Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

also known as “Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” “Alba ca Zapada si cei sapte pitici,” “Biancaneve e i sette nani,” “Blanca Neus i els set nans,” See all »

MPA Rating: G-Rating (MPA)

Reviewed by: Shannon Hammell
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating:	Better than Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:	All Ages
Genre:	Animation Family
Length:	1 hr. 23 min.
Year of Release:	1937
USA Release:	December 21, 1937 (Los Angeles premiere) February 4, 1938 (wide release)

Relevant Issues

The importance of INNER BEAUTY rather than transient outer beauty

Where does true, lasting beauty really exist, in the physical body or in the soul and spirit?

Sadness of living with unfair, cold-hearted stepmother

Obsessive vanity and pride versus Christian humility

The sin of great envy and jealousy leads to attempted murder

Overcoming fear, anxiety and worry— What does the Bible say?

A sweet and innocent young princess is forced to hide from her stepmother in the cottage of seven dwarfs, but makes the best of it, without complaint

Bringing love and joy to others

A good prince saves a princess from her sad fate in a hopeless situation

What is true love—a feeling, an emotion, or an action?

What does true love look like in a relationship? How do you know when you have found it?

The Grimm brothers (Wilhelm and Jacob) were reportedly raised in “strict religious training in the Reform Calvinist Church,” and were devout throughout their lives. [Jack Zipes, in preface to his modern English translation of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm’s Children’s and Household Tales, 2014]

The Snow White story was first titled “Sneewittchen” (aka Schneewittchenand) and appeared in its final version in Grimms’ Fairy Tales (1857 edition).

Featuring	Adriana Caselotti … Snow White (voice) Lucille La Verne … Queen / Witch (voice) Harry Stockwell … Prince (voice) Stuart Buchanan … Huntsman (voice) Roy Atwell … Doc (voice) Eddie Collins … Dopey / Chipmunk and Squirrel Sneezes (voice) Pinto Colvig … Sleepy / Grumpy / Dopey (hiccups) (voice) Marion Darlington … Birds (voice) Billy Gilbert … Sneezy (voice) Otis Harlan … Happy (voice) See all » James MacDonald … Yodeling (voice) George Magrill … Doves Scotty Mattraw … Bashful (voice) Moroni Olsen … Magic Mirror (voice) Purv Pullen … Birds (voice)
Director	William Cottrell David Hand Wilfred Jackson Larry Morey Perce Pearce Ben Sharpsteen
Producer	Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney
Distributor	RKO Radio Pictures

In 2005, the American Film Institute named this film as the greatest American animated film of all.

I have loved this movie since I first saw it as a kid. It’s one of Disney’s masterpieces, made with more sheer brilliance than any other animated feature film I have ever seen. There is no sex, profanity, violence (though there is some scary stuff in the film), etc. There are mild occultic themes as Snow White’s wicked stepmother consults a magic mirror, hence the saying, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall” (the occult is portrayed as an evil force in this film).

The film is an adapted version of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale of the same name. Snow White is a fair maiden who is held captive by her wicked stepmother. She flees her stepmother and finds a small cottage in the woods inhabited by seven little men (or dwarfs) who work in a diamond mine. She befriends the dwarfs, among them the woman-hating Grumpy (who eventually grows to like Snow White).

Believe it or not, there is a Biblical reference in the story. A witch (Snow White’s stepmother incognito) comes to the door of the dwarfs’ cottage and offers Snow White a bite of a poison apple. She takes a bite and falls on the floor, “dead,” somewhat similar to the story of fall of Adam and Eve where they disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit, thus bringing sin and death to mankind.

Of course, Snow White is brought to life by love’s first kiss, which symbolizes how Christ came back from the grave after He died on the cross. I never found this out until I had actually seen the movie again and recalled that scene in my head.

Despite some minor scary scenes, “Snow White” is a fun fantasy film for people of all ages.

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

Positive
Neutral

Positive

Positive—I really think it’s a very nice movie, and kids love to watch it. I would just like to add that I believe when you are watching this with your kids to just explain to them that what that evil stepmother is doing with that mirror and the whole scene where she is making the potion and kind of putting a curse on the apple should just be explained to the children (especially young ones) that God hates witchcraft, etc.
My Ratings: [Better than Average / 4]

Lindie, age 20

Positive—Snow White is a PRAYING PRINCESS. There is so much to LOVE about this movie in particular. Exactly 1 hour into the movie, Disney’s ORIGINAL animated “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” Snow White kneels down at the foot of the bed and prays for the seven dwarves with an “AMEN” at the end!

Witchcraft is portrayed in this film as evil. The Bible tells us that witchcraft is evil. I appreciate this Biblical accuracy (which is also less confusing than portrayals of witches and witchcraft in many other films).

The storyline also has MANY other parallels and hidden Biblical references.

The evil witch tempts Snow White with a poisoned apple which she takes a bite out of even though the Dwarves warned her not to trust strangers while they were gone. Snow White is then thought to have died. (The snake in the Garden of Eden tempted Eve with a fruit which she was warned by God not to eat or she would die.) Only the prince’s Love could save Snow White from her curse of death. (Only Jesus” Love for us, his payment for our sins on the cross, can save us from the curse of death.)
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5

Christina Durbin, age 39 (USA)

Neutral

Neutral—We watched the Disney classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” out of interest in seeing the “Wicked Queen,” who was portrayed by Lucille La Verne, born as Lucille Mitchum and a great great great aunt to my husband. We had heard about his distant relative’s role in the movie and so years ago had bought a video copy but had never watched it, because we feared it would be too intense for our daughter. She asked to watch it today, and since she is now almost eight years old, we agreed. We found much of this movie fun and charming. Snow White was endearing and the dwarfs and woodland animals were funny.

The animation was great for its time. But this film had some very dark and frightening moments… much more so than I had anticipated! Our daughter handled these frightening images well, but it is hard to imagine younger children viewing this without fear (unless they have grown accustomed to such dark fare). Be aware that in this “classic children’s movie,” you will find references to murder, cutting out a human heart, and, of course, much dark magic, which is (thankfully) represented as evil. The face in the magic mirror seems almost demonic (and is indeed “summoned” to the mirror). A man instructed to murder Snow White and collect her heart for proof raises a knife threateningly over the girl.See all »

Driven by fear and panic, Snow White imagines terrifying creatures such as clutching trees and staring eyes attacking her when she is lost in the forest. Skeletons are shown in the dungeon of the Queen, obviously the victims of torture (one was left caged with a cup of water just out of reach, another hangs on the wall, and a human skull is a perch for the queen’s crow).

The brewing of a transformation spell is shown during an intense scene in the Queen’s dungeon. The “old crone” persona of the Queen is hideous and disturbing. (Interestingly, my husband’s relative voiced not only the darkly beautiful queen but also the crone, and was actually used as a model for the artists for the old crone’s facial expressions). Indeed, great great great Aunt Lucille managed a chilling performance! But I wonder if it is not too chilling and too dark for young viewers.

On a positive note, as Snow White is preparing for bed in the dwarf cottage she says a prayer. Unfortunately, she also seeks to have her wishes granted by eating a magic apple, so who knows what the prayer was meant to convey. One can also wonder how much “true love” a prince could have for a girl he met only once… but thus is often the romantic love portrayed in Disney princess films.

If you are aware of “minced oaths” and euphemisms for the name of God, please know that the word “gosh” is uttered many times, as is “Jiminy Crickets,” which is a veiled use of the Lord Jesus’ name. We don’t allow such speech in our home, and it makes me wince to hear it, as I know what it actually means. If you aren’t familiar with minced oaths, look up that phrase and you will learn what some innocuous-sounding words actually represent!

So there are some issues here beyond the dark magic and frightening imagery. Most will call me overly cautious, but this movie left me with a disturbed feeling, and I do not want it to be something my child watches repeatedly. I think we will put this one away, keeping it only for historical interest because of my husband’s distant relative.

I rated it as “average” because I am not quite prepared to call it “offensive,” if only because the dark magic was portrayed as being obviously and blatantly evil.

My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4

Sellis, age 36 (USA)

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