Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all? Snow White of course! Disney's first full length animated film is still one of the most beloved classics to this day.


Snow White follows our titular heroine as she discovers one day that the Evil Queen wants her dead, jealous of her beauty. However, the Huntsman betrays the Queen and refuses to kill the innocent girl, telling her to flee deep into the forest where she meets the seven dwarfs. At first the dwarfs are quite unsure of Snow White, mistaking her at first for a monster (and with a voice like hers, who could blame them?) but eventually see the right in showing her hospitality and take her in. Though their intentions are noble, the Queen uses her evil magics to find that Snow White is still alive and hunts her down in person to kill her personally.

Considering that the film was the first of it's kind by the Disney studio, the animation is a large step above their earlier efforts in the Mickey Mouse shorts and the Silly Symphony series, most notably that of "The Goddess of Spring." The human characters are no longer quite as rubbery in the arms, but still aren't quite at the same level as say, Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. The backgrounds and color scheme chosen suit the movie rather well and I can't imagine how the film would have looked if the company had gone with brighter colors.

Given their fondness for using music in their animated work, Snow White contains a number of enjoyable songs and all fit the film perfectly. There aren't really any songs that feel out of place, or hamper the story at all as each moves the story along in its own way. Perhaps the most enjoyable of the songs is the I'm Wishing/One Song that Snow White and the Prince sing, given how it makes up the majority of their relationship and establishes at the least, his interest in Snow White.

The film has many highlights, one such example is the wonderful character of the Evil Queen who still can send chills down the spine with her regal bearing and icy looks. Her voice actress does a fantastic job providing the vocals of both the Queen and the Old Hag. As the film goes on the Queen only gets better, though it's hard for me to decide if her best scene is that of her transformation or the ending when she threatens to crush the dwarfs with an enormous boulder.

Snow White's funeral scene of course, cannot go unmentioned. The visuals, lack of dialogue and the music all blend amazingly well to create a very memorable scene that can still bring forth a tear or two to viewers.

One final example is the flight through the forest is also quite frightening as everything seems to come to life and leap out at Snow White as she runs terrified from the Huntsman. One of the best parts is the enormous log that turns into an alligator (crocodile?) and appears to swallow Snow White, leaving her dangling above a pond where more wooden alligators threaten her.

For Disney's first attempt at a full feature, they succeeded quite well in creating a timeless classic that only gets better with each viewing and never grows old.