmother both share some common traits such as vanity, envy, and at times no remorse among others; in which Snow White can be compared to the Queen.

Clarification of her beauty is there to aid the reader in understanding that she is good and valuable. Furthermore, her hair not only symbolizes beauty but fertility and sexuality; proving that she is an object. Once she loses her hair, it is evident that she also loses what makes her of value to men, which in this case is the innocence of her untouched beauty or her virginity (pg. 35). In addition, the story “Little Snow-White,” presents an initial description about Snow-white centered around her beauty: “as white as snow, and as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony” (pg. 124). Because of this description, the reader defines Snow-white’s importance with the base of her pure white skin, passionate red lips, and seductive black hair. These three characteristics show the value of Snow-White to the prince, who begs the dwarfs for her coffin. While persuading the dwarfs to give over Snow-white, he attempts to trade objects to compensate the dwarfs (pg. 130). To young women, values defined in fairy tales depict a horrid, demeaning view of

Fairy tales such as Snow White, have been rewritten and interpreted in many different stories throughout a vast amount of years. Two stories that retold the tale of Snow White were “Little Snow White”, Written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and Snow White and The Huntsman, directed by Rupert Sandors. The brothers Grimm wrote the “Little Snow White” in 1812 and explained the story of Snow White as a young child who was targeted to be killed by a jealous queen and hide away in a house of 7 dwarfs. In their home, Snow White was constantly tricked by the evil queen and killed then brought back to life by the 7 dwarfs. The story of Snow White and the Huntsman was directed in a much darker direction than the brother’s Grimm version where survival was sought for both the huntsman and Snow White. Similarities arose in both versions where Snow White had to survive a terrible ordeal that she is being placed in from being vulnerable to tricks from the queen in the brothers grimm version to surviving from her stepmother but also from the environment she encounters conflict in the Snow White and the Huntsman movie. The themes of both versions contrast each other since Snow White beauty is able to save her from different situations in ‘Little Snow White”, however, the queens obsession on being young and beautiful ultimately led to her downfall in Snow White and the Huntsman.

In the 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the tale revolutionized and began a Golden Age of animation. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the very first full length animated motion picture as well as the first film to release a motion-picture soundtrack recording in 1944 by the Disney studio. (Backlots) Also, “it was the first to employ the use of Technicolor, and features the first large-scale use of the multiplane camera which became a signature at Disney for decades”. (Backlots)