Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs-Snow White (1937)

Directed by: Ted Sears, Richard Creedon | 83 minutes | drama, animation, family, fantasy, musical | Original voice cast: Adriana Caselotti, Roy Atwell, Stuart Buchanan, Eddie Collins, Pinto Colvig, Marion Darlington, Billy Gilbert, Otis Harlan, Lucille La Verne, James MacDonald, Scotty Mattraw, Clarence Nash, Moroni Olsen, Harry Stockwell | Dutch voice cast: Bernadette Kraakman, Liz Snoyink, Lou Landre, Marcel Reyans, Cees van Oyen, Jules Croiset, Wim Schippers, Paul Haenen, Harrie Geelen, Coen Flink, Marjol Flore, Carol van Herwijnen

A foolish venture, that’s how people saw Walt Disney’s plans for his first full-length animated film in Hollywood. Because who wanted to watch a ninety minute cartoon? However, Disney was convinced of his ideas and persevered. Walt was a true entrepreneur and pioneer who developed his love for animals and drawing during his childhood in rural Missouri. His talents included a strong sense of storytelling and a nose for what will entertain the audience. He also had the gift of maximizing the talent of others, including that of his older brother Roy, who would later steer Walt Disney Studios through financially lean times. Initially, cartoons were regarded as simple entertainment, they were films that lasted no longer than ten minutes and preceded the main film. Figures were caricatured and guaranteed slapstick-like scenes. Walt Disney, who had already broken new ground by being the first to make a cartoon with sound (‘Steamboat Willy’, 1928) and the first to come up with a cartoon in color (‘Flowers and Trees’, 1932), saw in 1934 a new challenge: why didn’t he make a full-length animated film? Not an easy job, because the development of the animation film was still in its infancy. But Walt liked to set the bar high. He simply saw ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ (1937) as a logical next step, not only artistically but also financially (after all, main films bring in more money than ‘warm-ups’).

Ever since he saw a silent, early version of the story at the age of 15, Walt Disney had been toying with the idea of ​​using the classic fairy tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” for an animated film. The story of the beautiful young princess who is chased from the castle by her evil and vain stepmother because she is said to be too beautiful and ends up with seven dwarfs, started as a folktale and was recorded by the Brothers Grimm in their fairy tale books. Disney sanded down the sharp edges to make the story a little easier to digest. However, there are still some frightening scenes in the film, especially for children. Right at the start, when Snow White’s evil stepmother asks her magic mirror, ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest in the land?’, the viewer is immediately drawn into the sometimes eerie wizarding world. The scene in which the evil stepmother transforms herself into an ugly old witch is also frightening, especially because during the magical process the camera spins around and the viewer loses his orientation for a moment. The world of the seven dwarfs, however, is one full of humor and slapstick. It was precisely with the combination of classic cartoon humor and more serious stories that Walt Disney managed to open new doors. The romantic protagonists have realistic facial features and move like real people, while the seven dwarfs have the elastic, droll features of comic animation.

Disney’s love of nature and music drips all over ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’. The film is full of recognizable and appealing songs (including the cheerful ‘Heigh-Ho’ and the romantic ‘Some Day My Prince Will Come’ are evergreens) and music also plays an important role when there is no singing in the background. ‘Snow White’ was the first film to have its soundtrack recorded for sale. Nature also plays a crucial role. It takes Snow White, who is saddened to learn that her stepmother wants her dead, little effort to win over the animals in the forest. In addition to the dwarfs, the bunnies, deer, birds and other animals are largely responsible for the humor in the film. Just take the slow turtle, which is always just a step too late. Where nature loves Snow White, the evil stepmother has a less good relationship with it. The vultures that chase her are only after a tasty snack and the thunder and lightning lend a hand to the seven dwarfs as they want to chase the witch from their cottage. Disney takes aspects from the ‘regular’ film and adds them to its animation. As a result, ‘Snow White’ is the first animated film that not only entertains, but also terrifies, reassures and moves. The complete emotional spectrum is covered in just 83 minutes!

‘Snow White’ has pioneered the technological development of the animated film. Not only did he make the most of sound and TechniColor (which had just been invented quite recently), he also used the multiplane camera for the first time. This new technique – which involves working in three layers, independent of each other – provided lifelike depth and texture that was unprecedented in animation. Without this pioneering work from Disney, cartoons might have developed very differently and would not have looked like the way we know them. The impact of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ should not be underestimated. Besides the fact that the film has been important and successful, this classic fairy tale also has eternal value. Because more than seven decades later, the romance between Snow White and the handsome prince, the droll seven dwarfs, the unconditional love of the forest animals for the princess and the hatred of the vain stepmother still appeals to the imagination. Even now that we’re used to the near-perfect animation from computers, we can’t ignore the fantastic, nuanced drawings from ‘Snow White’. A team of almost six hundred people has been working on this for more than three years. They made two million illustrations – by hand! It only makes this groundbreaking Disney classic even more impressive.