Heigh Hooooo-Boy!

Fine.

I don't usually do recent Disney Movie posts because of my obvious bias, but I'm gonna talk about Snow White... both of them.

This is because - unlike much of the gang who have been talking about them-  I have actually seen both Disney versions... and recently.

First of all, the 1937 original is easily both an amazing, groundbreaking masterpiece that still holds up in many ways, and also something filled with limitations as product of its time.

It looks gorgeous, the multiplane camera adds a depth to scenes that is as impressive today as it was when audiences had seen nothing like it. The visual effects they put into the imagery, like the Queen's transformation, remain staggeringly impressive. 

The Queen is terrifying, the Dwarfs are entertaining, and the songs are fun and catchy.  

It's also really short, due to the technical abilities and social expectations of the time. Therefore, it has a limited storyline and character development. Disney hadn't fully figured out how to accurately do realistic human animation yet, meaning a great deal of rotoscoping was used on Snow White, and especially the Prince. The combination of both of those things reduced the Prince's screen time (and therefore character), to leave room for all the stuff that did work magnificently. 

Snow White was voiced by an opera singer and designed as a relatable character for audiences in the midst of the Great Depression. That leads to her sounding and acting differently than a modern individual. To inspire the people of that time, a series of horrible things happen to her, yet she maintains her sweet and trusting nature, which translates to new connections with trustworthy and loyal friends, true love and a happily ever after.  Yes, its somewhat flimsy by current storytelling standards, but for the technological and societal situation it was created in, it works well. The film is a classic, deserving of the praise it received, and modern audiences can appreciate it, though kids likely would have multiple "why" inquiries throughout..

Now for this year's release.

My reaction to almost every "Live action remake" Disney has done is, "OK, that was nice, but why bother?"  The only full exceptions to that are the Tim Burton films-

I already had a huge collection of adaptations of Alice in Wonderland. That story, like A Christmas Carol, begs individual creators to put their own stamp on it.

And his version of Dumbo was so unlike the original as to be a separate and interesting, if very Tim Burtony, tale. 

The new Snow White is probably the best "live action" adaptation they've done. It pays tribute to many great parts of the original, (often expertly using a shot for shot visual in the correct places) and remains a true fairy tale, while expanding the story, setting, and existing characters. New characters were added in to flesh things out as part of the expansion, both from other versions of the tale, and freshly created.  

There is a distinction between: 

dwarfs- a human that is genetically a little person, 

and 

dwarfs- a race of small magical people from European folklore.

This film understands that distinction, and both appear. 

The ideas of Snow White being helped by outlaws and her name coming from a winter storm are from different sources of the story than the Grimm Fairy Tale the 1937 film is based on. However, there are songs, moments and characters taken straight from that cartoon. The Seven Dwarves look like the originals and are still a total delight. That shot for shot recreation of Snow White's night of terror in the woods was even scarier in "live action." (The tree...*shudder*)

The new film is longer, and therefore can expand the narrative. Because of that, it does have additional time to spend developing Snow White and Jonathan's devotion to kindness and how their relationship does grow into "true love."  (This is implied  with the Prince by short scenes in the original, as best as the available time would allow, but it's one of the areas that can feel rushed to a modern viewer.)

Jonathan (who we saw in Camelot and continues to be awesome) is not a prince. Snow White is a princess, and part of her expanded story is she is the rightful ruler of the land. She still falls in love. (And still quietly hums "Someday My Prince Will Come" in a couple of scenes- Thank you Anabelle for pointing that out.) With the longer running time we do get to see the difference between the "good and kind" kingdom run by her parents, and the authoritarian nightmare the queen turns it into. Snow White doesn't only get her happily ever after, but, with her allies, restores the kingdom to its "good and kind" status, never losing her own kindness or ability to trust in others, and using those cores of her personality to affect that change.

The new songs by Pasek and Paul are just as good as their work on The Greatest Showman. They made some similar choices to the Mary Poppins stage musical of shifting one of the iconic Snow White solo songs around to avoid a direct comparison. "Whistle While You Work" is now an ensemble with Snow and the Dwarfs. It works (and whistles) excellently, adding some character development to Dopey as well. As mentioned "Some Day My Prince Will Come" got cameos. "I'm Wishing" is the very first song in a Disney animated feature, and is rightfully left alone and not used.

Similarly, "A Silly Song" is embedded in a longer celebratory scene. Meanwhile, "Heigh Ho" gets an extension that is both a lot of fun and ties the film into the Mine Train ride at Disney World. 

As for the lead, Snow White is Snow White. She's sweet, kind, innocent, but strong under duress, and doesn't lose those characteristics during and after hardship. She's also got an outstanding singing voice and (in footage I've seen from outside the film)  treated any little kid fans she has met perfectly. 

I can't believe I saw complaints that the Wicked Queen was hammy and over the top. She's the Wicked Queen, that's what she's designed for. She has to be both fun to watch, AND terrifying. And - of course she's beautiful. That's her whole point, she's so obsessed with vanity, she destroys her own beauty out of jealousy, and never realizes being evil and cruel has far more impact than what she looks like in preventing her from being the "Fairest in the land." Having her slowly shift into the Iconic outfit from the cartoon during her song was impressive.

Anyway, both movies are worth a watch. Both are visually stunning and have a lot of fantastic music, scary moments and a huge amount of fun. YAY!