Originally written June 28, 2017

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is hands down one of the most important movies ever made. Any time a movie was the first to do it, you know it was important in film history, and Snow White is no exception. Not only is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the first feature-length animated Disney movie, it’s the first feature-length animated movie, period. There was so much controversy leading up to Snow White’s release, with people believing that Disney was making a foolish mistake by making an animated film. People thought that no one would want to sit through a feature-length animated movie, and some people even though that watching animation for that long would make you blind. These things all seem silly now, but Snow White made such a cultural impact when it came out, and it has influenced everything that’s come since.

Honestly, I feel like the only complaints I have towards Snow White are those that I feel when I compare it to things that have come since, which I know is slightly unfair. The biggest aspect of this is the story. While I know this is based on a Grimm fairy tale, I can’t help but feel that the story is just a little basic. In essence, it’s about a princess named Snow White, who is being chased after the Queen, her evil stepmother. The Queen is chasing after Snow White because she wants to be the fairest one of all, and Snow White is a threat to her own vanity. Snow White runs off and comes across a house where seven dwarfs live. It’s here that she hides from the queen and settles in.

It’s not that nothing happens in Snow White, it’s just that a lot of what’s going on is filler. I don’t want to make a big deal about it though, because everything in the movie is amazing, and it’s only by comparing it to today’s standards of storytelling that Snow White falls short at all. Everything else about the movie is absolutely classic, iconic, and endearing. The characters are extremely memorable and all have great personalities. The music is really catchy and adds so much to the movie. The animation is simply astounding, especially considering the time period this was made. The humor is spot on. The animators were actually paid $5 for each of their best gags, so this sparked friendly competition that allowed the animators to strive to come up with their best material, and it shows. And as much as I wrote off the story a little bit ago, it truly was groundbreaking for its time seeing the emotional beats that the movie can hit.

Overall, I think the movie is best watched to be appreciated for what it is and for what it paved the way for. If you’re watching it purely in a modern mindset, then there’s definitely still a ton of entertainment to be had with it, but for most people it’ll probably not be as good as some of the other amazing movies we’ve gotten from Disney. However, none of that changes the fact that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is one of the most important films to ever be made. If Walt Disney hadn’t taken such a huge gamble and believed in his vision of making an animated feature film, we might not have had some of our favorite movies today. 80 years later, the movie still holds up really well, and so it’s definitely one that all Disney enthusiasts should look into watching.

4.5/5