Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The first of the Disney Animated Canon is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. A film that started it all and was an amazing feat for the time. Based on the Grimm fairy tale Snow White originally published in 1812. But, how does this 1937 classic hold up as a film some 80ish years later.

The animation for Snow White is quite lackluster in todays standards and even in the standards of Disney just a few years later. It may just be the style of the art, but the characters and scenery don’t seem to stand out as well defined and the lighting and palette choices are constantly timid.

The music is decent but runs very much as a soundtrack and doesn’t have the Disney feel to it that would come later. A song or two are quite iconic, but the rest blurs together with the soft and safe background tracks.

The story of Snow White is fine, nothing too complicated. But the movie does a poor job of telling it. The general idea of who is who and why they are doing what they are doing is there, but it feels less like a carefully planned set of scenes to drive the story and more of a random smatterings of happenings while the story happens almost in the background.

Overall, the movie is mediocre at best. But, the saving grace of the film is the Dwarfs. Although their inclusion in the story doesn’t make a lot of sense their songs and scenes are truly entertaining. As an adult watching this, I am unsure why they seem to portray children when they are obviously old men, but their slapstick comedy had me truly laughing out loud.

Run Time – 83 Minutes

10th Academy Awards – 1 Nomination – 0 Wins

Best Scoring – Nominated

Disney Animated Canon so far in order of Quality

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 12-21-1937