Snow White And The Seven Dwarves

        Snow White was the first movie I watched, and all three of my wonderful companions made an appearance, referred to from here on out as B, F, and M. We all had quite a cozy time with it, and spirits were high on completion.

        It was, in a lot of ways, the perfect starting point. It's a good movie, but not a great one. It's missing much of a real plot or any characters beyond the single trait each has that could truly elevate the film. But it doesn't really need to be elevated. As Disney's first full length film, it's more of a statement that they could make something like this, and, for this blog, a useful measuring tool to balance other movie off of.

        I don't think it's constructive to discuss how a movie like this has aged. It is important to acknowledge that parts of it could be seen as reductive, yes. But so many other people have done that, and my voice isn't helpful here. I'm here to talk about these films as films, and the experience of watching them, and with a few exceptions, I won't be mentioning out of date things in these movies.

        The movie excels in the animation department, with the animals being a real highlight, and the dwarves more exaggerated features serving fitting the style wonderfully. The music, although limited, was charming, with the wishing well and mines songs being real stand outs. The Evil Queen, while basic, set the stage for many of Disney's most iconic villains, and I doubt characters like Maleficent would exist without her. The dwarves are also wonderful, and having them be just as large a focal point as Snow does vastly increase the quality.

        Even without that, there's still a fair bit to criticize here, starting with the plot. I assume anyone who click on a blog like this knows the plot of Snow White, so while I might give a summary for other movies in the future, I will omit it for the better known classics. There's only so much you can do for the pacing of a fairy tail, and Snow White does most of that. In the Brothers Grimm's story, The Evil Queen tries to suffocate Snow with a corset, and poison her with a comb before giving her the apple, with the dwarves showing up at the last minute to save her each time. Those have both been cut from the movie, and only the third, successful attempt has been included.

        The issues come after the apple based poisoning, when the queen dies due to an act of god, and the movie wraps up in around 5 minutes after what is arguably the start of act three. I'm giving Snow White a 3 on visuals, and 2.5 on story and character, with an overall score of 2.5.