Let's discuss the artwork first. Let me start off by saying that this film is absolutely gorgeous, it's held up incredibly well for being made about eighty years ago. The backgrounds seem to vary with who's being portrait on screen. When Snow White is appearing the backgrounds are bright, full of color, and filled with flowers, birds, and bright sunshine. However, when we're dealing with the Queen, our backgrounds are dark, heavy oppressive colors are used, and there is a distinct lack of natural sunshine. Instead, she's closeted away focusing on her magic mirror, instead of what's outside of her castle. The amount of work that went into these backgrounds must have been incredible. Everything had to be hand painted or drawn, and it hardly seems like anything is recycled. The dwarfs we see mostly in the mines, and in wide open spaces, giving us a glimpse into their wild outdoor life.
I will say one thing that throws me off about the animation in this movie is how eerily Snow White and The Prince look and feel. Their faces lack detail, and the movements seem way to smooth to be natural. Now, due to when the movie was made and the lack of training that animators originally had, they used early rotoscoping when dealing with Snow White and The Prince. The Queen was the only one out of the bunch that was traditional animated the entire way through. However, she still seems a bit off due to the lack of detail in her face. Due to this, there are some areas where Snow White can be saying something and it looks very realistic, whereas The Queen may be saying something, and the lips hardly move. It's a bit off putting, but nothing that pulls away from the film in any great sense.
There are some effects of the movie, such as the smoke in the Magic Mirror, that look to be rotoscoped as well, but these seem to work in favor of the film over all. The water effects and the effects in the mirror are fantastic. They're wavy, have some fantastic reflective qualities, and feel very real for what this is. Weather it be the rivers that run through the woods that we catch glimpses of, or the falling water from the rain or from the little water falls that we're shown, the glimmer, and shine of the water is always very eye catching. We also get some lovely smoke details when we're viewing the mirror, or inside The Queens dungeon when she's making her potion. While the smoke doesn't look totally realistic, it does provide an effective touch at giving us something that seems like it's almost within our grasp. The effects in this movie are genuinely fantastic, and have stood the test of time incredibly well. I almost wish these effects would've been used more with Disney movies that came out after it.
As far as the plot of this film goes, I feel that it's all over the place with pacing. We start off with The Queen talking at her Magic Mirror. We have no name, no idea who she is, or anything at all. We then find out she wants to be fairer than Snow White, and we're instantly thrown into a new situation with Snow White and her Prince, all within the space of five to seven minutes. To me, it feels rushed; I want more character building. It would be nice to help me feel more attached to Snow White. My first impressions of her just leave me with a feeling of "I don't really care what happens to this girl." Sure, I get that The Queen hates her, and that she really has no justifiable reason to other than just wanting to be the fairest in the land, but it does leave the plot feeling lacking. (Side Note: Again, I understand that there's not much to pull from here, especially since the original fairy tale only provides that The Queen wants to be the fairest in the land.)
It slows down immensely when we're introduced to the dwarfs, and doesn't feel like it picks up again until we get to The Queen in her dungeon. We go through the transformation scene, and get to the finale, all in good time, then it just seems to rush the end. We just know that the dwarfs kept Snow White in a coffin until The Prince arrived again. Sure I get that there's nothing here to really interact with, but it feels like the grief that the dwarfs are feeling is just kinda brushed over. I will say the pacing doesn't kill the film by any means, and I'm sure part of this was all about Disney finding their way through trial and error.
Music-wise, I'd say this is where the film holds up the least. The music is pretty dated, and other than one or two catchy songs, it's not something I'd find myself actively humming through the day, or going through Spotify, or Google Music to listen to. I will fully say the orchestral scores work very well with the movie. The Queens theme lends an excellent tone of foreboding and dread, while Snow Whites simple and innocent melody lends you insight to how pure she is. Overall the music is good, but not something I'd go out of my way to look for. It's not overly catchy, and some of it is so forgettable, that even after watching this movie just an hour or two ago, that I've already forgotten some of the tracks.
My overall thoughts on this movie? It's aged incredibly well, and is a fantastic place to start this journey. Before re-watching this I honestly thought I was going to hate it, I didn't have any fond memories of it, and didn't think my mind would change. However, I'm glad that that's changed. The movie is simple, full of innocence, beauty, and fantastic art. Sure the story is a little rushed at times, and there are some very minor issues that I have with the film, but I still really enjoyed going back over this. The animation is beautiful, and I can find myself getting lost in the background work, as much as the characters themselves. The issues I do have with the movie I can easily forgive as this was a huge undertaking. Nothing like this had ever been made, and if it hadn't succeeded we may have never ended up with these kinds of movies.
I will say one thing that throws me off about the animation in this movie is how eerily Snow White and The Prince look and feel. Their faces lack detail, and the movements seem way to smooth to be natural. Now, due to when the movie was made and the lack of training that animators originally had, they used early rotoscoping when dealing with Snow White and The Prince. The Queen was the only one out of the bunch that was traditional animated the entire way through. However, she still seems a bit off due to the lack of detail in her face. Due to this, there are some areas where Snow White can be saying something and it looks very realistic, whereas The Queen may be saying something, and the lips hardly move. It's a bit off putting, but nothing that pulls away from the film in any great sense.
There are some effects of the movie, such as the smoke in the Magic Mirror, that look to be rotoscoped as well, but these seem to work in favor of the film over all. The water effects and the effects in the mirror are fantastic. They're wavy, have some fantastic reflective qualities, and feel very real for what this is. Weather it be the rivers that run through the woods that we catch glimpses of, or the falling water from the rain or from the little water falls that we're shown, the glimmer, and shine of the water is always very eye catching. We also get some lovely smoke details when we're viewing the mirror, or inside The Queens dungeon when she's making her potion. While the smoke doesn't look totally realistic, it does provide an effective touch at giving us something that seems like it's almost within our grasp. The effects in this movie are genuinely fantastic, and have stood the test of time incredibly well. I almost wish these effects would've been used more with Disney movies that came out after it.
As far as the plot of this film goes, I feel that it's all over the place with pacing. We start off with The Queen talking at her Magic Mirror. We have no name, no idea who she is, or anything at all. We then find out she wants to be fairer than Snow White, and we're instantly thrown into a new situation with Snow White and her Prince, all within the space of five to seven minutes. To me, it feels rushed; I want more character building. It would be nice to help me feel more attached to Snow White. My first impressions of her just leave me with a feeling of "I don't really care what happens to this girl." Sure, I get that The Queen hates her, and that she really has no justifiable reason to other than just wanting to be the fairest in the land, but it does leave the plot feeling lacking. (Side Note: Again, I understand that there's not much to pull from here, especially since the original fairy tale only provides that The Queen wants to be the fairest in the land.)
It slows down immensely when we're introduced to the dwarfs, and doesn't feel like it picks up again until we get to The Queen in her dungeon. We go through the transformation scene, and get to the finale, all in good time, then it just seems to rush the end. We just know that the dwarfs kept Snow White in a coffin until The Prince arrived again. Sure I get that there's nothing here to really interact with, but it feels like the grief that the dwarfs are feeling is just kinda brushed over. I will say the pacing doesn't kill the film by any means, and I'm sure part of this was all about Disney finding their way through trial and error.
Music-wise, I'd say this is where the film holds up the least. The music is pretty dated, and other than one or two catchy songs, it's not something I'd find myself actively humming through the day, or going through Spotify, or Google Music to listen to. I will fully say the orchestral scores work very well with the movie. The Queens theme lends an excellent tone of foreboding and dread, while Snow Whites simple and innocent melody lends you insight to how pure she is. Overall the music is good, but not something I'd go out of my way to look for. It's not overly catchy, and some of it is so forgettable, that even after watching this movie just an hour or two ago, that I've already forgotten some of the tracks.
My overall thoughts on this movie? It's aged incredibly well, and is a fantastic place to start this journey. Before re-watching this I honestly thought I was going to hate it, I didn't have any fond memories of it, and didn't think my mind would change. However, I'm glad that that's changed. The movie is simple, full of innocence, beauty, and fantastic art. Sure the story is a little rushed at times, and there are some very minor issues that I have with the film, but I still really enjoyed going back over this. The animation is beautiful, and I can find myself getting lost in the background work, as much as the characters themselves. The issues I do have with the movie I can easily forgive as this was a huge undertaking. Nothing like this had ever been made, and if it hadn't succeeded we may have never ended up with these kinds of movies.
-AJ
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