By: Ashley Avila
Listen, we all know that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made Disney who they are today and it may be nostalgic for some, but we need to face the facts that it was a mediocre movie. The movie was released on December 21, 1937, towards the end of the Great Depression. It was the first full-length traditionally animated feature film made at that time, and it was Disney’s first animated movie. The movie brought in about $8 million dollars which made it the most money made for a film during the time period. It is one of the most praised animated movies to this day and has won many awards, but is she really the fairest of them all?
I can appreciate the talent of the animation done during the time period and it is impressive. I am not ignorant to how revolutionary the process was, especially for its time. The animation for Snow White was revolutionary because it was the first feature film to use celluloid and used the multiplane camera. According to the article, Snow White: Making Animation Human, “Celluloid animation was a groundbreaking technique because of the amount of time that it was able to save. Before celluloid animation, animators had to redraw the cartoon’s background for every frame that was taken, however, through this new technique, it was the animation that was redrawn. The animation was laid on top of the background, which moved a fraction of an inch every time the animation was changed, thus allowing for there to be movement. Characters, like the Seven Dwarfs, were drawn in a way that made them seen as three-dimensional and given a sense of roundness.” The multiplane camera “was a camera that was placed above the drawing and shot down through the layers of images that were placed below it. This method allowed for a new and improved manipulation of the images to be done allowing for the background to give the impression of natural movement.” Both of these methods were meant to allow the audience to gain an emotional connection to the characters; however, that was not the case with Snow White.
Snow White was not a well developed character, not even the animation could make her an interesting character. She has no personality and no flavor added to her, she was practically a robot. If we stretch to find some semblance of a personality trait, it would be the fact that she is a damsel in distress and very clean. Look, it was the norm to make women in the media, especially Disney princesses, to be desperate to fall in love and always be happy, but that is exactly the reason why the movie is overrated. When we compare her character arc to more modern characters like Jasmine, Rapunzel, or Tiana who have personalities, desires, and actual goals for themselves, it is apparent that Snow White’s only good quality was being the prettiest woman in her land. Snow White set the trope of a princess desperate to fall in love and it is so overdone, like Ariel from The Little Mermaid and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. These movies also portray women as helpless and naive, which can negatively impact the young audience’s view of themselves. The trope should just be left in the past just like Snow White because women in danger is old news!!!
Additionally, the plot of the movie is an interesting concept. Snow White is about the Evil Queen who is Snow White's stepmother and so desperately wants to be the “fairest of them all.” However, Snow White is the fairest of them all so the Evil Queen plans many ways using witchcraft in order to murder Snow White so she can have her title back. It is Snow White's adventure escaping the torment of her stepmother. The plot was interesting and well done in the past, but watching the movie now on the other hand, it’s not very memorable. The lack of interesting characters makes it absolutely boring to watch. There isn’t much action happening throughout the movie and the songs are too slow to grab the attention of the audience. While Disney movies now have much more action that keeps the eyes of the audience and maintains engagement, the songs are catchy and there is humor that satisfies the children who are targeted and adults who may have to sit through these movies for young family members. Snow White doesn’t have the spark that makes main characters interesting and exciting, thus Snow White is not a worthwhile main character.
To gain another perspective about Snow White, I asked another scholar her opinion and she revealed that “The movie is Snow White and she is the main character and the dwarfs are meant to be side characters, so how are the dwarfs more memorable than her? She went from main character to side character real fast.” To some people, the dwarfs are more interesting than Snow White herself because their names are literally their personality trait, so they add something to the movie. Without the dwarfs the movie would be unbearable to watch. It is pretty embarrassing to think about having a main character of a film being disregarded and instead side characters are more memorable. Snow White’s relationship with the dwarfs is motherly and she tends to them. She spends most of the movie cleaning and singing happily, while the men are hard workers and were supposed to defend Snow White. The Prince was also meant to save Snow White from death, thus Snow White was not allowed to truly defend herself. She instead was supposed to be a pretty face with no interests other than cleaning. Even after her brush with death, Snow White was still naive and submissive to the men in her life, going back to how her life was before because of the values during the time. While the men were celebrated for saving the women in danger, what an original concept.
Now, the previous points have been humorous but now there is one big major issue with the movie Snow White and that is the age gap between the prince and Snow White. Most people, when asked about the age of Snow White think she is between the ages of 18-22, since many other Disney princesses are of that age. You would not believe the horror blasted upon my eyes when first finding out that Snow White is supposed to be 14 years old (some even suspect 12). It is crazy how she does not look like a 14 year old, but maybe that speaks toward another important issue we do not have time for. Then there is the prince’s age, we would think that he would be close to Snow White's age, 15 maybe? Maybe 16 but that’s pushing it. There hasn’t been any confirmation for his age, but it is suspected that he is 31 years old. THIRTY-ONE YEARS OLD, let that sink in. It’s extremely weird (and disgusting) that this movie has this large of an age. This relationship is one hundred percent illegal because she is a child and he is an adult, it being fictional is not a good excuse to support the decision for the ages. Other excuses like the movie was made in the 40s and it was “a different time” are disgusting cause this shouldn’t be acceptable in any time period. Any defenders of the age gap deserve jail! The prince is irrelevant anyways he is just as forgettable as Snow White. His name, what is his name? If you can’t think of it, then you are proving my point exactly. (his name is either Prince Ferdinand or Florian - again it doesn’t matter). That’s how irrelevant he is, he doesn’t have a name.
In conclusion, was this a hate monologue? Yes, yes it was. But I think the public should know that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is an overrated movie in today’s time. I let it slide in the past, but now there are so many better movies and better Disney princesses that deserve the attention Snow White has garnered over the years