Meanwhile, the attempts at realism give the human characters both a more concrete physical presence and a wispier sense of personality than the dancing flowers or anthropomorphized animals that flickered across Disney screens in early cartoons. Yet these early shorts mostly remained rooted in a contemporary sensibility and a comic lightness that Snow White initially dispensed with. ![]() For a decade Disney had been cranking out Silly Symphonies, and these too had a kind of timeless, otherworldly appeal (an interesting contrast to the aggressively modern and adult sensibilities of Tex Avery, who would emerge soon after Snow White to offer another point of view). There is a shimmering, mythical quality to the early passages in Snow White which make it stand out from the studio’s later attempts to modernize and familiarize the grisly folk tales being adapted ( Tangled, I suppose, being the culmination of this trend). Many animated fairy tales begin with a gilded book opening up, and Snow White is no exception, but for some reason its book seems older, less an item of twentieth-century nostalgia than a more authentic antique (maybe it’s the use of a term like “scullery maid” and the absence of a modern narrator on the soundtrack – the ornate words on the page speak for themselves). The film opens in an odd, ethereal, somewhat unfamiliar mode. The movie offers a kind of self-discovery on Disney’s part, as they hit on the tropes, gestures, and icons which would become touchstones of the studio’s feature work. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the studio’s first feature, released all the way back in 1937 (when mentioned this to relatives watching TV after the meal, all were incredulous, except my grandmother who remembered seeing it when she was nine). Despite these advantages, it's the two slumbering princess films I keep coming back to. Furthermore, between its endlessly imaginative clockwork miniworlds in Gepetto's shop, and (ironically) the creatively themed "lands" of Pleasure Island, Pinocchio is also a harbinger of those Magic Kingdoms on the horizon. Speaking of Pinocchio, that film remains Disney’s benchmark achievement, with the most exciting storytelling, the richest animation, the busiest frame-filling action (seriously, the movie never stops, whereas both Snow White and Sleeping Beauty have their longueurs). And what’s with the dopey name-change – were they afraid “Rapunzel” would be too much of a mouthful? If the studio debuted Pinocchio today, it'd be retitled No Strings Attached with a tie-in to Minwax.Īnyway, back to the classics. I must confess I’m not particularly enticed by Tangled, between the slick CGI (well-servicing a story about robots, but princesses?) and the shampoo ads. Both appear to represent different phases and new directions in the studio’s enterprise, a timely topic given that Disney’s latest attempt to reboot its brand is hitting theaters right about now. Two films I found myself watching several times – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty I’m not sure why, though the two films do have striking similarities (and, as is always the case, the similarities serve to highlight major differences as well). ![]() And I've been renting or borrowing all the old standbys, some of which I hadn’t seen since childhood. the collective studio not the individual man). It didn’t hurt that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was playing on TV this Thanksgiving yet even well before the holiday I was immersed in several books about Walt Disney (throughout this piece I'll be referring to Disney as "they" not "he," i.e. Everything gets off on the wrong foot when the Queen learns from her mirror (this is the same mirror that comes to life and shines her snout like a shoe-shine boy) that she is the fairest in the land-that is-until Betty arrives.For whatever reason, I’ve been re-watching a lot of Disney lately. She appeared with her regular sidekicks, Bimbo and Koko the Clown, who came as a pair of knights. ![]() Fun fact, Fleischer was also responsible for the 1941’s Oscar nominated “Superman” cartoons.īetty Boop is the eponymous character, and she is a sexy little thing in a black mini-skirt. Dave Fleischer directed it, and he took liberties from the original Grimm’s fairy tales. Crandel’s animation gives new meaning to surreal. Betty Boop’s Snow-White appeared far before Disney released its version of “Snow White”, and it shares little in common with it aside from the with her mirror and the dwarfs. ![]() In today’s Politically Correct-world, something like this is an absolute treasure the sort of thing even the best of today’s cartoons don’t even approach. Snow White – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1933)ĭirected by MAX AND DAVE FLEISCHER (FLEISCHER BROTHERS)
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