You Know, the art of the animated feature has come such a long way over the years All the animated feature films made today would not have gotten the attention and love they deserve if it wasn’t for one film that decided to take a gamble which would pay off big time. That movie, in particular, is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which is not only the first-ever animated film Disney has ever made, it’s also the first full-length animated feature to ever grace the silver screen. The love it has got through the decades knows no bounds but does this groundbreaking achievement hold up to a modern-day audience?
Snow White (Adriana Caselotti) is a gentle and kind princess who is the fairest of them all much to the dismay of the Step Mother the Evil Queen (Lucille La Verne). She hires a huntsman to kill Snow White but the huntsman could not find it in himself to kill someone so beautiful and true. Instead, he tells Snow White to hide in the forest and that’s when she comes in contact to seven little dwarfs who take her in as their own despite one of the Dwarfs named grumpy (Pinto Colvig) feeling suspicious. Meanwhile the Evil Queen finds out about Snow Whites whereabouts as she tries to come up with a plan to finally kill her off.
It’s pretty hard to criticize a movie that has left such an impact on animation and film history because it did start something revolutionary, but alas I did find things I really liked as much as the stuff I didn’t like as much. First, I have to give credit that it’s a straightforward story that tries its hardest to be as timeless as possible. Although some elements do seem rather like it was made during the late 30s, the majority of the story does still provide entertaining value that is fun and even engaging sometimes. The only thing that kinda held the story back a bit was that there are some scenes specifically with the dwarfs that take longer than they are needed to. I understand the filmmakers wanted to extend the runtime, but it would have helped to condense some of those scenes to make the movie not come to a screeching halt. I will give the film credit though that even though there is a lot of padded filler that is zany and over-the-top, the film does know when to pull back and have serious and slower moments.
These characters are not gonna be the most complex or interesting compared to the Disney characters of today, but they are nevertheless ultra-charming and easily loveable as far as characters go. Snow White’s kind and gentle spirit make up for the fact that she may not be the most interesting princess and the evil queen can be very intimidating as a villain especially when she undergoes a transformation. The real memorable characters you’ll most likely take away from watching this movie are the seven dwarfs as they each have their own personality quirks which are fun and enjoyable. Some characters don’t even make an impression like the prince or the huntsman as their characters could have been made with more personal flair to make them stand out from the rest. Nevertheless, the characters do a good job at selling their roles despite maybe not being the most complex of characters.
This film was completely done with cel painted 2D animation which makes things look classic but still very rich and lively. The background forests are so colorful and the animals in it have such cute character designs. Speaking of which, Snow Whites' design lives up to the fact that she is the fairest of them all and the dwarfs are animated in a way that makes them true to their personas such as grumpy’s long frown and dopey’s clumsy skipping motion. The film is also not afraid to show scary and twisted imagery which helps elevate the visuals into being more than just pretty all the time. It is impressive that Walt Disney and his team managed to make their first film so lovely and beautiful to look at and even in HD it is still top-notch quality animation.
Three composers were used for the music and songs in Snow White. Frank Churchill, and Larry Morey. I can bet you all know most of these songs like “Listen while you Work” and Heigh-Ho as they are such lovable and snappy tunes that are super memorable and some of the most recognizable songs in Disney’s library.
I mostly like this movie for what it started as it broke new grounds and introduced audiences to the idea of a feature-length animated motion picture. While Snow White is far from the greatest thing that the Disney company has ever released. This movie still managed to make my heart jump for joy because the film is just so dang wholesome. It’s not gonna be likely for a kid in the present day to fall in love with Snow White as it would love anything current Disney films, but Snow White represents the image that Disney has always wanted to obtain even as the company makes it newer films of today.
(Final Grade: B+)