Timeless

Rating: 10/10 (26 February 2010)

Although I've known the story all my life, I never actually saw this movie as a kid. Watching it all the way through for the first time, I was amazed; watching it over and over with my daughter, my appreciation only grows.
Snow White isn't my favorite Disney movie, but I don't think you can overstate its influence. I also acknowledge that it has its flaws--Snow White's submissive character and her squeaky voice are often criticized. I also don't think the songs are that great, but where I will defend this movie is in its storytelling. Yes, it is a very simple plot, but that is its strength. It relies on visuals and keeps things uncomplicated, which means that very young children can understand some of the action, even if they aren't able to follow the entire story arc. It's the same reason that the first half of Wall-E gets so much praise. Both have breathtaking visuals, also--they way that Snow White and the witch move is actually more interesting to watch, for me, than almost anything else in animation. I think I read somewhere that they were rotoscoped, which is a process that has been used before and since, but for me, this is the pinnacle of what the technique can do.
So many of the animated movies of the last 20 years are filled with adult-level in-jokes, sarcastic sidekicks, and rapid-fire pacing that plays to short attention spans. It would be nice to have more stories that didn't try to be so full of irony, and instead focus on the things that make a story truly timeless.