Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

1937 "The Happiest, Dopiest, Grumpiest, Sneeziest movie of the year."
7.6| 1h23m| G| en| More Info
Released: 21 December 1937 Released
Producted By: Walt Disney Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://movies.disney.com/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs
Synopsis

A beautiful girl, Snow White, takes refuge in the forest in the house of seven dwarfs to hide from her stepmother, the wicked Queen. The Queen is jealous because she wants to be known as "the fairest in the land," and Snow White's beauty surpasses her own.

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Scanialara You won't be disappointed!
Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.
Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
FilmRunner Well, here is the film that started an empire. Not only was it Walt Disney's first foray into feature length animated films, it was also the first full length cell animated film ever attempted. I suppose it's needless to say that the gamble paid off for him. Especially when you take into account the fact that Disney, after just buying 20th Century Fox entertainment, now technically owns about a third of the entertainment industry.Walt Disney first came across the tale of Snow White when he was about fifteen years of age after reading The Brothers Grimm tale of the same name. He later stated that he couldn't get the story out of his head and he would be constantly playing the story over in his mind. After the success of his Mickey Mouse and the Silly Symphonies series, Walt pooled everyone together and started work on Snow White in early 1934. The film was finally released in December 1937, and received a standing ovation from an audience containing that of Judy Garland. Snow White went on to do exceptionally well at the box office, and in 1939 became the top grossing sound film of all-time.Snow White at the start of the tale has been forced into the life of a scullery maid. This is being enforced by her incredibly jealous and equally vain stepmother, the Queen. This obstinately vain monarch is particularly fixated with being the fairest in the land and believes her beautiful stepdaughter, Snow White, to be a growing threat to her. Her worst fears are realised when the Queens magic mirror declares Snow White to be the fairest in the land. Overcome with jealousy, the Queen hires a huntsman to take Snow White into the forest and kill her. The huntsman however is struck by Snow White's innocence and beauty, and tells her to flee into the forest in order to escape the Queens wrath. There she bumps into a company of dwarves, all with distinctive personalities and loveable quirks. The dwarves allow her to stay after learning she's on the run and especially after learning that she can cook and clean (I don't think sexism was a big thing in the 1930's unfortunately). Meanwhile, the Queen is hatching more maniacal schemes to find and kill Snow White. Snow White as a lead serves her purpose well enough. These days however she pales in comparison with Disney's latest and more stronger and self-sufficient movie heroines, such as: Moana and Frozen's Anna and Elsa. Since Snow White's only noticeable qualities is her uncommonly kind nature, naivety, and Betty Boop esc singing voice (which is also a little dated). She tends to come off a bit bland, but fortunately the dwarves more than make up for the leads short comings, and outright steal the show. The dwarves themselves all have different personalities, which are reflected in their names, in their timeless designs and exquisitely differing animations. The stand out has to be Dopey, his animation and musical cues made me chuckle a good few times. The dwarves serve as the charm and heart of the film, of which I am sure, has played a big part in this films continued success amongst children even today. I've heard a few people say in their reviews that they didn't think the Queen was a very effective villain. I can understand that point of view, especially since some of her schemes are not the cleverest. However when I watched the film as a kid I found the Queen to be absolutely terrifying, especially when she disguises herself as the old crone. I am pretty sure that I had nightmares over that old crone, and that for me has to show a definite level of effectiveness to a villain. The first thing for me that stands out is the terrific design. She looks menacing and intimidating as the queen, with her tall slender frame and pointed features. While her truly frightening design, as the old crone, allows the character to reveal her evil and deceitful ways. There is one character who gets cast aside and receives basically no development at all, and that would be the prince. He shows up a bit at the beginning and then again for the finale at the end. The problem with this is they have no interaction with each other in-between these events. This makes the relationship between the two characters very unbelievable by modern standards. Perhaps if he was given some more scenes to expand his personality a bit, or maybe even a name, his appearance at the end would not have been so jarring. The musical numbers for the most part are brilliant and truly timeless; such as "Heigh-Ho". This particular tune is extremely hard to get out of your head once it's ingrained itself in there. However the "I'm Wishing / One Song" and most others sung by Snow White herself have a tendency to sound a little dated, and as I mentioned before, a bit Betty Boop like. When I re-watched the film for this review, I couldn't help but be amazed by the extraordinarily lifelike animation that Disney and his incredible animation team had achieved. I hadn't watched the movie for a very long time and for some reason expected the animation to be, not bad, but dated compared to the more recent animated movies. Boy was I wrong. Eighty years on and it still looks practically flawless. There's nothing better than watching true masters of their craft and Disney's animators are in top form here.Apart from occasionally showing its age and having some key characters shockingly underdeveloped. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is an enduring classic that will most likely be passed down for generations to come. If you're looking to entertain your nostalgic side a bit. Or perhaps looking into the origins of modern day animation and cinema, or maybe even trying to entertain your children for a couple of hours, there is not many finer options out there than this Disney classic.
Paul Kydd USA 1937 English (Colour); Animation (Walt Disney); 83 minutes (U certificate)Crew includes: David Hand (Director); Ted Sears, Richard Creedon, Otto Englander, Dick Rickard, Earl Hurd, Merrill De Maris, Dorothy Ann Blank, Webb Smith (Screenwriters); Walt Disney (Producer)Voices include: Adriana Caselotti, Lucille La Verne, Harry Stockwell (all uncredited)A vain and jealous queen (La Verne) attempts to kill off her subjugated stepdaughter (Caselotti), whose beauty now eclipses her own.Landmark, feature-length cartoon (Disney's first), with a twee, baby-voiced heroine and bland prince, compensated for by rich, still-impressive animation, adorably funny little men, a truly evil villainess, and terrifying sequences for the tiny tots.
torenkneedler In 1940 another disney film come out but that film was not snow white which came out in 1937 and fallowed the tail of a princess who rises to freedom
JohnHowardReid Nowadays it's hard to imagine the impact, the popularity and the fascination cartoons and comic strips had for the American public — especially in the Golden Years from around 1930 to 1950. "All newspapers have news, but only one newspaper has The Gumps!" proudly proclaimed The Chicago Sun (and scores of affiliated newspapers across the country). Such a slogan would be meaningless to 99% of today's readers (and absolutely risible to the other 1%). Since the 1950s, cartoons and comic strips have generally been regarded as third-rate fodder for children. However, there are always riders to every sweeping statement. The exceptions here are Fantasia (especially in its 1970's re-issue when it was taken up by the hallucinogenic generation) and "L'il Abner" which enjoyed a surprising bout of adult popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. In my childhood days, the comic strip and the comic book were regarded as less than praiseworthy amusements that older children were encouraged to out-grow; and the theatrical cartoon was a mindless diversion for backward youngsters whose limited attention spans were incapable of taking in a whole feature like Lassie Come Home or National Velvet. In my home town, the situation was even worse. There was never a cult following for Tex Avery, and adult cartoons like Fritz the Cat fell flat at the box-office. Despite his macabre humor, Disney was always regarded as strictly for kids. Adults couldn't care less whether Mickey Mouse had three fingers or four, whether Bambi lost a hundred mothers, whether Snow White lived or died. Because I loved cartoons, I was regarded as brain-damaged or eccentric. Often I found myself the lone adult in an audience of irritable children who found films like "Dumbo" way above their heads. I have similar happy memories of Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Gay Purree, The Lady and the Tramp, Ichabod and Mr Toad and Mr Bug Goes To Town. (Hey There, It's Yogi Bear, and A Man Called Flintstone, I loathed. I felt they were designed for mental zombies!) However, the animated feature I love best of all is Snow White. It's a film I can enjoy over and over. Snow White herself may be a bit pallid, but the Wicked Queen and the seven dwarfs are brilliantly characterized. The songs are a joy, the animation often dazzlingly inventive, the colors and compositions a visual delight. The story has pace, charm, atmosphere, humor and excitement. If you are immune to its call, and if its music doesn't stir your soul, you're missing one of the seven wonders of the cinema.