Revisiting Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

As an American who was born in the early nineties, Disney Animation played a huge role in my childhood. We owned a bunch of Disney movies on VHS, which we watched on a loop. I think this is a pretty common experience here. Nowadays, the same thing is happening thanks to streaming (my niece, who's turning four this year, is especially fond of Moana, Frozen, and Encanto). Ask a hundred millennials to name their five favorite Disney movies, and you'll probably get a hundred different lists. It depends what ones were on rotation in their homes, which ones hit theaters at key moments in their life, etc., etc.

All this to say, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has never been one of my Disney movies. I'm pretty sure I watched it as a kid, but probably only once. My mom really dislikes the movie, because she finds Snow White's voice so irritating. Fair criticism, I think. So it was never a movie we owned. We probably rented it at some point. Or maybe I watched it at a friend's. I don't know. I just know it's not a movie that has a special place in my heart, or one that I tend to remember particularly well. Maybe a weird thing to read on an animation blog, considering its place in animation history. It's the bedrock on which so much has been built.

With Disney's latest live-action remake hitting theaters tomorrow, I decided to return to the source, watch it with fresh eyes. Watching something as significant as Snow White is a bit weird. It's hard to be objective while watching it, but also hard to be subjective. It has so much tied to it, so much history, so much importance. I'm like...how much do I actually enjoy this? How much of what I'm feeling is tied to things that exist beyond the screen, beyond the story, beyond the animation? It makes me think of when I'm about to take care of a major blind spot, the almost sick feeling in my stomach I get: am I in the right headspace for this, am I ready, what if I don't like it? It's silly, but I feel that way sometimes.

I sort of felt that today when I opened Disney+ to watch Snow White. I've probably only watched it two or three times before in my life, and I don't remember the last time I did. Certainly, it was before I fell as madly in love with animation as I am today. So it felt important. Like this was a viewing that was going to stick, and help solidify the movie in my memory.

And you know what? This movie is good! BREAKING NEWS from an animation blog: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is good! Sound the alarm!

When I think of Snow White, I often latch onto how little is going on narratively. You can tell the story in a couple sentences without leaving anything out. Which, a lot of times, would be a ding against a movie. But here, I think it's part of what makes the movie work. Freed from having to tell a complicated story or having to develop textured characters, this movie is allowed to both be a historical artifact -- you're free to bask in the gorgeous animation, enjoy the all-timer songs (a few are utterly forgettable, but hey), and anticipate every beat -- and also just, like, a fun and silly movie. There are so many great little comedic beats, usually coming from the Dwarfs or Snow White's animal friends, that are animated with such joy and perfect timing, it's really just a pleasure to watch. Sure, the pacing ends up being a little weird, because we spend so much time in sequences that are just sort of spinning wheels and delivering laughs, but I don't mind it much at all. Because the story is just the packaging that lets us spend time in this world and with these characters.

And with the animation! God, this movie is so beautiful. I love the way the fabric of Snow White's dress moves. The way it flows, stretches, drapes. The animals' mannerisms are probably my favorite part of the movie, so many sweet movements and moments as they go about helping Snow White, rallying the Dwarfs, cleaning the house. That squirrel making a cobweb cotton-candy poof on its tail? Delicious.

Snow White herself is a bit of a blank slate. Not much going on under the hood there, but she's sweet and kind, and helpful, and for a fairy tale like this, that's enough. She wants a man -- who doesn't? Fine motivation in my book.

The Dwarfs are so fun, bursting with personality, so expressive. It's funny to see how thoroughly cartoony their faces and mannerisms are compared to the human characters. They look like they're from a different movie altogether, but that weird alchemy works. It makes them adorable sidekicks even though they're actually old men (?). I don't know if Dopey is old or what exactly is going on there, but he's lovable, for sure.

As singularly minded as the Queen is (also, I completely forgot she's Snow White's stepmother...wild), she's pretty iconic. She's a bad bitch who wants to keep her crown -- not just the real crown, but the prettiness crown. It's honestly a shame that such a dud of an actor as Gal Gadot was chosen to play her in the remake. She looks the part, sure, but I just can't imagine she's going to have the acting chops to sell the character. Oh well.

While this rewatch didn't do anything to move Snow White deeper into my heart, it did at least help it crystallize in my mind. It will never be one of my Disney movies, but it's a wonderful film, both for its historical stature and also for all the magic it conjures.