Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)

1937 American animated film

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film that was the first full-length Disney animated film ever made. It is about Snow White who, pursued by a jealous queen, hides with seven dwarfs. The queen feeds her a poisoned apple, and only true love's kiss from a Prince can save her.

Lips red as the rose.
Hair black as ebony.
Skin white as snow.
~ Magic Mirror on the Wall
   describing Snow White
When she breaks the tender peel, to taste the apple in my hand, her breath will still, her blood congeal.  Then I'll be fairest in the land!
Directed by David Hand.  Written by Ted Sears, Richard Creedon, Otto Englander, Dick Rickard, Earl Hurd, Merrill De Maris, Dorothy Ann Blank, and Webb Smith.  Adapted from the fairytale by the Brothers Grimm.
The Happiest, Dopiest, Grumpiest, Sneeziest movie of the year. (taglines)

Snow White edit

  • Oh, what adorable little beds!  And look, they have their names carved on them.  "Doc", "Happy", "Sneezy", "Dopey"—[laughs]  What funny names for children!  …"Grumpy", "Bashful", and "Sleepy".  I'm a little sleepy myself.  [yawns, lies across three of the beds]

The Queen / Witch edit

  • Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?
  • Now, a formula to transform my beauty into ugliness, change my queenly raiment to a peddler's cloak. [finds the 'Peddler's Disguise Formula' in her book] "Mummy dust to make me old. To shroud my clothes, the black of night. To age my voice, an old hag's cackle. To whiten my hair, a scream of fright. A blast of wind, to fan my hate! A thunderbolt, to mix it well. Now, begin thy magic spell.
  • [disguised as a witch] When she breaks the tender peel, to taste the apple in my hand, her breath will still, her blood congeal. Then I'll be fairest in the land! [cackles, then pauses] But wait! There may be an antidote. Nothing must be overlooked. [looks through her book] Ah! Here it is! [reads the antidote aloud] "The victim of the Sleeping Death can be revived only by Love's First Kiss." [to herself] "Love's First Kiss…" [slams book shut] Bah! No fear of that. The dwarfs will think she's dead. She'll be buried alive!

The Dwarfs edit

 
Heigh ho,
Heigh ho,
It's home from/off to work we go!
~ The Seven Dwarfs
  • Heigh ho, heigh ho,
    It's home from/off to work we go!

Dialogue edit

[First lines]
Queen: Slave in the magic mirror, come from the farthest space, through wind and darkness I summon thee. Speak! Let me see thy face.
[the face in the Magic Mirror appears before the queen]
Magic Mirror: What wouldst thou know, my Queen?
Queen: Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?
Magic Mirror: Famed is thy beauty, Majesty. But hold, a lovely maid I see. Rags cannot hide her gentle grace. Alas, she is more fair than thee.
Queen: Alas for her. Reveal her name.
Magic Mirror: Lips red as the rose. Hair black as ebony. Skin white as snow.
Queen: Snow White!

Queen: Take her far into the forest. Find some secluded glade where she can pick wildflowers.
Huntsman: Yes, Your Majesty.
Queen: And there, my faithful huntsman, you will kill her!
Huntsman: But, Your Majesty, the little princess!
Queen: Silence! You know the penalty if you fail.
Huntsman: Yes, Your Majesty.
Queen: But to make doubly sure you do not fail,... [holds up an empty box] ...bring back her heart in this.

 
Don't touch it, you fools!  Might be poison.
~ Grumpy on the food
   cooking in their kitchen
[the dwarves inspect their newly cleaned kitchen]
Happy: Our windows been washed.
Bashful: Gosh. Our cobwebs is missing.
Doc: Why, the whole place is clean.
Grumpy: There's dirty work afoot.
Sneezy: Sink's empty. Hey! Someone stole our dishes!
Happy: They ain't stole. They're hid in the cupboard.
Bashful: [picks a cup from within the cupboard] My cup's been washed. [puts his finger in it to see no sugar inside] Sugar's gone!
Happy: [sees a pot cooking over the fireplace] Something's cookin'. [sniffs] Smells good!
[he and Dopey walk toward it and attempt to have a taste of it; Grumpy jumps in front of them to stop from tasting it]
Grumpy: [jumps in front of them] Don't touch it, you fools! Might be poison!
[the pot hisses; the three dwarves jump back as the pot's lid clangs loudly]
Grumpy: See? It's witch's brew.

[Fade to the Queen's castle, throne room. The Queen is standing before the Magic Mirror, holding the box she gave to Humbert the Huntsman]
Queen: Magic Mirror on the wall, who now is the fairest one of all?
Magic Mirror: Over the seven jeweled hills, beyond the seventh fall, in the cottage of the seven dwarfs, dwells Snow White, fairest one of all.
Queen: Snow White lies dead in the forest. The Huntsman has brought me proof. [opens the box] Behold, her heart.
Magic Mirror: Snow White still lives, the fairest in the land. 'Tis the heart of a pig you hold in your hand.
Queen: The heart of a pig?! Then I've been tricked!
[Grimhilde runs down a spiral staircase into the basement. As she reaches the end, she goes through a door into a secluded laboratory. Sitting on a skull is Grimhilde's pet, a crow, who awakens with a start as the Queen shuts the door behind her]
Queen: The heart of a pig! The blundering fool! [throws the box down in outrage] I'll go myself to the dwarfs' cottage in a disguise so complete no one will ever suspect.

 
He was so romantic.  I could not resist.
Snow White on the Prince
Snow White: [tells the dwarfs a story] Once there was a princess.
Doc: Was the princess you?
Snow White: And she fell in love.
Sneezy: Was it hard to do?
Snow White: Oh, it was very easy. Anyone could see that the prince was charming. The only one for me.
Doc: Was he, um, strong and handsome?
Sneezy: And was he big and tall?
Snow White: There's nobody like him anywhere at all.
Bashful: Did he say he loved ya?
Happy: Did he steal a kiss?
Snow White: [sings] He was so romantic. I could not resist.

Taglines edit

  • The Happiest, Dopiest, Grumpiest, Sneeziest movie of the year.
  • The Best Loved Musical Of All Time
  • The Show Sensation Of The Generation!
  • Walt Disney's First Full Length Feature Production
  • Behold – The Miracle Of The Movies! – Coming To Amaze You, Charm You, Thrill You!
  • The One That Started It All

About edit

  • "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was immediately hailed as a masterpiece.  (The Russian director Sergei Eisenstein called it the greatest movie ever made.)  It remains the jewel in Disney's crown, and although inflated modern grosses have allowed other titles to pass it in dollar totals, it is likely that more people have seen it than any other animated feature.  The word genius is easily used and has been cheapened, but when it is used to describe Walt Disney, reflect that he conceived of this film, in all of its length, revolutionary style and invention, when there was no other like it—and that to one degree or another, every animated feature made since owes it something.
  • Snow White is the perfect embodiment of 1930s culture.

Cast edit

Seven dwarfs edit

External links edit