Day 1: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Hello friends and potential readers! In my journey to watch every Disney animated film in order, I began on the first day of January with Snow White, of course.  This is the beginning of Disney's Golden Era of animation.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Starring: Adriana Caselotti, Lucille La Verne, Harry Stockwell, Roy Atwell, Pinto Colvig, Otis Harlan, Scotty Matraw, Billy Gilbert, Moroni Olsen, Stuart Buchanan

Songs: "I'm Wishing," "One Song," "With a Smile and a Song," "Whistle While You Work," "Heigh-Ho," "Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum (The Dwarfs' Washing Song)," "The Dwarfs Yodel Song," "Someday My Prince Will Come"

We all know the story of Snow White, the little princess who flees for her life and finds shelter with the Seven Dwarfs when her jealous step-mother tries to have her killed. It's a fun movie with lots of cute and silly moments with the Dwarfs and Snow White's animal friends. She's likable, and that's important when you're watching a movie.

What's easy to forget now, after decades worth of animated movies from Disney and other studios, is that everything about Snow White was new and exciting to audiences in 1937 and 1938. And the fact that everything about the movie was a gamble kind of affects how they made it. People questioned if audiences would emotionally connect with cartoon characters and how long people would really want to sit and watch an animated feature... they even questioned if the colors would be too bright and end up hurting the audience's eyes over an hour an a half. So the backgrounds are muted (which works an artistic choice as well -- the colors are very Germanic, just like the story) and the story is succinct and doesn't spend a lot of time on "just for fun" scenes that don't directly advance the plot. None of that is an accident. But the gamble paid off... Disney didn't see another success like this until Cinderella -- 13 years later.

This wasn't one of my favorite movies as a kid. I didn't hate it or even dislike it, but it wasn't one I felt a big connection to, so it wasn't one I watched often. I enjoy it a lot more now though.

What I Liked: Snow White herself is very graceful and gracious. Also the animals. I want cute little woodland friends like that.

What I Disliked: Snow White's singing voice can be a little hard to take.

Should You Watch This Movie: Yes. Good for children, adults, film fans, and Disney nerds.