There are probably a handful of movies that I can say actually changed my life. This is one of them.
It was the first movie my mom ever took me to see in the theaters. And it was the start of my love of all things Disney.
We arrived 15 or so minutes late and the theater manager agreed to let us stay for the first 20 minutes of the next showing.
My mom agreed, but she made me PROMISE that I would not cry or ask to stay and see the whole movie again. I was five. Of course I promised. Aaaand, of course I cried and begged to stay to see the rest of the movie again. (We didn't).
I remember the scene that was playing when we got there was one of the scary scenes. Snow White was running through the forest trying to escape the Huntsman and the woods were attacking her. (There seems to be a theme with me and the woods attacking girls -- see The Evil Dead). She makes it through the Haunted Forest and a bunch of animals wake her up and take her to a seemingly abandoned cabin in the woods. There's a long sequence of Snow and all the woodland creatures cleaning the place (because I want birds and chipmunks licking my dishes clean).
Eventually, the owners of the cabin come home from a long day of diamond mining and of course, they welcome Snow into their home with open arms, as long as she continues to cook and clean for them. Grumpy was a little hesitant, but he eventually warms up to her.
Here's where it gets good. The Evil Queen finds out that the Huntsman tricked her and didn't really cut out her heart (this is a children's movie, right?). The Mirror reveals that she's still alive, so naturally she decides to take matters into her own hands. If you want someone killed right, you've got to do it yourself. It is here that we learn the Evil Queen dabbles in the Dark Arts. She turns herself into an old hag (IRONY), grabs a poison apple and heads off to the dwarfs' cabin in the woods.
I think we all know how the rest of the story goes. Snow takes a bite, drops dead, the dwarfs are pissed, kill the Queen (isn't that kind of illegal?), the Prince shows up at the very end, kisses her, she wakes up and they live happily ever after.
Then I saw the first part of the movie where we establish that the Queen is really, really vain and does not care for Snow White at all. Snow meets the Prince for exactly one song and falls madly in love with him.
The Queen makes a deal with the Huntsman that he will take Snow out into the woods and bring back her heart. He feels guilty and so he tells Snow what's what and that she should hightail it out of the kingdom. Being the drama queen that she is, Snow starts to have a panic attack while running through the woods. Trees are grabbing her, logs look like crocodiles -- "OK, Kevin, it's time to go." "Can't we just stay for a few more minutes?" "No, let's go." Cue the waterworks...
It was this moment that I fell in love with all things Disney. This has stayed with me all my life and 6 years ago I made my dream of working for the Walt Disney Studios a reality. It's not always pixie dust and singing forest critters, but I've made some great friends there and I still love my job.
Why you should watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: It's a piece of cinematic history that firmly established Disney as one of the foremost studios in the world.
Why you should skip it: It was Adolf Hitler's favorite movie. Compared to animated films today, it's a little slow.
Did you know? The profits from this movie went to build the Disney Studios in Burbank, CA.
U.S. / RUNNING TIME: 83m
PRODUCER: Walt Disney
SCREENPLAY: Ted Sears, Richard Creedon
CAST: Roy Atwell, Stuart Buchanan, Adriana Caselotti, Eddie Collins, Pinto Colvig, Marion Darlington, Billy Gilbert, Otis Harlan, Lucille La Verne, James MacDonald, Scotty Mattraw, Moroni Olsen, Harry Stockwell
OSCAR: (honorary award - one statuette, seven miniature statuettes)
OSCAR NOMINATION: Frank Churchill, Leigh Hairline, Paul J. Smith (Music)
OSCAR: (honorary award - one statuette, seven miniature statuettes)
OSCAR NOMINATION: Frank Churchill, Leigh Hairline, Paul J. Smith (Music)
