Live Blog & Response to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

When I think of the themes of a Disney film, the first things that come to my mind are innocence and wonder. I envision childish themes of love, adventure and happiness – all sugar coated and presented through the playful medium of animation. What I do not expect is mature undertones as well as the themes of death, murder, envy, retribution and hatred. Yet, when the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is stripped of its animated charm, the true concealment of very mature and terrifying themes are exposed. This is the first time I have seen Snow White, which gives me the unique ability to evaluate the film compared to what I expect of a Disney film. My reaction is one of astonishment and bemusement. I wonder what my reaction would be if I were a young child watching the film. I think I would have cried and covered my eyes if I fully understood the story and wasn’t transfixed by the façade of the animation. Overall, I am fascinated by the breadth of themes in the film and alarmed at the message that Disney is presenting to its audience.

Before I watched Disney’s animation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs I read the original fairy tale by the Brothers’ Grimm. I was transfixed by the story and its adult themes. I had to consider the intended audience of such a work. I find it hard to believe that this is appealing to children, especially with the diction of ‘knife’, ‘kill’, ‘lungs and liver’. Along with these morbid descriptions, the story has shallow and disturbing themes. This is evident as the queen’s ‘hatred’ is association with a competition of ‘beauty’. Furthermore the theme of deception is prominent in the queen’s master plan to murder Snow White out of pure jealousy. Studying the story as a young adult I have the ability to recognize that it has a very important moral – the dangers of envy – but I am left to consider how a young audience, hypnotized by the art form of animation and less aware of the themes of the story, respond to Disney’s animation of the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The subsequent descriptions are a live blog of me watching the film. I have paused the film periodically to write down what I have seen, themes I have uncovered and share how I am feeling

Live Blog

In the opening scenes of the movie, the film exposes a plethora of themes. There is the arrogant queen concerned with vanity and the beautiful Snow White - pure and innocent - who’s beauty attracts the birds and who begins to sing in her merriment. In addition, there is love at first sight between Snow White and the handsome Prince.     

              

Characterization is prominent from the outset of the film. The queen is presented in the dark depths of her room and speaks with bitterness and jealousy. Snow White is presented in nature, conveying her natural beauty and purity, she has an affinity with nature and animals, from the birds to the rabbits. Her voice is very high pitched and soft showing her youthful charm.

The film exposes the idea of gender roles as Snow White takes on the position of maid and cleans the dwarf’s room. There is the inexplicit message that women work in the home while the men, in this case the seven dwarfs, work laboriously to earn money by mining for gold. Snow White takes on the domestic duty, which is consistent with the perception of women that was widely held in the 1930’s. This is the first time I have seen Disney’s conservative ideals presented and I am disturbed by the conservative values it perpetuates.

While I write my criticism, I find myself almost wanting to whistle with the tune of the music. This shows some of the magic of Disney. Mixed in with the story is the adorable portrayal of the clumsy turtle, the majesty of all the animals and the iconic melodies. The animation, comedic relief (dopey) and complementary music all make the film visually, audibly and aesthetically pleasing, making it so appealing. However it also served to extenuate the vast differences in the storyline and the visual representation of the storyline.       

Gender roles return to the film, 

“she’s a female and all females are poison – they’re full of wicked whiles”

“else she’ll kill me”

“shut up and tell her to get out”

“she’s an old witch… full of black magic”

Grumpy is particular rude to Snow White saying:

‘women… huh… a fine kettle of fish’

The dwarves treat Snow White poorly, but she remains adorable and innocent. Her value to the dwarves is emphasized when she cooks, expressing a very shallow perception and appreciation of women. Snow White is concerned with properness and cleanliness, telling the dwarves to wash their hands. Her domestic duty is reinforced.

The queen is the villain – women villains are prominent in Disney films. I wonder if this is just coincidence or if there is a motive behind Disney’s commonplace representation of women as the villain. The dark magic of the queen is in stark contrast to the jovialness of the dwarves and Snow White. The queens plot to deceive and murder Snow White is quite confronting. ‘Let the sleeping death seep through’. The queen is draped in black with a coarse voice, residing in a filthy basement, accompanied solely by a rugged crow. When the queen gets Snow White to eat the apple, the scene turns dark, with the pathetic fallacy of a storm, lightning and thunder. Accompanied with this is the death of Snow White and the Evil Stepmother Queen. I am again forced to return to the mature themes of the movie and how this is quite scary for a young audience.

Snow White’s love story recount presents a superficial portrayal of the genders:

The Prince is:

‘charming’

‘the only one for me’

‘strong and handsome’

‘big and tall’

‘nobody like him anywhere at all’

‘someday my Prince will come’

‘away to his castle we’ll go, to be happy forever I know’

‘birds will sing and wedding bells will ring’

Males are shown to be infallible and full of great qualities

Women are shown to be dependent on males. Their objective is to meet a man and be married - only then can they be content. Women are also shown to be gullible as Snow White eats the apple because she thinks it will make her dream come true of finding her prince.        

Characteristically, the handsome prince comes to the rescue and the film ends happily ever after with the heterosexual marriage of prince and princess.

After watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, I can more clearly see the formula for a successful Disney movie. The plot is fairly predictable: introduce iconic characters, then the villain, create some conflict and then a resolution. Added elements of humor, singing and romance are then added to hook the audience. Yet this description omits the more subtle undertones that the attend viewer observes. There is the pervasive promotion of conservative ideals, particularly concerning gender and there is also the moral to the story – good defeating evil, purity conquering jealousy and love overcoming hatred.

I have enjoyed examining this film from a more critical perspective. I was initially hesitant to live blog my thoughts and analyse this film. I would much rather just sit and observe. However I have come to appreciate and value the need to deconstruct this film and Disney in order to gain a more nuanced understanding. What has surprised me the most are the very mature themes of death, jealousy, hatred and retribution. There is a lot more to Disney’s first animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs than another love story. I am starting to see, like Henry Giroux has suggested, the need to recognize Disney films as powerful mediums influencing child culture. Furthermore I can see that there is much more to the Disney Corporation than just an animation studio. There are very intentional representations of gender roles and expectations expressing the conservative values of the company. I look forward to sharing my thoughts with my class and hearing what my classmates have taken from the film.