Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Walt Disney's Masterpiece)

My first impression is that Disney has spent much time making this DVD user-friendly. There is an abundance of directions and drawings showing you what is on the disk and how to get there. Since there are two disks and a KINGDOM of information to pour through, these directions are very welcome (even to this seasoned DVD-viewer!)

Disney pulls out some familiar faces to make the experience as warm as possible: Disney himself appears in various footage; Angela Lansbury narrates the documentary and provides a "tour" of the disks; Michael Eisner shows up; and Barbra Streisand sings a specially recorded version of "Some Day My Prince Will Come".

SNOW WHITE, the movie, looks gorgeous and, although old fashioned, is quite wonderful. SNOW WHITE, the double-disk, is a lot of information to wade through. I am amazed at the amount of behind-the-scenes film that exists! Disney must have suspected that he was creating a classic - he filmed every aspect of it! I especially enjoy the HALL OF ART section. There are 3 halls of various story art (i.e. "The cottage"; "The castle"; "the Forest"; etc.) Although initially I found it hard to move from hall to hall, I eventually figured it out. The animated HALLS are extraordinary and the art that "hangs" there is incredible -- various renderings and attempts at bringing the story and locales of SNOW WHITE alive. It's even more incredible that Disney Co. held on to these papers for all these years.

Well, in case you can't tell, I highly recommend the special SNOW WHITE disks. You will spend days looking at everything that is included -- or you can opt to spend an hour and a half viewing the original,gorgeous film that started the Disney empire....



A Masterpiece gets the Treatment it Deserves   February 6, 2003
 41 out of 49 found this review helpful

The Disney Company has over used the term Masterpiece when referring to its own movies. But this one truly deserves that title. While its animation betray its age, the story and characters are still fun, and its place in history also makes it a must.

The story is simple and familiar. Snow White's wicket stepmother wants her killed because Snow White is "the fairest of them all." She is saved from this fate, and hides out with seven dwarfs. But will the queen find her and try to kill her?

Walt's genius here was in creating the characters. The dwarfs have very distinctive personalities, and some of the best scenes in the movie revolve around them. (The scene where they first come home is a classic.) The animals add some humor as well, especially when cleaning the cottage.

The plot moves along well, and when I first saw it in college, I was drawn into the story even though I knew the ending. I actually felt tears when the dwarfs were mourning Snow White.

By today's standards, the animation is flawed, especially for the prince. However, there are some truly beautiful scenes as well, particularly the sun set when the dwarfs are coming home. Fans of Disney in the 30's will recognize the feel of some of the silly symphony cartoons. The important thing to remember when watching this movie is its place in history. This is the first animated movie ever, produced when everyone thought no one would ever see it. The fact that we're still watching it is a testimony to Walt as a filmmaker and pioneer.

This DVD set is the perfect way to enjoy this movie. The picture and soundtrack have been lovingly restored, and look and sound incredible. The sound is presented in Dolby 5.1 and its original mono. I didn't notice that much difference between the two modes, but it's nice to have the option. The first disc also contains a wonderful audio commentary. Recorded interviews with Walt Disney are interspersed with comments from John Canemaker. I learned quite a bit about the film from this commentary. The second disc contains all you would ever want to know about the history of the film. They've got character design changes, completely abandoned concepts, deleted scenes, and information on the releases over the years to name a few things. I spent hours soaking up the information and enjoying every moment of it.

This is truly a classic movie that belongs in any film fan's library. Hurry and get this wonderful set before it disappears.


Snow White has bells! Snow White has whistles!   November 27, 2001
 20 out of 21 found this review helpful

You could never accuse the guys at Disney of being on the cutting edge of progressive social thought, but they sure knew about fun -- and the current crew augments that same idea of fun with the latest technology by coming up with the best bells and whistles I've seen on a DVD. There are two discs to hold it all -- pretty remarkable when you condsider that the movie itself is only 84 minutes long.

The movie looks and sounds great .... a beautiful restoration. Images are sharp, sound is clear. You can listen to the original mono soundtrack, or an improved digital track in English or French. If you choose French, even the opening sequence of a printed fairy tale book appears in French. Pretty cool.

The extras include Streisand singing 'Some Day My Prince Will Come'; a karaoke edition of 'Heigh Ho'; a 39-minute documentary about the making of the film narrated by Angela Lansbury; audio commentary by Walt Disney himself, pieced together from archived materials; an animated short used to test some of the animation; and Dopey's Wild Mine Ride -- a great little trivia/puzzle game -- and that's just the first disk!

The second disk is spectacular -- there are dozens of elements here, but I will mention (what I consider to be) the best: storyboard/film comparison; scenes deleted from the film (including a great scene of the dwarves making Snow White a bed, with comments penciled in by an animator); camera tests; featurettes about the voices, audio sessions, restoration of the film, and artistic concepts -- layouts, backgrounds, character sketches and development; publicity materials (posters, photos, trailers, radio commercials); and a timeline of the history of the film *and* Disney studios.

The amount (and quality) of extras is truly incredible; and there is a well-designed print brochure, as well as on-disk tours of the material, to help you find your way around.

This is a great version of a wonderful film -- and an exemplary use of the DVD format.

Highly recommended.