Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Today we feature the movie that started it all, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The Movie:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first movie in the Disney Animated Canon and the first full-length traditionally animated film ever.  Walt Disney wanted to make this movie both because he saw the financial potential of full-length features and he wanted to give more prestige to the art of animation.  Many people thought the project was foolish, and Disney even had to take out a loan to get the money to finish the film.  Snow White became a milestone in animation and movie history and when adjusted for inflation is one of the highest grossing movies ever made.

Snow White is a beautiful, young princess described as the "fairest in the land," a description that draws the ire of her stepmother, the evil queen.  The queen sends a huntsman to kill Snow White, but he instead urges her to flee.  Snow White escapes through the forest and comes upon the house of the seven dwarfs, who are off working in the mines.  The dwarfs are then met with a surprise when they arrive home after a day of work.

Ok, this movie is undoubtedly a classic.  Here is where we get the standard Disney princess who is a friend to animals and sings, setting the trope for many later movies.  The animation is well done and still holds up.  Unlike many later Disney fairy tale adaptations, this one doesn't pad the story much, in fact, it even trims it.  This was due to time constraints in production.  The biggest oddity from a modern perspective is the pacing.  I remember watching this movie a few years ago after not having seen it in a while, and it felt slow to me.  However, watching again today, I realized that not to always be the case.  At times the story moves fast, with the introduction having little setup to the plot and the ending wrapping up quickly.  Most of the plot of the movie occurs in the first 20 minutes and the last 20 minutes.  The middle is where it slows, often taking time to focus on the various antics of the dwarfs.  These scenes play more like the classic Disney shorts, which makes sense, since that is what they knew.

The movie has several iconic songs, including "Some Day My Prince Will Come," "Heigh-Ho," and "Whistle While You Work," written by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey.  Paul J. Smith and Leigh Harline did the score, which at times feels like a classic cartoon score and at times has the grandeur that would come to define later Disney movies.

Presence in the Parks:

Among the Fantasyland attractions on the opening day of Disneyland in 1955 was the classic dark ride Snow White and her Adventures.  Like the other Fantasyland dark rides, the rider was put in the place of main character.  The ride would later come to be called Snow White's Scary Adventures.

This ride would come to the Magic Kingdom for its opening day in 1971, and it would also later be placed in Tokyo and Paris.  The Magic Kingdom version also placed the rider in the role of Snow White.  Disneyland's version added Snow White in the 1983 renovations, and Snow White was added to the Magic Kingdom ride when it was toned down to be less scary in 1994.

While the rides at the other parks are still there, the one at Magic Kingdom closed in 2012 as part of the New Fantasyland expansion.  The reason for this closure is that the expansion originally was going to feature many new character meets, but fans clamored for a new ride as well.  The land where the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea lake had been was first slated for these character meets, but it would now be home to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, a family friendly roller coaster.

Dwarfs' House as seen at the end of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, May 2015

In turn, the location of Snow White's Scary Adventures now became Princess Fairytale Hall, a character meet area for a rotating cast of princesses, including at times Snow White.  However, the meet and greet location where she appears more often is the Germany Pavilion in the World Showcase at Epcot.

Snow White is fairly popular, so she will pop up in different parades and shows, including the park opening at times.

Magic Kingdom opening ceremony, May 2015

(Snow White is on the far left)

Snow White is also a large part of Fantasmic! at Hollywood Studios.  She and her prince are one of the three couple on floats during the princess medley section, and "Some Day My Prince Will Come" is one of the songs used.  The evil queen, via animation projection on water, is the instigating villain in the nightmare section, and several clips of actual audio from the movie is lifted for this section.  And then at the end, Snow White, the prince, and the dwarfs can be found on Steamboat Willie.

Fantasmic! at Hollywood Studios, May 2015