SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES
Disney's cartoon film form the tale written by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm.
Identification sheet:
1937, USA
Running time: 80 minutes
Direction: David Hand, W. Cottrel, W. Jackson, L. Morey, under Walt Disney's supervision
Production : Walt Disney
Main characters:
Snow White is one of the best human caroons created bu Disney. Her designers inspired her movements from a ballet dancer. Among the seven dwarves, two were inspired by famous figures of the 30s: Dopey was taken from Eddie Collins and Sneezy from Billy Gilbert. The other five are called Bashful, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy and Doc. Their characterization and personality is Walt Disney's success.
A turning point in the history of cartoon films:
The success of this first cartoon feature-film is due to both a personnal bet and public immediate acceptance. After disregarding the adaptaion of Alice in Wonderland (shot later on), Disney spent four years to conceive this work. It was released for Christmas of 1937 and became an immediate success.
A fantastic and sweet adaptation:
The film is quite accurate toxards the tale written by the Grimm brothers, German philologist who colected and wrote definitive versions of German popular tales. Just some scenes, difficult to understand for the American audience, and its moral strictness have been rubbed out of the film. The film begins by the mirror scene, when the Srtep-mother asks who is the prettiest, whereas the tale evoqued Snow White's mother, a pretty queen who wished to have a daughter as white as snow, with lips as red as blood and with hair as black as ebony. But when she gave birth to Snow White, the queen died. Disney filmed this scene, but he considered that "death while giving birth" was not suitable for children used to Mickey Mouse's stories.
The same happens with the hunter who was to kill Snow White but instead he kills a deer, and gives its heart to the step-mother as a proof. In the original tale, the step-mother was to eat Snow White's organs (pure yet unappropiate cannibalism) to get her strength and beauty.
Finally, the step-mother's death is also different. In the tale, she attends Snow White's weeding, where she is cruelly and slowly killed. But no nightmares for Disney's audience, since she died in her dungeon.
On the other hand, the story is wildly coloured. The superb metamorphose of the step-mother into an old lady may be compared to the excellent scene of Victor Fleming's adaptation of Doctor Jekyll. And even better, the gothic scene in which she is being chased by the dwarves and disappears, swallowed by the darkness of the mountains while it was pouring with rain.