Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) Review

Even if its revolutionary elements may have diminished in today’s context, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) still manages to be engaging through its masterful visuals.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 animated film directed by David Hand and produced by then-budding Walt Disney Studios. Based on the Snow White fairy tale by Brothers Grimm, it follows princess Snow White (Adriana Caselotti, of Once Upon a Mouse), who after being endangered by jealousy of her evil Stepmother, the queen (Lucille La Verne, of A Tale of Two Cities), runs into seven mystical dwarfs in a forest and befriends them. The film was a milestone on many accounts, being the first feature length animated film in the United States. It led the golden age of animation, often appearing on many “greatest films ever made” lists.

However, that last part is also what made me cautious going into the movie. Legacy is important, that much I concede. Yet I always make a conscious effort not to let it blind me either. There have been multiple cases where a movie touted as revolutionary, whether in its storytelling or effects, ended up coming off as average or even dated when viewed by today’s standards. It’s a stance not everyone will agree with, but I find value in taking movies off of their museum pedestals and looking at them on their own merits. That was the stance I took for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as well.

And with that stance, I’ll say this right off the bat. The story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs isn’t anything revolutionary. The evil queen tries to kill the kind-hearted protagonist, who meets and befriends some cute dwarfs that are also conveniently coded by personality; the queen tries to kill her again, fails, dies, the prince saves Snow White, and they live happily ever after. There aren’t any deeply layered characters or insane symbolism here.

Yet I find it hard to peg that as a negative. After all, this is a fairy tale. Sure, they might not be overly complex or subtle, but if that simple story is enough to get me immersed, I consider it a job well done. Some modern retrospectives have criticized Snow White for being too passive or one-dimensional a protagonist, but when a person is as good-natured as she is, I don’t mind following her story. I certainly didn’t want to see the queen gloat over Snow White’s heart in a box.

Besides, it’s not the plot that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is remembered so fondly for: it’s the technical aspects, the animation. Again, this was the first animated feature length film to be drawn on transparent cels. The techniques used then were unheard of. In today’s context, that sense of wonder is largely diminished. We’ve had countless 2D and 3D animated films since then, and while I praise the work the studio put into drawing each frame meticulously, it isn’t exactly new anymore.

However, like finely aged wine, while the animation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is no longer revolutionary, it is still good to look at. Character movements are smooth yet snappy, 2D backgrounds and models are used in a way to simulate 3D spaces, and the colors are vibrant. Since animation can be drawn, I find it doesn’t get outdated as quickly as live action effects, and that is the case here.

This is important since with films being a mainly visual medium, the animation can make or break the immersion. Scenes like Snow White running away into the woods or the queen chanting in front of her magic mirror wouldn’t have been half as memorable if they hadn’t been animated to create the appropriate atmosphere. And since this is animation, things can be drawn as exaggerated or otherworldly as necessary, which only adds to sucking me further into this fantasy story.

In the end, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs isn’t something I’d put in my “greatest films of all time” lists. But it kept me immersed and entertained for the entirety of its runtime, and I can’t fault a movie for accomplishing that. This film is a good case for how even when off of its museum pedestal, a movie can impress on its own merits. I wouldn’t come back to it anytime soon, but that’s not to its detriment. After all, you wouldn’t go admire a painting in a museum every single day, but for what it’s worth, you enjoyed looking at it.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) is now available to watch on digital and on demand.

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