The One That Started It All

Rating: 10/10 (6 February 2003)

Here is where it all started. This landmark film, the very first full length animated feature, belongs on the short list of the most influential American movies of the Twentieth Century. If Mickey Mouse was the rock on which the House of Disney was built, then SNOW WHITE and the SEVEN DWARFS was the cement that helped form the Disney conglomerate as we know it today.
Rudimentary by today's standards, SNOW WHITE nevertheless remains a masterpiece of animation because it possesses two qualities totally lacking in most of today's computerized works : Heart and Soul. Despite the advancement in technology, regardless of the magic of pixels and virtual imagery, most present-day animated features lack basic storytelling skills, relying rather on the easy clever remark and an annoying tendency to preach than tell a good tale. And nothing can compare to the inspired and solid craftsmanship of Disney's original "old man "team of animators who bravely learned their trade while creating this nascent work of art. SNOW WHITE is the cornerstone of all of Walt Disney's greatest animated films : an involving story, characters the audience can care for and identify with, superbly drawn animation put into brilliant motion and heightened by the innovative use of the then revolutionary multi-plane camera ( a device that dramatically changed the look of cartoons, giving scenes a third dimensional look). Added to all these innovations were the remarkable songwriting contributions of Frank Churchill and Leigh Harline, responsible for the superb musical score.
"Someday My Prince Will Come", Heigh Ho" and "Whistle While You Work' are just three examples of an entire soundtrack that is a model of perfection and to this day one of the great movie song scores of all time. One could go on and remark on the incredible detail afforded the dwarfs' home, the wood sculpturing that adorns everything from the little mens' beds to stair-posts and doorknobs.
The detail is astonishing, and the blood and sweat of the animators' labors will forever be enshrined in this lasting work of art.