VHS Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Walt Disney's Masterpiece)
Digital Life Average Rating:

Rating: - Disney Classic
This movie is one the most lovable Disney classics you'll ever see. I rate it 10/10. Don't miss out on buying this beautiful princess's story. You'll sing. You'll dance. You'll cry. You'll laugh. Get it now!

---

Rating: - Simply Magical
Along with "Bambi" and "Pinocchio", "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" represents the cream of the first crop of full-length animated stories (as opposed to "Fantasia", which was not a story) that the Disney studio brought out between 1939 and 1962. The other efforts from that era included "Alice in Wonderland", "Peter Pan", "Dumbo", "Cinderella", and "Sleeping Beauty". Although each of these last five films have charms to recommend them, as entire works they do not quite reach the levels of beauty, artistry, and memorability of Snow White, Bambi, and Pinocchio. Snow White was the first of those story films, and its enchantment has not faded with age and modernity. From the first frame, the viewer is carried away to a created world filled with a wide range of characters, all of whom are fully developed, from the smallest bird to the Wicked Queen, not to mention each of the Seven Dwarfs, all with their own distinct personalities, voices, expressions, and traits. The film is exquisitely beautiful to look at, with a softness and delicacy of tint lacking in later computer efforts. The musical score, as was also the case with Bambi, is nearly symphonic in reach if not depth, the voices are closer to operatic quality than Broadway belting, and of course the score contains the legendary "Some Day My Prince Will Come", tenderly sung by Andrea Caselotti. Some of the darker moments are truly frightening, such as when Snow White flees terrified into the forest after the Huntsman tells her of the Queen's hatred, and the transformation of the Wicked Queen into the old woman with her basket of apples. Others moments remain amazingly moving, as when the forest creatures weep outside the cottage windows in the rain as they look in on the seemingly dead Snow White after she swallows the poisoned apple. The tears slide down their faces as the rain slides down the windowpanes, merging into nature's expression of muted sorrow.

It's not easy to identify the reasons why some of these animated Disney story films succeeded better than others - later efforts also paid careful attention to character development, had catchy tunes, and were pretty to look at. Yet some of the films have an indefinable magic that others do not, and for some reason, the films that have that charm are among Disney's earliest efforts. For example, the later "Sleeping Beauty" is a nice film and also utilizes Tchaikovsky's gorgeous ballet music, yet it simply lacks the "heart" that characterizes Snow White. "Peter Pan" is also fun to watch, but Disney himself viewed PP as a failure, as lacking "heart" and as having failed to capture the wistfulness of J.M. Barrie's original story.

Only "Bambi", from the 1950s, equals Snow White in charm, and even surpasses it in sheer beauty - a look at some of the original cels from Bambi reveals work that looks like Monet paintings. Pinocchio approaches and nearly catches these two in beauty and certainly is their equal in hand-done animation artistry - in the early part of Pinocchio, the downward spiralling views of the little town, all the different clocks in Gepetto's shop going off at once, and Gepetto's legs showing through his nightgown whenever he dances in front of the fireplace, represent the pinnacle of hand-drawn animation achievement, before computers took over.

Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" remains enchanted and enchanting, one of the greatest hand-animated stories ever to come to the screen. Along with Bambi and Pinocchio, it is a must for the serious collector either of vintage Disneyana or of hand-animation.

---

Rating: - Masterpiece of Cinema and Animation--a Joy to Watch
"...in planning a new picture we don't think of grown-ups, we don't think of children, but just of that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in everyone of us that maybe the world has made us forget, and that maybe our pictures can help recall." --Walt Disney, when asked to explain the secret of the appeal of Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs.

It was selected as one of the first 25 films into the National Films Registry of the Library of Congress. Today we can't imagine the newness of SW&TSD at its release seventy years ago: examples such as its length as an animated feature, its use of colors (1500 tints and shades were used), its use of song to advance the story (The Wizard of Oz went forward at least in part because of SW's success), its lifelike motion of characters (Snow White's dancing with Dopey was modeled on live-action dance footage), its technological firsts such as 3-D effects in the scenery, its subtilty in depiction of the human form.

More deeply, SW&TSD does what only a great film can: it captures your imagination and emotions. You forget it's a cartoon and really believe in the story. Grumpy is won over by Snow White and so are you. Moreso, the timeless qualities of the promise of hope, the triumph of good over evil, and the transcendence of the human spirit, to paraphrase historian J. Canemaker all flow out of this treasure.

The scariest scenes might be a little much for the youngest kids, but for everyone else it's a must-see.

The 2-disc Platinum edition gives a wealth of extras, including an audio commentary almost half-full of Walt Disney's spoken comments, deleted song and scenes, a sing-a-long, a game, and much more.
Don't miss it!

---

Rating: - Still a Disney masterpiece...
My mother kept an old clipping for years describing SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS when it opened at the huge and prestigious Radio City Music Hall in New York City and received a rave review from newspaper columnist Westbrook Pegler.

He usually wrote about politics but on this occasion he took time to devote an entire review to Disney's new film. He called it a "masterpiece" and said that when the projectionist slipped those reels of film on the projector, the audience at the Music Hall witnessed one of the greatest motion pictures ever made.

Coming from him, that was high praise indeed. And seeing the film now, restored for its video bow, we can appreciate his words. There are faults, to be sure, but basically it has to be admired for the innovative techniques it used in the art of animation. There are memorable sequences thanks to daring use of the multiplane camera: Snow White's flight through the woods, the Queen and her Magic Mirror, the Queen in the thunderous transformation scene as the camera seems to whirl around her, the Dwarfs in the mine and their march over the bridge as they sing "Heigh-Ho", the dwarfs chasing the witch in the thunderstorm. Even the rippling effects of the water in the wishing well scene.

And, of course, there are the genuinely comic moments that made even the great Charlie Chaplin applaud in admiration. Dopey's antics are always a delight, as are Doc's and Grumpy's. All of the dwarfs are given inventive and funny things to do. The animation for the heroine herself is so gracefully done, particularly in the "Yodel Song" sequence where she dances with the dwarfs, that it's almost like watching a real "Snow White" go through the paces. That scene remains one of the most charming moments from the entire film with the dwarfs all displaying their own distinctive traits.

The music is a standout: Someday My Prince Will Come, Heigh-Ho, I'm Wishing, The Yodel Song, etc. The young in heart will always love this classic. The art work is so rich in detail that the cottage scenes take on a life of their own, as do the images of the Wicked Queen at her castle.

It belongs in the top tier of Disney's crown jewels, along with Pinocchio, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

Summing up: an inspired work of art on every level that will remain a timeless classic.

Note: This review is based on the VHS and theatrical version of the film.