DVD Reviews

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Oct 5, 2009, 16:11 GMT

The one that started it all for Walt Disney is given Diamond treatment on Blu-ray and it has never looked better.

The conceited and wicked Queen (Lucille La Verne) can’t stand for anyone to be more beautiful than she. She consults her magic mirror (Moroni Olsen) daily to ask “who’s the fairest of them all.” Usually the Queen is decreed the fairest, but his time is different as her stepdaughter Snow White (Adriana Caselotti) has grown into the fairest in the land.

The evil Queen can’t stand for it so she tasks her royal huntsman (Stuart Buchanan) to take Snow White into the woods, kill her, and bring back her heart as proof of her demise. The huntsman is moved by both Snow White’s beauty and youth and cannot kill the young girl. He warns her of the Queen’s jealousy, tells her to hide in the deep woods, and substitutes a pig’s heart for hers. Snow White finds the cottage of the seven dwarfs, Doc (Roy Atwell), Grumpy (Pinto Colvig), Happy (Otis Harlan), Sneezy (Billy Gilbert), Bashful (Scotty Mattraw), Sleepy (Colvig again), and the silent, goofy Dopey, and is taken in by them. The Queen asks the mirror again and the mirror tells her that Snow White is still the fairest and is hiding in the woods. The Queen transforms herself into an old crone to find Snow White and deliver a poisoned-laced apple to finally make sure that the Queen is the fairest in the land. It was dubbed “Disney’s Folly” when it was heard that Walt Disney had planned to produce a feature-length animated film. At the time, in the 1930s, it was considered common knowledge that animated films were shorts and audiences wouldn’t sit still for a feature-length animated production. Walt wasn’t one to accept “common knowledge.” If Snow White had actually been a folly and failure we’d be asking “Walt who?” However, as we all know (common knowledge?) Snow White was an unprecedented success. It built the magic kingdom and even secured a special Oscar for the man who bet his reputation on a fair maiden and her seven short friends.

The Disney Company knows that Snow White is one of their flagship titles and offers a variety of sets to celebrate. You can get a Blu-ray version both in Blu-ray cases and in DVD cases. Blu-ray lovers must also loves the Disney villains as the old crone is highlighted on the slipcover and the DVD case version highlights Snow White. For the record, I liked the crone version better. We were sent the DVD packaging and I was disappointed for a second thinking it was the two-disc DVD edition till I looked closer at the contents. There are also several more limited editions that offer the film with all sorts of swag, one set comes with stuffed plushes of all seven dwarfs, but expect to pay a premium for them. I’d imagine that consumers might be a tad confused about the Blu-rays coming in DVD cases and I hope that the differences are better pointed out by retailers. Just make sure you pay attention if you’re picking this up at your retailer. Both packaged Blu-ray sets contain two blu-rays as well as a DVD copy of the film. The film still has the ability to entertain and has become beloved all around the world. Snow White is certainly not the definition of a folly by any means and naysayers wouldn’t underestimate Disney again. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.33:1). If you don’t like fullscreen bars you also have the option to watch the film in DisneyView that fills in the bars with art by Tony Bluth. The special features are presented in high definition, unless noted. Disc one contains a commentary with animation historian John Canemaker with vintage contributions from Walt, the 8 minute “Snow White Returns” about a possible sequel that Walt never made, 10 minutes of scenes cut from the film, four “Family Play” games that utilize BD-Live, a 4 minute “Some Day my Prince will Come” music video by Disney Channel star Tiffany Thornton, an 8 minute preview of the upcoming “The Princess and the Frog,” the latest animated film from Disney, and previews of other Disney films.

Disc two brings over the bonus features from the previous DVD edition in standard definition. Those include a 6 minute look at the voice talent of the film, the 36 minute “Disney through the Decades” trailer collection, Dopey’s Wild Mine Ride Game, and a “Heigh Ho” Karaoke feature. The main feature of disc two is called “Hyperion Studios.” It’s an interactive studio tour of the animation studio that Disney used in 1937 to make Snow White. Hidden in each department are documentaries, Disney shorts that influenced the film or were used to practice the techniques used, interviews, galleries, and much more. Luckily an index is also available to help you find all the goodies therein. Each department starts with what seems to be a production photo then one of the people in the photo turns to address you (like Disney director Ron Clements or animator Eric Goldberg) and introduce the section. You can then look around the section for all the goodies. A highlighted documentary is the 17 minute “The One that Started it All” that shows Snow White’s significance in animated film history. Disc three is a DVD copy of the film. A folly by no means, Snow White is given grand treatment on Blu-ray and looks fantastic. If you’re a Disney fan then this is the must buy title of the year.