Hey, guys! Happy beginning of Autumn! Anyway, a few weeks ago, I decided that I would maybe think about rewatching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for the first time in nearly five years. After thinking about it a little more thought, I decided, why not ALL the Disney movies? Okay, not all of them because with online school, play practice, reading, baking, and cooking, I probably don't have time for that. But for those of you who are wondering what films I was thinking of watching or rewatching and writing about on Fanpop, here they are (I might put in links to the articles once I finish them): Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Robin Hood, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Rescuers, The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective, Oliver and Company, The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Lilo & Stitch, Treasure Planet, Brother Bear, Meet the Robinsons, Bolt, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Winnie the Pooh, Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and Frozen II. I’ll be posting all of the Disney Princess and Frozen movies here on the Disney Princess page and the Disney page. But enough with explaining the idea behind the articles I’ll be writing, let’s get into today’s film, the one that started it all, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Note, this is my first article in the series and the format might change from review to review).
What were my feelings about the movie before this rewatch it?: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs isn’t necessarily a bad film, but I am not a really big fan of it. I’m not attached to it compared to other Disney movies I watched when I was a kid, so I think it is a bit easier to find flaws in the material. There are times when I felt like it was a little boring, Snow White makes some decisions that frustrate me, and the romance definitely could have been developed a lot better (although it was difficult to animate the Prince back then, so I can kind of excuse it). But with that aside, there are some notable good things about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This was the first-ever full length colored film, which probably is why it is still so popular even more than 80 years after being released to theaters, the visuals are great, and some of the characters are rather memorable like the Queen and the dwarfs. The first show I ever acted in was a version of Snow White, which I think is kind of cool. With all of that said, how do I feel about the movie now? Well, grab a blanket, hop on the couch, turn on Disney Plus, and let’s find out!
Highlights of the film/Things I kind of Forgot About: While I wouldn’t say Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has one of the best Disney soundtracks, the songs and score were surprisingly great and I found myself singing along now and then. My favorites would probably be I’m Wishing/One Song, Heigh Ho, and Someday My Prince will Come. One scene in particular I enjoyed was the party scene where Snow White and the dwarfs were dancing. I thought it looked like an enjoyable place to be at think it’s cool how they would later go on to reuse a lot of that animation for the party scene in Robin Hood. Moving along, the dwarfs were more entertaining in this rewatch than I remembered, and I love how they sometimes used the term Jiminy Crickets knowing how Pinocchio would come out three years later. I also really liked the scene where they’re sleeping downstairs, Dopey’s using a single feather for his pillow, and we see a fly sleeping on top of Sleepy’s nose, and how they say that they washed ‘recently.’ Speaking of the sidekicks in the film, the woodland creatures were just so cute! My favorite moments with them include when some of them were sleeping in the dwarfs’ beds before realizing they were coming home and when they are helping Snow White with chores. I forgot about how humorous the turtle was and how it took him so long to go from place to place compared to the other characters. One of the main things I was surprised about, though, was the Queen’s screentime. I felt as though she had less time on screen than I remembered, especially if you compare her to the other Disney Princess villains that came out near this time like Lady Tremaine or Maleficent. I still think that she is an intimidating villain and has a great design both as the Queen and the peddler.
Some of my problems with the Film: In terms of flaws about the film, I definitely think it was less boring than I remembered; some of the things I discussed near the beginning of the article didn’t change a lot with this rewatch. While I’m glad the animals brought Snow White to the dwarfs’ cottage in the first place, making it not as annoying when Snow White went in without a proper invitation, I still get a bit frustrated with how trusting Snow White was with the Queen disguised as a peddler and how she disobeyed a direct order of not letting anyone in the house while the dwarfs were at work. Moving along, I wish that the Prince was easy to animate back then so he could have had more screentime, his relationship with Snow White would be more fleshed out, and he could have had more of a personality. While him breaking into the castle wasn’t as creepy as I remembered, I still question why he kissed Snow White when she was supposedly dead. If he knew she was under the sleeping death and could be revived with a kiss, then it would have been fine, but he bowed his head after that because he thought she was dead, so I still will question his decision of kissing her even if it worked out in the end.
Random, Humourous, and Hopefully Not-Too-Offensive Questions I had while Watching: As the title of this part of the article says, here are just random questions I had while watching that I hope people don't take too much offense to. Why do the dwarfs keep the key outside of the door that the key locks and unlocks, I feel like it defeats the purpose of the key that way? Did the dwarfs change their names to fit their personality or did their parents know what their child’s personality was going to be like when they were older? Why do the dwarfs have so many bars of soap is they don't wash often? Finally, how sick is Sneezy if his sneezes are that powerful? Okay, that’s it, I just wanted to share those with you.
Final Thoughts after this Rewatch: Would I say this is ‘the Greatest Animated Feature of All Time’ like some people say? Probably not. Do I think this is a great movie with a huge impact on the history of Disney and film in general? I sure do now. It has great animation, entertaining characters, and memorable songs. If this is how I’m starting my Disney marathon, I can’t wait to see what else I’m getting from films I either haven’t watched or rewatched after a long time.
Next up is Pinocchio!
