Snow White on a Wintry Day
It’s a Tuesday in January and I’m feeling particularly lousy. Maybe I picked up one of my kids’ latest colds or maybe late nights and grey skies have just sapped my energy for the day. Whatever the case, I pick up an apple, place a copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs into the DVD player and fall into my favorite chair for a little relief.
The story begins and I immediately recall the film’s extraordinary history. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Walt Disney’s first full-length animated feature. It was created in the late thirties in a time when people questioned whether animated characters could evoke emotions like fear or sadness. It’s a little crazy to think about it today, given the volume of animated films since then, but Walt Disney took a huge risk and faced significant criticism for chasing this dream. Fortunately that dream is still available for us to enjoy a whopping eighty years later.
Image from the Illustrated Disney Song Book. Walt Disney Productions
I’m drawn into the film. The muted color palette, soft shadows and rhyming dialogue set the perfect tone between fairy tale and dark drama. Fairy tale, obviously, because the story is primarily about a young princess hoping to flee her suppressed circumstance and find true love. Dark drama, maybe a little less obvious, because the Queen is one EVIL woman. Realizing that her step-daughter, Snow White, has surpassed her in beauty and grace she viciously orders her huntsman to kill Snow White and bring her heart back in a box.
Ouch. You might want to wait until the kids are a little older to watch this one. There are also a surprising number of references to killing and death. I rank the Evil Queen in Snow White as one of Disney’s darkest villains. She may even be in my top three, along with the baby-cursing Maleficent and the puppy-hunting Cruella de Vil.
As the story continues, the Queen’s servant spares Snow White and she flees the castle. I love this sequence of the film. It’s dark, yet beautiful. The lighting, music and imagery perfectly depict a frightened young woman facing the unknown. Because of her fear, Snow White imagines trees as goblins and logs as frightful alligators.
How often do we do this? Make monsters out of things we don’t understand or can’t see clearly because of our current situation? I can only imagine how the first viewers of the film felt when they experienced this scene on the big screen. This clearly wasn’t like the light-hearted Mickey Mouse cartoons they had come to expect from Walt Disney.
As the story continues, Snow White overcomes her fear and encounters a group of friendly animals. “What do you do when things go wrong?” she asks her new companions. “Oooh!! You sing a song!” You got to love her optimism.
Sometimes Snow White gets a bad rap by modern critics for suggesting that all of a woman’s dreams can be fulfilled by a prince. I understand the point, but I also choose to enjoy the fairy tale and take a lighter view.
Image from the Illustrated Disney Song Book. Walt Disney Productions
Snow White steals my heart in two ways. First, after fleeing for her life and stumbling upon a cottage in the woods her first inclination is to… hide? search for weapons? make a game plan? Nope. She cleans! Cleaning her new space makes her feel safe and happy. I can relate. Yes, I know that technically she cleans the house because she thinks it’s inhabited by orphans and that by cleaning the place she will be welcomed to stay. But, she’s clearly enjoying it. She’s whistling! Second, when the dwarfs return home from a day in the mines she greets them casually, like it’s not odd at all for her to be asleep in their home. Then she proceeds to get all seven men to follow her orders without flirting or raising her voice.
I rest my case.
You know the rest of the story. Once the Queen realizes she’s been fooled by her servant, she disguises (reveals?) herself as a witch, adds poison to an apple and sets off to the dwarfs’ cottage to find Snow White. The witch is creepy and delightfully perfect. Then Snow White, kind-hearted soul that she is, chooses to overlook the Queen’s scary appearance and invites her into the cottage.
Snow White takes a bite of the infamous apple and falls into a deep sleep. The rest of the movie feels a bit rushed. I read Walt Disney was under pressure to wrap up the film and keep it a certain length so he had to cut a few intended scenes toward the end. Alas, in the classic version the prince arrives, plants true-love’s first kiss and rescues her from the evil spell. She awakes and naturally, lives happily ever after.
Image from the Illustrated Disney Song Book. Walt Disney Productions
I finish the movie and realize I’m in a much better mood. It’s been a few years since I’ve watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, so I’m pleased to discover the movie still holds its own against my modern expectations. It really is a beautiful film. It’s kind of like walking through an art gallery, rather than the current trend of immersing yourself in realism.
Thanks Disney. I enjoyed the iconic songs (“Hi Ho!”), the history lesson and the gentle reminder that we just never know how far our efforts can reach. Do you think Walt Disney imagined that 80 years after releasing his beloved film some random fan would be watching it at home, blogging about it online and encouraging others to enjoy it too? Not likely.
What can you do today, however small, to make a lasting impact? Add some magic to the world!