Samuel Joseph Snow White: The Disney Version

When watching the Disney film Snow White at face value, one is filled with happy vibes and joyful spirit. I believe it does a great job at providing entertainment for the young viewer, all the songs were wonderful, and the princess got her wish at the end. However, when deeper analyzing this film, one starts to realize the many minor flaws that permeate throughout the film. I do not agree with Giroux that one must incorporate Disney movies into school curriculum… what are the children going to learn? The words to the songs? There is no way they will understand all the metaphors and intentional but terrible gender roles and they’re most certainly not old enough to understand the bigger picture of Disney in the film. The Disneyfication of the film, in my opinion, was not terrible, because although Disney made the film child-friendly (almost) the plot line was still relatively still intact, with just deeper connections with the dwarves.

After watching, I have still not come to terms with the idea that Snow White was completely okay with going into someone else’s house, just barging in like she owns the place. Then when the Dwarves come in, she’s treating them like the guests at her house?? Like the place is hers and they’re just coming for a sleep overall in all to say the dwarves are also okay with this, which makes no sense, I guess they’re just star struck by her beauty. I was also not okay with the fact that Snow White threw herself into the womanized homemaker scenario whereas in the Grimm’s version she was put there by the Dwarves. Thinking through this process in my head, I could not come to terms with the idea of which was better? Or less bad I guess? In one scenario (Disney) Snow White shows the “inferiority” of women, and in the other (Grimms) we see the “superiority” of men. I’d rather just take that part out and have Snow White clean the house for fun, or go to the mines with them. I also don’t understand the idea that Snow White just leaves the dwarves after all they’ve done for her she just up and leaves and that’s so rude she should’ve at least done something for them. Kudos to the dwarves for chasing the queen and getting her killed, but one of them should have stayed with Snow White in the house.

Anyways, here are my thoughts when I was watching the film… hope you enjoy!

Before the film started, the music that played at the beginning created a warm, happy, comfortable tone for the audience to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the film.

The mood switches quite quickly when the wicked Queen appears and summons the “slave”?? from the mirror and the fire appears from within the mirror itself.  I didn’t realize that the mirror was a slave to her, I just assumed it was some sort of acquaintance.

LOL Snow White just ran away from the Prince. It’s funny because she was wishing for someone, and he kind of just appeared. This is different from the Grimm’s version because to my knowledge the prince didn’t appear until after Snow White ate the apple and was “dead.” But the prince was eavesdropping haha don’t do that bro. NO THE QUEEN IS WATCHING :,(((((

I’m surprised Disney kept the whole part about the Queen ordering for Snow White’s death by the huntsman… and the part about bringing back her heart in a box… I feel like that’s not child friendly, or fairytale-esque. At least in this version the huntsman attempts at reasoning with the Queen whereas in the Grimm’s version he just obeys. Also, just an observation, the father/King has been nonexistent so far… I wonder if Disney is trying to make a statement about a father figure.

OH MY! I knew the Huntsman was going to try to kill Snow White, but my heart rate and blood pressure still shot through the roof. Oof I wonder what’s going to happen to the huntsman because he didn’t bring back her heart.

Okay so I know I was a scaredy cat as a child, I probably wouldn’t have lasted this long watching this movie wow those trees were intimidating.

So the whole part about animals is a Disney thing because that was non-existent in the Grimm’s version. That was a good idea because the animals are really cute and a good contrast to the scary forest. I like how the animals can understand her and communicate to her with facial cues. I also just noticed that the movie is like an hour and a half long and I’m excited to see hot Disney turns a 10 minute read into 90 minutes of film. So far it’s been pretty interesting and enjoyable to watch.

Songs + cute animals + female princess protagonist = Successful fairytale?? Disney version??

I like how the animals lead her to the Dwarves house, and she’s completely okay with going into the dark house in the forest when nobody’s home. Lol girl just cuz you’re a cute princess it’s not your house. Wait so if the dwarves come home every day, why is the place so dirty with cobwebs?? HAHA she just assumed seven children were living in the forest all by themselves… isn’t she a child too?

Okay so basically this time around, as opposed to the Grimm’s version, Snow White throws herself into the preconceived womanized role by saying “if I clean the house maybe they’ll let me stay.” In the Grimm’s version, the Dwarves threw that role upon her, saying that she needed to clean around the house in order to stay. I honestly don’t know which one is worse, but they’re both pretty not okay. I guess Snow White is just doing this out of the kindness of her heart. Lol it’s kinda funny because I assumed Snow White was going to let the animals do all the work cleaning while she bossed around and that’s exactly what happened.

So in this version the dwarves have names and they portray those characteristics which is also a fairytale aspect that Disney added to make it kid friendly and allow us to better relate with the characters. Also these songs are pretty fire they’re gonna be in my head for a few days lol. The last dwarf seems significantly younger than the other six, I wonder if there’s any significance in that?

Wow those animals are pretty rude they didn’t even warn Snow White that the Dwarves were on their way home, they just left. Also I like how the Dwarves never assumed that it was a person in their house, just all irrational creatures that might’ve occupied their house. It seems like they’re disappointed that their house is clean??? If someone cleaned my house for free I’d be pretty happy. Those birds are pretty cruel to mess with the dwarves like that. Wait, were they hinting at the fact that Snow White is upstairs?? Wow I feel bad for dopey (apparently he can’t talk) but they were beating him up pretty badly.

I’m not sure but it seems to me that Snow White is animated differently from the dwarves… it seems like the dwarves have more details, but look more cartoony. LOLLL I like how Snow White thinks it’s perfectly okay to go into someone else’s house and just strike up a conversation with them like she’s known them their entire life. Apparently they’ve heard of the princess Snow White??? Grumpy seems to know a lot about the Queen. Relating to earlier as well, different from the Grimm’s version, Snow White offers herself to cook and clean and do the “womanized” chores around the house instead of the Dwarves forcing her to do so. I don’t understand how they’re okay with Snow White coming into their house and bossing them around. She’s acting like a mother figure forcing the old men to go wash their hands and supposedly she’s only a teenager… the surprising thing is that they’re willing to listen. I feel with grumpy so much right now… to kid’s he’s got an attitude, but he has every reason to be that way. The whole bath part was definitely a fairy tale addition by Disney.

I am extremely glad Disney didn’t show the heart, but that mirror cannot keep its mouth shut someone needs to go up there and break that thing 7 years of bad luck is worth it. Also rest in peace for the huntsman when the Queen finds him. Also glad she doesn’t eat the heart that would’ve been bad for children.

Apparently the queen is an advanced chemist/mad scientist as well?? In the Grimm’s version she just put on makeup to look old, I wonder if the changes are reversible now because they are chemical? Also different from the Grimm’s version, there is only one attempt at murder which is better than 3 (I guess?) attempted murder in a fairytale due to jealousy is still not okay for children in my opinion.

Snow White teaches children the wrong things about love because she implies that you fall in love with someone because of the way they look and that’s definitely a formula for breakups. Also I couldn’t really understand what she was singing in this song. At least the antidote is love’s first kiss and not TRUE love’s first kiss.

Snow White is praying? I didn’t know Disney portrayed religion into his movies.

Grumpy was right about the Queen the entire time about how she was a witch. They should’ve trusted him. Even Doc warned her before they left… and she still took the apple apparently… (haven’t gotten to that part yet.) Grumpy really does care!!! AWWWW

EW the Witch just barged in through the window she’s so nosy. I’m mad at Snow White. The Bird’s know something is up when they saw the vultures. OH they saved her. WHY’D SHE COME OUTSIDE!!!??? There’s no way. She’s taking advantage of Snow White’s kindness… what a terrible lady. The Witch is so suspicious I don’t know why Snow White is like this. Sleepy is a genius oh my goodness. I guess there is substance to when the Witch said your dreams will come true because her wish for true loves comes to fruition at the end. I wonder why none of the dwarves went to help snow white, but all of them went to chase the witch. Okay so the witch fell to her death and got eaten by vultures so she got what she deserved.

Wow I’m actually crying right now this is so sad :,((.

Ah! And here we see Disney, the man himself, the prince, to save the day. The man with the perfect voice… just strolls in happy as ever when all the other dwarves and animals are mourning. Okay so he just decides to go up and kiss the dead body. And he carries her off into the sunset. Perfect fairytale ending.

Why does Snow White just say goodbye to the dwarves after they so earnestly took care of her for all that time what a terrible girl and a terrible way to treat those who were so kind to you.

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER. The dwarves deserve to be treated better than that.

Rylee Bowen - Disney's Snow White

I really did not like watching Disney's Snow White. I understand that this movie came out a very long time ago, but it was actually painful watching it. I'm not talking about the quality of the animation or even the general storyline either. I'm talking about the characters and how Disney choose to develope them. The titular princess only managed to survive on her beauty and appearence.

Another thing that I found really interesting was the demeaning display that was put on for the dwarves. A teenage girl broke into 7 grown men's, with jobs, house and gave herself the role of their "mother." And the dwarves completely fed into this, with the exceotion of Grumpy. He seemed to be the only character to question the morals of the princess.

Disney added a lot of new ideas that differed from the Grimm Brother's original story. They made the queen magic and made this seem much less realistic. They also took out the part about torture and violent deaths and replaced it with the queen falling off a cliff, because the random event that lightning struck the stone in front of here. They also made the prince a more constant figure in the story by adding him to the beginning. They introduced him to Snow White much earlier to allow her to fall in love with this stranger and not question the prince's intentions. I know Walt Disney made the prince to resemble himself, which is a little freaky, but I don't see how. Even with the added dialogue and the new kiss, the prince only kissed a "dead" girl. I don't see the heroism in this.

Something that I have noticed that Disney does, even in its newer movies is use color to demonstrate traits. White represents purity and all things good. Red represents sex and adulthood. Black represents darkness and cruelty. And green, the neon kind, represents evil. Right when the huntsman was about to stab some white, his eyes glimmered green. Some more examples of this color arise with Maleficent, from Sleeping Beauty, to Tamatoa, the crab from Moana. Disney has personally given these colors meaning. Another common feature of Disney that started here, was the absent/dead parents and the evil step mothers. Snow White's father was nowhere to be found in this story. He just married a beautiful woman, who wanted to kill his daughter, and dipped?

The Disney Version of Snow White completely sends the wrong message to its viewers. It sends a message of dependency and neediness. It also shows that if you're beautiful, all of your dreams can come true. I would love to see Disney remake this to fit a modern view on feminism and consent. Does this story even need a prince with a castle at the end? Until then, don't watch this movie. This movie changed entertainment forever, but now I think it needs to display how people shouldn't act. This is not an ispiring story.

Charlotte Hagerty Disney's Snow White

Do you know you’ve finally grown up when the character you most connect with in Snow White is Grumpy? I often found myself relating to his sighs of annoyance and not-so-subtle grumbling. I disliked Disney’s Snow White for some of the same fundamental reasons that I disliked the book: the repeated stupidity of Snow White even after explicit warning, the enforcement of rigid gender roles, and the unnecessary length of the entire piece. However, as a viewer, I had a more favorable experience with the film than with the Grimm’s text. The visuals and audio were simply astounding for the 1930s and it made it clear to me how Walt Disney found his success. However, technological advances aside, I felt the bones of the story were improved by the development of the symbolism of the apple, the introduction of the mirror as a character, and the greater emphasis on the role of the dwarves.
I thought Disney’s development of the symbol of the apple with the addition of a wish fulfillment component, made me more understanding of why Snow White defied the dwarves’ warning to not trust any strangers. In the Grimm’s Snow White she takes the apple because it looked delicious. However, in Disney’s Snow White, not only is the apple visually appealing, but it also grants a wish to that person who eats it. Snow White is in a dire situation, so I do not blame her hope exceeding her ability to think logically. This wish fulfillment is the same reason that we as viewers buy into Disney movies, even though they may be outdated and problematic, at least some part of us hopes that these magical “Happily Ever Afters” will happen to us too.  
Another change that Disney made from the Grimms’ tale was turning the central symbol of the movie from the looking glass into a mirror. I cannot discern a difference between these two objects and I believe Disney most likely only changed the name as “mirror, mirror on the wall” has a better cadence. Semantics aside, looking glasses and mirrors serve the same function. Mirrors have been a longstanding symbol in literature and art, but generally, those who look into them are not looking for something “exact”, but for an idealized reality. The ancient Greeks told the story of Narcissus, a vain man who looked into a reflective pond and fell in love with himself, but he looked into his reflection to find gratification not reality. In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, the glass opened another world of mirror images where change of size and reversal of time occur– not reality. By nature, mirrors are an inverse of reality, where everything is flipped and delayed by an instant. However, in Snow White mirrors are used as the ultimate authority. The Evil Queen is willing, perhaps is even excited, to commit murder based on the information it giver her.  
Lastly, and this point is admittedly less analytical and more personal, but I loved the development of dwarves as characters. I did not remember how cute they were and how much they made me smile. Although there were certainly some aspects that were questionable —  such as the description and treatment of Dopey and the sexist quotes such as, “All females are full of wicked wiles”— they, on the whole made me smile throughout the whole movie. Additionally, by naming each dwarf Disney gave them each a distinct, loveable personality. And last, but not least, to Disney’s credit — both Hi-Ho and Someday My Prince Will Come really are amazing songs and I do not doubt they will be stuck in my head for days to come. Even as Grumpy was able to smile when he received a kiss on the head from Snow White, I too, received a glimmer of joy from Disney's Snow White.

Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves undoubtedly casts a spell on its audience. The film, when watched at face value, inspires feelings of innocence, purity, true love, good triumphing over evil, et cetera.

From the mines with dazzling gems of every color, the grandeur of the castle, the beauty of Snow White’s resting place, and the gorgeous sunset that she and the Prince ride of into, the graphics of this movie are irresistible. The color schemes of each scene clarify whether or not it is ‘pure’ or ‘evil’, allowing color to play a significant role in the plot. The Queen’s color scheme is very harsh and intense: deep greens, reds, and blacks. The dwarves’ cottage has a homey color scheme, with warmer colors from the fire and light present. In the mines, the gems are vibrant colors contrasting with the dark greys and blacks, and pastel flowers present in depictions of the enchanting forest. The color schemes reinforce the mysticism of the dwarves, the animals, the setting, and the forest while keeping each aspect feeling innocent and sweet to the audience.

Below the facade of cheerful chipmunks, happy little songs, and individualized gooseberry pies, however, lie deeply problematic gender roles and plot points. While Snow White is not 7 in this version, she is still quite young and foolish. She makes no decisions, she is a passive character, and she is subservient to each character she interacts with, except perhaps the adorable woodland animals. She only displays an opinion when she forces the dwarves to wash her hands. Other than that, she spends her time cooking, cleaning, and dreaming of the prince who will come save her. A small but aggravating detail was that Snow White barely opened her eyes- whenever she was speaking, she acted like Bashful, averting eye contact and keeping her eyes mostly closed.

What example is she setting for the little girls fixed to the movie screen? This subservient, opinionless stereotype is only perpetuated by Grumpy’s horrendous commentary throughout the entire movie: “Angel, ha! She's a female! And all females is poison! They're full of wicked wiles!” But it is revealed at the end that Grumpy secretly does love Snow White just as much as the other dwarves, which reminds me of the typical playground trope that boys will be mean to you if they like you. This does not teach young girls healthy ways to view themselves, their role in society, their potential, or the way they should interact with boys and men; nor does it teach little boys healthy ways to talk about or interact with women. It perpetuates male aggression and women-blaming (Grumpy’s quote above) while teaching girls to just hope males like them and not to stick up for themselves.

Further, the concept of True Love’s First Kiss does not reinforce the importance of consent. What is especially concerning about this consent-less kiss is that Snow White is actually brought to life by it. Her life was not just saved but completely renewed by the man who came to her aid when it was convenient for him and who put absolute minimum effort into reviving her. Both versions of this tale provide poor female and male role models to both little girls and little boys watching.

Katherine Tang, Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Watching the Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with the Grimm's version of Snow White in mind, I can agree with Zipes — the Disney version of film (specifically Snow White in this case) does indeed focus more on the medium of sharing the story rather than the storyline itself. Disney changed many aspects of the original fairytale including, but not limited to, its delivery, making it more approachable for kids and even altering the whole meaning and focus of the story. 

In the film, the audio — including the singing — and visuals were large focuses of the storytelling and this drew the storyline out greatly, dramatically slowing the plot development. The plot line was incredibly simple, yet the film somehow managed to take more than an hour and 20 minutes. Despite how awfully slowly the story was told, the added dimension of storytelling through audio and visual allowed for humor to come through (such as with the silly behavior of certain characters) and intensified certain scenes, such as the dwarfs’ chase of the evil queen that was enhanced by a stormy and rainy scene that written word could not possibly have visualized as vividly. Some scenes honestly took forever, like the scenes where Snow White cleaned the dwarfs’ house and where the dwarfs were working in the mine. Although it may have made it more entertaining for kids and flaunted the technology of the time, from the present day perspective, it just dragged the movie out for no reason. 

The original emphasis of the story seemed to shift in the Disney film, as the Grimm’s version focused more on the transition from innocence to womanhood, and while this was arguably the concept of the apple with the Disney version, Disney repeatedly stressed Snow White’s desperation for love — her “Prince”. The Prince was introduced early on, and the Queen also tempted Snow White with the hope for love, telling her that the apple will grant any wish. However, this simultaneously portrayed Snow White as helpless and reliant on others, spending the entire movie waiting for her true love — her Prince. This was just one of the many ways in which Disney instilled traditional gender norms of women being dependent and weak without men as their protector/head of the household. As in the original, Snow White still performed housework for validation from the dwarfs, and this unfortunately endorses to a demographic of young, impressionable kids what women’s roles “are” in the household, to cook and clean. The animals in the film were also all drawn to Snow White, suggesting her character to be gentle and innocent. In this aspect, the film only encourages the traditional view of how women “should” behave and act in a patriarchal society, specifically the “ideal” women who is tenderhearted and serves as a caretaker. 

Otherwise, Disney made some changes that could be viewed as more personal. For example, I noticed how there was no mention of Snow White’s father, and she doesn’t consider whether the “children” in the house in the woods have a father. Was this an intentional omission or just coincidental? In addition, Disney included religion in his retelling, as Snow White prayed before sleeping, which I likely reflected Disney’s own spiritual beliefs.

Although there are clearly questionable aspects of the film, including enforcing outdated and demeaning gender stereotypes for women, it is understandable that the Disney version became so popular, as it was much more entertaining and viewable for a varied demographic with the visual and audio effects and even comedic aspects. 

Caroline, Snow White & the Seven Dwarves (Disney)

When doing a remake, I typically recommend staying close to the original. In the case of Snow White & the Seven Dwarves, however, Disney didn't stray far enough. Although there is less attempted homicide than in the Grimms' version, the movie is similar to the literary fairy tale in that it revolves around misogyny, motifs and ideas too dark for children, and conflicting messages about Stranger Danger - it's okay to live with seven strange men but don't take anything from old ladies you don't know! In general, I think the movie does the literary version justice; the changes Disney made to the plot, in my opinion, don't alter the story's overarching themes or messages.

Perhaps the biggest change Disney made to the literary tale of Snow White that we discussed in class is his introduction of the prince at the beginning of the movie. While Disney's intent may have been inserting himself into his work, I actually appreciate the change. Introducing Snow White to the prince at the beginning provides at least some rationale for him kissing her at the end. It would have been nice if Snow White had shown interest in the prince and returned his flirting because that could have at least implied some consent to be kissed (but only kinda not really) later. But, if the prince is going to kiss a dead Snow White, I would like to think that he knew who she was and liked her when she was alive.

Other changes Disney made to the plot like the Queen only attempting to kill Snow White once or making Snow White older don't undermine the Grimm Brothers and their original intent behind the fairy tale. Snow White is still saved by a man in every near-death experience. She is also perfectly domesticated and subservient to men - possibly even more so than in the literary version. Although Snow White doesn't every lose her sense of innocence and purity in the movie by ordering the Queen to dance to death in hot iron shoes, women are still portrayed as vain and jealous. The dwarves are still entirely harmless and infatuated with Snow White in a platonic kind of way. 

I wouldn’t like to call this blog a defense of Disney and his retelling of Snow White – I find it problematic for all the same (many) reasons I find the literary version problematic – but I’m willing to give him some credit in this instance. While watching it, I can see with the shimmering of the minerals in the mine and ripples of water in the well that the movie was indeed all about the technology for him. I really don’t think Disney set out purposefully retell Snow White with his values and beliefs while erasing the Grimms’touch. Like all creators, I do think he let his biases and obsessions influence him to some degree when crafting the plot. But, at the end of the day Snow White represents the domesticated object that both the Grimms and Disney envision women to be in both versions of the story. 

Alex Rose, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney)

I have not seen Snow White since I was seven or eight years old. While re-watching it, Snow White’s characterization is extremely obvious in the first few minutes of the film. Snow White is defined by both her beauty and her innocence. In the beginning of the story Snow White is followed by doves as she walks to the well. As she sings into the well the prince approaches her because of her beauty. After she is expelled from the kingdom the huntsman is unable to kill her because of her beauty. As in the Brothers Grimm’s story Snow White’s beauty is the reason for so much of her good fortune.

Snow White is also portrayed as helpless. When she is spared by the huntsman she runs through the woods and sees all of these terrifying creatures. Instead of continuing to run she falls down and cries. She seems too helpless to fight the creatures of the night. In addition, she believes the evil witch about the apple. Even after the dwarfs tried to help her by telling her not to open the door to anyone, Snow White still succumbs to the witch’s lies and eats the apple.

The animals are another aspect of Disney’s Snow White that really stood out to me. Snow White starts out being followed by doves. She is then followed by a variety of birds and animals through the forest after she is exiled. The fact that the animals follow Snow White shows her innocence. She is so unintimidating and innocent that even the animals are not afraid of her. In addition to signifying her innocence the animals also seem to follow her because of her beauty. She is so beautiful that even the beautiful animals have to see her.

Snow White’s relationship with the dwarfs enforces gender stereotypes. When she arrives at their home, it is a mess. Snow White immediately begins to sweep up and clean the entire house. When she interacts with the dwarfs they allow her to stay if she continues to clean and cook for them. Snow White seems to enjoy these things as she cleaned without being asked the first time. This shows the gender stereotype of women to clean and cook and enjoy doing it. The dwarfs represent the working men. They don’t seem to care where they sleep or about the general cleanliness of their home they just care about making money.

Disney’s invention of “true love’s kiss” is literally explicitly stated in the story. When the witch/queen is making the poison apple to give to Snow White she reads that the only antidote is “love’s first kiss” and laughs at the idea. Disney’s main difference from the Brothers Grimm seems to be the apparent theme of love throughout the story. Snow White says she loves the prince early in the story and is ultimately saved by that love. Disney also uses magic throughout the story, but the magic seems to mostly be evil. The magic that has positive effects seems to be exclusively love.