Review of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938) by Mia M — 29 Jun 2011

Some films are classics because they are triumphs of cinema - some are classics because they are innovative. This film, sadly, is the latter, and is memorable only for being the first of its kind. Taken in a vacuum it is a triumph, certainly, but with the 49 Disney films that followed it, it ranks only somewhere in the lower quarter at best.

The characters are really where this film falls down. Snow White invokes all the empathy of a brick, making poor decisions and really only serving as a damsel in distress. The dwarves are entirely summarised in their names and whatever it is that makes Dopey (who borders on stalker-like) appealing I'll never understand. The "love story" is wafer thin and the Prince is entirely undeveloped. The Queen is really the only interesting character but her motive is so petty that its hard to even fall back on her.

As with any feature containing so little character, the story suffers. This film is clearly the first made by a studio experienced in making short subjects - it is a group of shorts strung together, and often quite obviously. Several sections (The Silly Song and The Washing Song in particular) could be excised and the film would not particularly suffer for it.

On the up side, the animation is good and the sequence where Snow White races through the forest is particularly excellent. Sadly, the best animation will not save a film with nothing else for the audience to cling to. A worthy diversion for the kids - a rental on a rainy Sunday afternoon, maybe - but to classify this as a standout is to ignore everything that came after it. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are both superior films in the same vein and I would highly reccomend both of those before giving this a look.