Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney) (Blu-ray)

David Hand, 1937

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney) (Blu-ray) Trailer

Star Review

Milo Wakelin puts on his happy hat for this frankly wonderful fairytale animation from Walt Disney.

Eisenstein called it the greatest movie ever made; The American Film Institute declared it the greatest animated film of all time. Yet, when Walt Disney first announced the world's first feature-length, colour, cell-animation, pundits declared it 'Disney's Folly'.

Snow White took three years to make and Walt literally bet his house to finance it, but upon its 1937 release, the gamble quickly paid off: Snow White set box office records that wouldn't be broken until the release of Gone With the Wind in 1939.

Disney's formula of adapting European fairy tales with catchy songs and colourful characters has become so familiar it's easy to overlook its simple brilliance. Snow White's story may be based on Grimm, but Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy and Sneezy were Disney innovations that have proven equally timeless, and songs like "Heigh-Ho," "Some Day My Prince Will Come," and "Whistle While You Work" remain as fresh today as when they were written.

Now out on Blu-ray, its now possible to appreciate Snow White's groundbreaking technical accomplishments: realistically animated rain, water, and fire - not to mention human characters. In today's CGI age, it is still remarkable that every frame was drawn, individually by hand, and this new high-definition release reveals every painstaking detail.

Milo Wakelin on 30th September 2009
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Film Description

Disney's classic animated adaptation of the famous fairytale was their first full-length production and remains as enchanting as ever. Snow White is born pure and beautiful, so beautiful that her evil stepmother orders a huntsman to take her into the forest and kill her. However, the huntsman takes pity on the young beauty and sets her free. Alone and lost in the forest, she soon meets a group of kindly dwarfs, who provide her with friendship and a place to sleep. But the evil stepmother is still at large, planning to kill Snow White using the tried and tested method of a poisoned apple.