Review: Snow White

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, 1937

"One love that has possessed me, one love thrilling me through; 

One song, my heart keeps singing of one love, only for you."

I haven't seen this movie since I was a very young girl, and so re-watching this movie was very interesting for me.  One thing that I did not notice when I was younger was how important the music and the underscore is to the movie.  It's almost operatic in nature!  The music comments on the action all the time - in fact, I don't think that there was any part of the movie where the music wasn't present.  You can tell this is an old-school Disney movie because of the way that it opens with the credits while the music plays something that sounds almost like an overture.  Seriously, guys, this has so many opera influences!  That made me very happy :)

Another great thing about this movie is the pacing.  It's short and sweet and the drama is always moving forward.  Some of the characters are really great; however, some of them are severely undeveloped.  You would think that Snow White would be the most interesting character, but she is just so flat! Why is she always happy and singing?  We see no character conflict, and frankly, that makes her incredibly boring.  Also, is it her plan to just stay with the dwarves the rest of her life and cook and clean for them?  What are her ambitions?  She keeps singing about her prince coming someday, but she doesn't really do anything about it.  Seriously, lady, I'm pretty sure that the last place your prince is going to look is in the middle of the woods where a bunch of old, bachelor dwarves live!  Her innocence and naivete are also sort of annoying to me - but maybe I'm the only person that is bothered by that.  The most interesting characters to me are Doc, who hilariously mixes up his words all the time, and Grumpy, who really has the most character development.  I love how he starts out as an ostentatious sourpuss and by the end of the movie, he shows that he is able to actually care about somebody.  

Other random observations about the movie:  

•  The chase scene at the end is super intense! The music is so complementary to this, and I found myself at the edge of my seat, even though there was hardly any dialogue.  I think it was a combination of the thunderstorm, the vultures just waiting to pounce, the animals and dwarves coming to Snow White's rescue, and the music itself that made it one of my favorite scenes.  Speaking of the animals..... 

• I love the animals! They are so adorable, especially the deer and the turtle.  I loved how the turtle was always behind, too - every time he finally caught up with the other animals, they turned and ran the other way, leaving him in the dust again.  And then to top it all off, he was clumsy and fell down the stairs.  I totally identify with that turtle!

• I really like how they book-ended the piece with the storybook.  It made it clear that this is most definitely a fairytale!

Overall grade I would give this movie:  B

While there were many great elements, I just can't get over the fact that I really didn't like the main character.



Next up: Pinocchio!