Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Voices of: Roy Atwell, Stuart Buchanan, Adriana Caselotti, Pinto Colvig, Billy Gilbert, Otis Harlan, Lucille La Verne, Scotty Mattrav, Moroni Olsen, Harry Stockwell
Directed by: William Cottrell, David Hand
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Fantasy
1937

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Snow White flees from the evil Queen, and finds herself befriending seven dwarfs deep in the woods.

Review:

Tim: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is one of the all-time classic animated films. It is widely regarded as the first feature-length animated movie ever (although this may not be completely true, it's definitely the first in the United States). It was a huge win for the Walt Disney company, and even today, remains a true classic.

Before this movie, feature-length animated movies did not exist. This film was so different, so unique, and so beloved that it created a genre of films that today numbers in the thousands. This is truly an important, influential movie. Any fan of animation needs to see this movie, because it's simply required viewing.

So many of the elements of the Snow White myth derive themselves from this film. We all know the name of the dwarfs- Doc, Happy, Sleepy, Grumpy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey. However, before this movie, none of those names existed. This is the film that created those. We've all seen Snow White come to life, the evil Queen, the red apple, the glass coffin. Those images come from this film. Disney did a fantastic job of creating an instantly iconic movie.

Now, the film does appear a bit dated by today's standards. The animation isn't always superb, although it is certainly beautiful. The story is a bit simplistic. The voice acting isn't terribly impressive. Adriana Caselotti's voice is oftentimes grating to hear. And yet, you have to keep in mind that the world was very different in 1937 when this film was released. There were no feature films done in animation, so this movie had nothing to compare itself to or to learn from. This is a film that truly blazed a new trail. When you think about that and the film in that context, it's pretty amazing.

The music in the film is tremendous. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music Score, and it absolutely deserved that recognition. Some of the songs in this film are truly classics- "Whistle While You Work" and "Heigh-Ho" are especially excellent. The music isn't always great, but overall, it's definitely a strength of the film.

While for pure entertainment sake, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is not one of the best. There's too many slow moments throughout the film. However, for the importance of this film, it's influence on thousands of other movies, and the quality of the film when it came out, this is definitely a landmark film and truly a great movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Fantasia, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid