Disney has made a lot of films. While everyone has their favorites from childhood, it can be daunting when diving into the vast library to know whether you are going to find a classic or a dud. I've decided to begin the task of watching every Disney film, to find where the best films of each time period lie. Which ones deserve to be unearthed and remembered and which ones deserve to stay locked in the Disney vault? And when I say every film, I mean
every theatrical film. Animated. Live action. Documentaries.
I will only be looking at films released under the Walt Disney Pictures title, so none of their spinoff companies will make the cut off (Touchstone, Miramax, Marvel, etc.), although there will be some rare exceptions for unique collaborations that may not be on the official list (provided they are the best Disney film of that year). I'll only present one film per year, but I'm sure I'll chime in at the end with some great films that got overlooked or some of the truly terrible flicks.
1937 is an easy year because we only have one representative. And, being the first feature length animated film of all time, it would be hard not to acknowledge
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
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Best Character: Grumpy
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Since the movie is based on a fairy tale, none of the characters are very well-rounded. They all have simple personalities and simple desires. Even if the Queen is frightening to behold, she isn't very compelling as an individual person. Even the dwarves, who were updated to have distinct personas in the film, are only memorable by virtue of their more exciting personality traits. We'd rather watch someone be "sleepy" or "bashful" than be bland like our Prince. But the only dynamic character in the whole story is Grumpy.
Yes, Dopey might be the funniest and most adorable of the dwarves, but Grumpy has the strongest arc in the film. In the theatrical trailer for the film, Walt saves Grumpy and Dopey for last when explaining the characters, because he knew that these would be the characters kids would remember. He describes Grumpy as a "woman-hater," which is an interesting choice of words. Grumpy is bitter and rude to everyone, but he also has a strong misogynistic streak. He considers all women to be "witches" and is the most resistant to Snow White's attempts to, in his mind, feminize the household. Like a petulant child, it's easy to read Grumpy's behavior as a reaction to his lack of control with the mother figure starts taking the lead. Even so, it's satisfying when we see the cracks in his armor, like when he becomes less combative with Snow White and disguises his concern for her well-being as a snippy order.
This completely pays off when the dwarves learn that the Queen has discovered Snow White and Grumpy immediately takes charge of the dwarves, while a flustered Doc fails to pull himself (and the group) together. Many people complain that the Prince is too non-existant of a character to be the romantic hero of the story, and when you see the way that Grumpy valiantly rides a deer like a horse into battle and dives headfirst into a fight with the Queen, one wonders whether the Prince is even needed at all.
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This movie introduced a few instant classics, with "Whistle While You Work" and "Someday My Prince Will Come," but "Heigh-Ho" probably works the best, due to it's iconic status. This is our first introduction to the dwarves, and while we don't see most of their personalities yet (save for Dopey), we establish the concept of the dwarf as a mythical creature. They dig and mine all day, collecting precious jewels, and they have no idea what they are doing it for. They don't spend their riches. They don't even seem to recognize that the jewels can be used for monetary reasons. We are in a marvelous new fantasy world now, filled with glimmering gems and tiny underground spirits.
The song itself is also simple and catchy. While people may cover "Someday My Prince Will Come" as a gorgeous love song, it's probably not a song you'll think of on a daily basis. Maybe it's just me, but I cannot imagine going to work without "Heigh-Ho" rattling around in my brain. The marching sequence is used in every commercial or retrospective that references the film. Dopey struggling to stay in step is far more engaging than the dwarves lounging about, watching Snow White sing.
Best Quote: "Now I'll be fairest in the land!" - The Queen
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I was tempted to go with a funny exchange or quote, but this quote exemplifies the fairy tale origins of the story as well as the modern perspective on the tale. The film doesn't make a big deal out of the irony at play in the Queen disfiguring herself into an ugly hag in order to become the most beautiful person in the world. She never explicitly mentions that she'll change back into her beautiful form (and she never gets a chance to). So blinded by her hatred of Snow White, the Queen has lost the point of her original dream. Most of the non-dwarf dialogue is straight-forward exposition and fairy tale speak, so it's the sight of seeing this wretched old creature delight and now being "the fairest in the land" that makes this quote work on a deeper level. One almost gets the sense that there is an underlying message of being unable to fight the effects of age, and you can only succeed in growing older, not younger.
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You can tell that Walt Disney put a lot of time and effort into this project in order to prove that a cartoon can work on a feature length level, because this movie is beautiful. The next batch of movies in the animated Disney canon don't have nearly as many intricate backgrounds that attempt at realism. These are paintings come to life. Since I had seen the movie many times as a child, I found my mind wandering during the story and focusing on all of the little touches put into the world of Snow White. The Queen's castle is marvelous, both in it's exterior and interior, but I just love the dwarves' cottage with all of the intricate wood carvings.
Combine the setting of the cottage with the various animal antics during the song, and you have a glorious piece of animation. First, I was just mesmerized at the continuity of keeping track of dozens of animals performing unrelated actions. In later films, you're bound to spot some animation errors for a frame or more, but everything is treated with the utmost care. The little bits of the animals doing their various tasks are amusing as well, and I just love the look on that one chipmunk's face when he falls into the hanging sock.
Most Disney-like Moment: The Off-Screen Deaths of the Queen (and Snow White!)
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When people think of something as "Disney-fied," they imagine a sweet, toned down version of mature concepts. But they forget that Disney has a dark streak that runs through a lot of its films, and one of those recurring motifs is when the villain falls to their death. They never explicitly say that the character has died, but they have to get across the finality of the moment without being too graphic. The Queen's demise sets this trope in motion, by having lightning strike the cliff's edge (not her) so that she falls. Then the boulder she was trying to crush the dwarves with falls. Finally, the two vultures who have been following her look at each other in agreement and swoop down to her. All elements to suggest a death without showing it.
But an even stranger version of this cliche happens earlier when Snow White eats the poisoned apple. Even though she doesn't die in the traditional sense, the audience is still spared from seeing her "death." After she agrees to take a bite, the camera remains fixed on the Queen's expression. We only hear Snow White succumb to the poison, and we don't see her again until after she has collapsed, and even then we only see her hand. It is a bizarre directorial choice, and my only assumption is that they didn't want the audience to think for one moment that something fatal could happen to Snow White.
Most Un-Disney-like Moment: The Heart of Snow White
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To be fair, this is moment is toned down from the version found in the original story (where the Queen demands the huntsman bring her Snow White's lungs and liver and then she eats them!), but still, requesting that her servant just kills a teenage girl in cold blood and brings back the heart as proof is a little too gritty by Disney standards. Obviously, this is the first film and there hadn't really been many standards yet, but after doing silly cartoons for the previous 10 years, Disney presents a moment that is unsettlingly realistic. This is probably the reason many people feel the Queen is one of the best Disney villains, because while others have stooped to murder, none have been so nonchalantly gory about it.
Strongest Element: Dopey's Antics
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Since cartoons were traditionally seen as a medium to tell jokes in a short duration, plot was of very little importance. And even in
Snow White, you can tell that the plot is just the framework to support the beautiful animation, the gorgeous songs, and the funny moments. The clunky pace of the movie makes it seem as if we are just jumping from one short to the next. Before the dwarves are introduced, the forest animals take the role of comedic relief, exploring and cleaning the house. Then we get a series of "dwarf cartoons." You can almost see the titles: "The Dwarfs in
A Beast in the Bedroom!" or "The Dwarfs in
All Washed Up!" Fortunately, this was what Disney did best at the time, and he even made a point to emphasize the dwarf gags, paying anyone who came up with a good joke for the movie. But only one dwarf got most of the attention.
Dopey, of course, steals the show. There is never a dull moment when Dopey is in frame. He was one of the last dwarfs added to the roster, so you knew that the Disney team was struggling to come up with that one character to make the movie tick. He is such a comedic tour-de-force, consistently calling on his Harpo Marx shtick to keep the movie afloat. This isn't to say that he solely carries the film, but even in the initial marketing for the movie, Disney knew that Dopey was special. The film goes out of it's way to be careful not to present Dopey as someone with a mental affliction, but he is just the embodiment of childish behavior. The fact that he bounces back from every painful moment with a smile shows that even Dopey himself is in on the joke.
Weakest Element: The Romance
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You know your romantic element is bad when it becomes the stock example in citing unrealistic expectations and morals in movies. To be somewhat fair, Disney's team had tried to make the connection between Snow White and the Prince better. In the original story, the Prince only shows up at the end to fall in love with a random dead girl (although he doesn't kiss her, fortunately). Then, in the original draft, the Prince was going to have a big subplot, wherein he got captured by the Queen and locked in the dungeon trying to protect Snow White. Ultimately, it was decided that the focus should be on the dwarves, and the Prince only got a first meeting scene where he already falls in love at first sight. Had they just made a slight change to suggest that Snow White already knew the Prince well before the events of the story, then people wouldn't be as outraged at the simplified romance. Of course, Snow White still needs to lose the attitude of sitting around to what for a prince to make all her troubles go away. She is probably the worst representative of female empowerment in any Disney film.
Biggest Untapped Potential: Prince Buckethead
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Elements of the original draft eventually found their way into an official comic adaptation of the story where Snow White creates a scarecrow-like Prince while singing about finding true love, only to have the Prince find this amusing and surprise her by donning the scarecrow costume. This not only helps flesh out the romance, but it gives our main human characters some...humanity. Snow White becomes a little awkward and the Prince becomes a little goofy. It's cute and charming. Just because they are supposed to be the "non-cartoony" characters in this animated feature doesn't mean they had to be boring and lifeless sticks in the mud.
Best Moment You May Not Have Remembered: The Skeleton
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Right before the disguised Queen leaves to poison Snow White on her underground sewer boat, she mocks a skeleton in a cell that is lying outstretched in a pose suggesting that it was reaching for a water pitcher. The bones are clean and the water pitcher has a spider web in it and the Queen laughs and says "Thirsty?" as she kicks them both to pieces. That means that she had a prisoner down there long enough to die of thirst while their salvation was meere inches away. Like the heart-in-a-box moment, this is just grossly cruel behavior on the part of the Queen. Watching it now, I suddenly was struck with the images of what this unseen character must have gone through, living their final days in that dungeon. I could just imagine the Queen going to her spell room on a regular basis and coldly ignoring this person's cries for help as she tinkered with her magic spells. It was a frightening thought and one I never associate with the cute, happy Disney movie.
Final Rating: This groundbreaking film rightfully earned it's place in history as a classic. While many better Disney films were to follow, it's plain to see that they got a lot right with the time and effort spent perfecting this movie.
9.5/10
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