Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

David Hand

Writers:

Wilhelm Grimm (fairy tales) &
Jacob Grimm (fairy tales) ...

Release Date:

4 February 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Walt Disney's New characters in his first full-length production!

Plot:

Snow White, pursued by a jealous queen, hides with the Dwarfs; the queen feeds her a poison apple, but Prince Charming awakens her with a kiss.

Plot Keywords:

Queen | Dwarf | Disney | Apple | Prince

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 9 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Roy Atwell	...	Doc (voice) (uncredited)
Stuart Buchanan	...	Huntsman (voice) (uncredited)
Adriana Caselotti	...	Snow White (voice) (uncredited)
Eddie Collins	...	Dopey (voice) (uncredited)
Pinto Colvig	...	Sleepy / Grumpy (voice) (uncredited)
Marion Darlington	...	Bird Sounds and Warbling (voice) (uncredited)
Billy Gilbert	...	Sneezy (voice) (uncredited)
Otis Harlan	...	Happy (voice) (uncredited)
Lucille La Verne	...	Queen / Witch (voice) (uncredited)
James MacDonald	...	Yodeling Man (voice) (uncredited)
Scotty Mattraw	...	Bashful (voice) (uncredited)
Moroni Olsen	...	Magic Mirror (voice) (uncredited)
Harry Stockwell	...	Prince (voice) (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Blancanieves y los siete enanos (USA: Spanish title)
Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (USA) (poster title)
Blancanieves y los siete enanos (Argentina) (Mexico) (Peru) (Venezuela) [es]
Blancanieves y los siete enanitos (Peru) (Spain) [es]
Blanche Neige et les sept nains (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge (Germany) (West Germany) [de]
âÅÌÏÓÎÅÖËÁ É ÓÅÍØ ÇÎÏÍÏ× (Russia) [ru]
Biancaneve e i sette nani (Italy) [it]
Blanca Neus i els set nans (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Branca de Neve e os Sete Anões (Brazil) [pt]
Hófehérke és a hét törpe (Hungary) [hu]
I hionati kai oi 7 nanoi (Greece) [el]
Królewna Sniezka (Poland) [pl]
Lumikki ja seitsemän kääpiötä (Finland) [fi]
Mjallhvít (Iceland) [is]
Schneewittchen und die 7 Zwerge (Germany) (alternative spelling) [de]
Shirayuki hime (Japan) [ja]
Snövit och de sju dvärgarna (Sweden) [sv]
Sneeuwwitje en de zeven dwergen (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Snehvit og de syv dvergene (Norway) [no]
Snezana i sedam patuljaka (Serbia) [sr]

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity Sound System)

Certification:

Denmark:7 (video re-release) | Denmark:7 (DVD release) | Denmark:A (video premiere) | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/4 | UK:U (1938) (cut) | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. | Norway:A | Peru:PT | Singapore:G | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U (re-rating) (1987) | USA:Approved (PCA #3870) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1975) | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

Spoonerizing comedian Joe Twerp was earlier considered for the role of Doc, according to the DVD supplementary material. The part went to Roy Atwell instead, but Twerp did perform as the voice of Doc on the radio.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the song where Dopey is on top of Sneezy, there's a cut away to who we are believed to be Dopey playing the drums. Although a face is never shown, the mystery character is wearing Dopey's clothes. At the end of the song, Dopey is back on top of Sneezy dancing again.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Queen: Slave in the magic mirror, come from the farthest space, through wind and darkness I summon thee. Speak! Let me see thy face.
Magic Mirror: What wouldst thou know, my Queen?
Queen: Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?
Magic Mirror: Famed is thy beauty, Majesty. But hold, a lovely maid I see. Rags cannot hide her gentle grace. Alas, she is more fair than thee.
Queen: Alas for her! Reveal her name.
Magic Mirror: Lips red as the rose. Hair black as ebony. Skin white as snow.
Queen: Snow White!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Tracy Morgan/Kelly Clarkson (#34.18)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Whistle While You Work

Grimm's Fairy Tale source lends beautiful darkness to Queen's scenes / Disney cuteness + classic songs in dwarf scenes make for excellent children's viewing. The only scenes i remember from my childhood, how

Snow White is the fairest one of all. The queen wants to be number one, so decides to come after her. Snow White, cut loose from the castle, stumbles upon a hut where seven dwarves are living - which is where the Queen comes for her, in disguise, with a poison apple...

This has classic written all over it. Disney's first major feature, the grand debut, cements the major features of those to come. It draws from very dark but fantastic material, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and alternates scenes of evocative darkness (the Queen's castle, the man sent to cut Snow White's heart out, and the forest that's alive, are some brilliant examples) with scenes of superlative cuteness and song and dance numbers.

Drawbacks:

There are some beautiful compositions, but the movement of the animation is not as fluid as it would become, even with Pinnochio, Disney's very next feature. Plus, the singing styles are very 1930's opera-style. I can see why i always used to just think of songs during musicals as things i had to wait through till the story got going again - its because almost every song in Snow White doesn't advance the story. Great musical numbers, like the ones in West Side Story, do. They don't feel like we're just waiting around. When most of the Snow White songs come on, the story gets put on hold.

Snow White is too naive, plain and perfect a character to hold our interest these days. Contemporary audiences just don't worship "perfect" people like this. Plus, the attempts at animation of real people is not good. Snow White and the Prince in particular just don't work - whereas the cartoony dwarves really come alive. Try watching her face when she talks.

Highlights:

All of the Queen's scenes are absolute gems, actually. And the dwarves are great. Seven great characters.

One of the best things Disney ever did was the Queen's angry walk down the staircase to the dungeon, and her subsequent making of a potion to transform herself into an old witch. The way the liquid she's mixing comes alive is fantastic, and the close-ups on the crow sitting on the skull are a nice touch.

The poison flooding towards the centre of the pot, engulfing the apple, and the jack o'lantern face on it afterwards.

Some of Disney's most classic songs come from Snow White: Whistle While You Work, Heigh Ho (its off to work we go), and one of the most beautiful Disney songs ever, Some Day My Prince Will Come.

There's also a very memorable piece of theme music that plays during the climactic storm scene.

10/10. An essential, marvellous work. A thing to see.