Review of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938) by Luca D — 03 Feb 2013

When it is found that the evil Queen is no longer the fairest in the land, the beautiful princess Snow White is forced from the kingdom and left to seek refuge in the woodland home of The Seven Dwarfs. She cooks and cleans for the rambunctious bunch, but it is not long before the Queen learns of her whereabouts and attempts to seal her in an eternal slumber using a poisoned apple. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS is a cinematic milestone, marking not only the first of Walt Disney's many feature-length animations, but also the first color feature and the first feature to use cel-animation. In animation, the difference is in the detail, and few films are more finely decorated or colorfully composed. SNOW WHITE may be filled with pleasant songs and cheery forest critters, but it also falls back on many of the darker story elements that have been taken from the Brothers Grimm. Here we have a children's story where an evil queen asks her servant to kill the princess and cut out her heart! Disney does nothing to censor the violence and terror in SNOW WHITE, though a note of German Expressionist influence can be seen through the use of light and shadow to imply many of the horrible acts. Walt Disney's initial foray into feature film is groundbreaking for establishing its many firsts, but it has become a screen classic thanks to its timeless tale and immaculate production.

-Carl Manes.

I Like Horror Movies.