Disney Revisited: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

As I was saying back on June 29th, I've decided to re-watch every Disney Animated Feature and review them. I'll be watching them in chronological order of their original releases...

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Released 1937
INITIAL REACTIONS
-- It had probably been 10 years since I last watched Snow White all of the way through and I was struck with the pacing of it. It's very deliberately paced. (That's a nice way of saying that it's slow). I started thinking about how that's likely the typical reaction of a Gen Y cry-baby. "Oh no... It's sooooo boring. When does the action start?"... Well... It really IS slow, and really not a whole lot happens. There are long sequences of 4 or 5 minutes that in more modern story telling that would be 10 to 20 seconds. The long sequence of the Dwarfs forcing Grumpy clean, the long sequence of the dwarfs figuring out that Snow White was the "monster in their beds". These are pretty long sequences.

-- Snow White is one presumptuous bitch. She just lets herself in to the private home of the dwarfs, rearranges their stuff, and then when they STILL welcome her into their homes, she bosses these old (Tiny) men around like she's their mommy. Let's just say I wasn't as charmed by Snow White as the Huntsman was...

-- Is "White" the last name?

-- I found the portrayal of Dopey really interesting. Both because he's a cute, fun character who is universally beloved, and it's hard to get away from that... but also because Disney made a fortune featuring a, clearly, mentally retarded character who is tricked and taken advantage of on multiple occasions by his "friends".

-- I love Grumpy. I mean... It's probably predictable that he'd be the one I'd like the best, but whatever. He's awesome. Though, where did that hillbilly accent come from?

-- There's some hardcore shit in this movie. The Queen wants to have Snow White's heart in a fucking box. That's fucked up. Kids were clearly much tougher than they are now, because I'm sure most of today's movie makers would make it a "lock of her hair" or something. I applaud Disney for being as graphic as they wanted.

-- I talk about the pacing and I talk about how weird Snow White is with the Dwarfs, but somehow I feel like the pacing especially really allowed the connection between the characters build better. This build makes the end of the movie with her in the casket extremely affecting.

MUSIC:
Clearly there are some iconic pieces of music in this movie, but I'll be honest and say it's not my favorite. Almost without exception I like the Dwarf songs the best. Heigh-ho is awesome. Also, for some reason I had misremembered that "Whistle While You Work" was sung by the Dwarfs in the mine, but that is the "Dig" song... which I liked.

VILLAIN:
I mean... I'll stand by my feeling that only a great villain can make an animated movie great. The Queen is pretty awesome. She's scary and mean and fucking crazy. Did I mention she wants Snow White's heart in a box? They talk about this quite a lot. I found it interesting that in order to insure she'd be the Fairest, she makes herself as ugly as possible to kill Snow White. She's single-minded, crazy, and pretty scary. I'm getting the feeling that I'll have to revisit the Villains Tournament when this movie quest is all said and done. I'd give her, at the least a 7.5 out of 10. She's almost too unrelentingly bad.

SIDEKICKS/SIDE CHARACTERS
The Dwarfs can barely be called sidekicks, because they're easily the best part about the movie. I love them all... The gags with Sneezy I'd forgotten about entirely. I was especially entertained by Grumpy constantly being right, but being ignored just as constantly. I felt consistently bad for Dopey, because those other dude abused him so badly. The Dwarfs are awesome.

COOLEST ANIMATION EFFECT
I was going to say the "Fleeing into the Forest" scene would be easily the most visually stunning, and probably was the point in the film where people were like.... "Whoa. This is something new." That and the sequence with the Queen transforming into the Old Hag... Both are big and showy and really impressive.

But through the whole thing, I kept going back to the start of the movie when Snow White is wishing in the wishing well... and we see her from under the well water as it ripples along with the vibrations in her voice. It's so incredibly realistic. For the life of me, I can't figure out how they did it. I assume it was the multi-plane camera. That's an incredible effect. Something people had likely never seen executed that smoothly.

Final Thoughts...

I can see why this movie was a sensation. There's an absolute ton of heart to it, especially at the end when the Dwarfs are just so devastated by the "death" of Snow White. It's a really simple, but engaging story. It's an achievement in hand-drawn animation, even now.

Aaaand it IS really slow. It's only 84 minutes, but you do feel every single one of those. Not that I disliked it, but I definitely think there's a change in taste/preference from the 1930s to now.

It's a classic. I didn't LOVE it as much as I love some others, but it's a classic.

I'd give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Finally Snapped

Hey Everybody!

I'm in a bit of a creative lull these days due to work being insanely busy, and much of my personal life being tied up with running from one event to another.

So, after talking to my dawg Nate (of Redheaded Stepchild notoriety), I've decided to do what all good artists do when they've run up against a wall...

I'm going to dive into some things that I find creatively stimulating and talk about them ad nauseum.

In the coming weeks (and likely months) I'm going to start at the beginning of the great Disney Animated Film Catalog and watch each and every one of the feature animated films released by the Disney company. In some cases, it's been years since I watched these movies, and so I'm going to write a new perspective review of each of them.

I'll start with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Soon. Stay tuned.

Also, I read the sequel or, as the pretentious may call it the "companion" novel to/of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I'll probably be talking about that sooner or later too.

Big News

Hey Folks-

I'm very excited to announce that my old website http://www.beefymuchacho.com/ will be back up and running again soon.

There you'll be able to listen to pod-casts and enjoy some other more random stuff that I'm doing and working on that doesn't quite fit here.

Just working on re-doing the layouts and revamping. It was originally there as a test site for items on SiteRightNow.com who has agreed to host the site for free.

I'm especially excited to be unveiling a new logo partially designed by Tony Doench, a friend of mine from my theatrical exploits.

More on here soon. Probably about the Reds. Or Disney.

Why Scar? Because I said so.

Who Knew Hamsters Were So Hilarious?

Hey Folks-

When I was in Colorado a couple of weeks ago, I had some time on my hands to check out the new Disney movie Bolt. I would be lying if I told you that I'd been on the edge of my seat in anticipation for it's release, and there were a couple of reasons for that:

1) While I've liked a couple of the non-Pixar computer animated Disney Films (Meet the Robinsons was great, actually), a couple of the others were downright dumb (The Wild, Chicken Little [thank you Zach Braff]). Even the good ones weren't on par with the brilliance of almost any of the Pixar films.

2) I can not stress this enough... I hate me some John Travolta. I think he's creepy and weird and gross and untalented and a lunatic. Much of my perception of him as a human being (the gross, weird, and crazy part) stems from his inexplicable affiliate with the Sci-fi cult known as Scientology... There's just something really unsettling about those people. Still... Scientologist or not, he's a pretty weak actor. This didn't bode well for a film where he voiced the main character.

3) The trailers didn't inspire me at all.

4) I will admit that as much as I LOVE Disney and Disney movies, I've never felt all that rushed to see the animated ones when they opened. In fact I never did see Cars in the theater. Or The Wild. Or Chicken Little. I guess I just don't feel like they lose much going from big to small screen.

That said? Bolt was great.

Here are a few reasons why...

1) The trailers did not do justice to what turned out to be a really funny (and also kinda dark) script. The movie was a satire of the television/film industry masked as a kids movie about a dog. The story was a thinly veiled ripping of an industry with it's priorities out of wack. primadonna talent (cats), heartless agents, money hungry execs. Still... even without the in-humor, the script still stands up. The themes of heroism and loyalty are universal and couldn't apply better than when told through the story of a dog.

2) The supporting players were all excellent. Clearly the best was Rhino the Hamster (voiced by Mark Walton). That little guy is hilarious in every scene in which he appears as the blindly brave, super round rodent who lives and fights from within a plastic hamster ball. The crux of his character is that he derives his bravery from the adoration he feels toward Bolt himself, and where many other films would leave him disappointed in Bolt at some point, the movie takes the other route and allows Rhino to remain in awe of his hero, even as Bolt himself goes through his identity crisis. In fact, it's Rhino's unwavering faith that provides Bolt the boost that he needs in the end.

3) Travolta and Miley Cyrus were both actually pretty good. As much as it pains me to say it... John Travolta was pretty damned good as Bolt. There were even points where I even forgot that Xenu was in the building at all. Dare I say it... John Travolta may have found his new niche (his old one being that of a disco loving greaser or something). It's possible that the voice work allows him to use his voice (his one inoffensive asset) and also allows him to hide everything else (the offensive ones). I wasn't really surprised to see Miley do well, but you know... it's hard to tell what kind of talent that girl has. I even like their duet.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give Bolt a solid 4. Totally worth checking it out, and I'm almost definitely going to get the DVD now. (Like I wasn't.)

On the note of DVDs... Why does Blu-Ray have to exist, and not only exist but be awesome? WHY? I have so, so many DVDs and soon enough it'll be considered antiquated technology. Not only that, but the fucking Blu Rays are effing expensive. Do you know how long it's going to take me to rebuild my Disney DVD collection in BluRay? A long effing time. And then they'll come out with something else like X-Ray or Disc-Tech or some bullshit. One thing that's for sure? Disney'll be raking in new money on re-releases in perpetuity. Fucking technology.

A Birthday of Sorts

Hey Folks-

I'm pretty tired, so this one's gonna be short.


Yesterday was the 80th Anniversary of Steamboat Willie. The first animated film with syncronized sound. Most people don't know that Plane Crazy was the first Mickey cartoon, but many would argue that the medium was truly born with Steamboat Willie. So... here's to you, Walt Disney, for creating something so enduring that it's anniversary is noted 80 years after the fact.

Just to leave you with a quote from the man himself:

"I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse."
-- Walt Disney

Or, you know... for the weirder among us:

"I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known. "
-- Walt Disney

Innoventions

Hey Folks-

It's another Wednesday with Walt.

Annie asked for another 2 weeks to post her Disney Scandals blog, and since I'm all about not rushing folks, I'm going to pinch-hit with a Disney Blog from the hip.

Walt Disney, I've said many times, was the most influential figure in Entertainment of the 20th Century...possibly ever. Like many of my pronouncements on the subject of Disney, and anything else that I might make a pronouncement about, it's possible to not delve into deeply into the comment, and I'll probably be mostly correct. Though, I usually don't have a lot of examples or reasons behind these things. Usually these comments are based more on feelings or interpretations... This one, however... I have reasons, and those reasons are this blog.

Here we go...

The Biggest Reasons why Walt Disney was the Most Influential Figure in Entertainment in the 20th Century (possibly ever).

Mickey Mouse.
"Even in China. Children there, next to the Great Wall, who had never seen Mickey Mouse responded." -- John Hench
There are a lot of reasons why the creation of Mickey Mouse is part of the elaborate fabric of my argument. 1) Mickey is the creation of Walts that made every other creation possible. He was the breadwinner. If it hadn't been for Mickey hitting it huge the way he did in the late 20s, there wouldn't have been revenue to do Snow White. Without Snow White, there wouldn't have been the capital to create the new studios. And so on... 2) Walt did the voice of Mickey and thus had an even more specific ownership of him than he did the characters that came before. He protected the image of that mouse (some would argue too much, eventually necessitating the creation of Donald Duck who represented the Id.) I think it's a good thing, though. Walt paid special attention and something special resulted. 3) The arrival of Mickey couldn't have come at a better time for America. America was plunging into the Great Depression and Mickey symbolized, in many ways, Hope. Between him and "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf", Walt created two of the greatest icons of perseverance in an era when people were desperate to hang on to something. 4) Mickey was arguably the most popular character/most recognizable character on the planet. That's all because of Walt.



Multi-Plane Camera
As with a couple of the other items on this list, the Multi Plane Camera is an example of an innovation that was carried out by many, but that I give Walt credit for. Here's why, and I apologize for the digression... Thomas Edison had hundreds of people working for him in Menlo Park, but he was the inventor. Walt had hundreds of people at Hyperion or Burbank but he gets the credit because he understood the applications for these advances better than anyone. The multi-plane camera, when left in the hands of lesser people could have no existed at all.... So it's the vision about how to use the innovation that's as important as the innovation itself... (digression over). Anyway, Disney developed the multi-plane camera to help add the illusion of depth to animation. The first famous application was in a short movie (a Silly Symphony) called "The Old Mill". The machine essentially created several layers of depth by stacking glass planes and placing them at varied levels and moving the animated cells at different rates. It's brilliant. It helped create the notion that animation could be more than a diversion, but could instead be art. Without the Mult-plane, we wouldn't have Snow White, The Triplets of Belleville, or Spirited Away. In fact, most hand drawn animation of any quality (relative, of course) probably uses a MP camera itself, or at least the concept.



Fully Integrated Theme Parks.
We all are aware of my obsession with Disney World. Well, Disney World is more of a riff on an idea that Walt didn't invent, but definitely started to perfect with Disneyland, which opened in 1955. There are so many innovations to the whole "Amusement Park" concept that I could, and probably should write a whole post just on that. I'll just name a few. 1) The concept of "Amusement Park" itself was fundamentally changed. Prior to Disneyland, Amusement Parks were designed almost entirely for children. They rarely had a connective theme between rides. They often were dirty and seedy. Walt created a park with a cohesive theme. A place that was clean and safe. A place where adults could have fun as well. 2) The Wheel and Spoke design. Walt had noted in a park in Europe how easily visitors could navigate between areas when each area was built around a central hub. He incorporated this in to Disneyland. 3) The very idea of detail-oriented theming was a foreign concept prior to Disney. He wanted to make sure that the vistors were immersed in the experience. He created themed "Lands" and he laid the groundwork for character operated attractions. The best example of this is Haunted Mansion, where the cast members aren't just loading the rides, but are fully in character. It's an awesome thing to see. It's because of Walt that this type of Amusement Park is THE WAY now, and Coney Island has become a relic of nostalgia... a place fun to see for the "way-back-when" feel, but not a destination. Disney Parks occupied the TOP EIGHT spots in attendance in 2007, worldwide.

Sound Sync and Color Processing
This could be such a minor thing, but really it changed everything. Most people think that Steamboat Willie was the first Mickey cartoon, but it wasn't. A silent cartoon called "Plane Crazy" was the first. Why are most people wrong? Because really "Steamboat Willie" gave Mickey his voice, and essentially started a sensation. They did it using a sound syncronization process called Cinephone. Cinephone was already being worked on, so I'm not saying that Walt invented it. What he DID do, was find this process, and contract it out so that Disney Animations would have exclusive rights to the process for 3 years. This was by far the best sound technology in the market at the time, and by having such a long time being the only company allowed to use it, it created a HUGE market share for Mickey and the other animations that followed. He did the same thing with the use of color processing Technicolor. Technicolor was the first 3 strip color sound processing, and Walt had exclusive rights to it for 2 years. This deal was eventually extended to 5 years. Eventually both of these processes would become industry standard, both for Animation (in terms of sound syncronization) and all film in general for Technicolor.


Television as advertising
Walt Disney was the first person to recognize the full power of the "new" medium of Television. In the early 1950s, Walt was doing everything he could to raise money for Disneyland. One of his biggest investors was ABC Television, who was looking to fill their programming schedule. Walt agreed to do a TV special for ABC called One Hour in Wonderland and it was a special promotional program for the upcoming feature animation Alice in Wonderland. The response to this program was so evident in the box office figures for the film, that Walt shortly thereafter created the weekly program, Disneyland. The primary goal for this program was to promote the upcoming opening of the Disneyland Park and then after that new attractions. While this turned out to be an amazing marketing tool, they also created several crazes with the program itself, including the Davey Crockett craze of 1955 where millions of dollars in merchandise was sold. Subsequent programs like The Mickey Mouse Club and The Wonderful World of Color continued to capitalize on their free advertising for new films and new technologies. Essentially creating an infomerical for the Disney company and it's products. This is the greatest marketing coup of the 20th century, as far as I'm concerned.

There are, of course, other people partly responsible for almost all of these things. Ub Iwerks helped develop the Multi-Plane camera, and was in charge of Mickey animation upon his return to the company. Walt didn't create the medium of Television or the color and sound processes. He didn't invent the theme park. The thing Walt Disney did that made him so important is that he had the vision and the inventiveness to incorporate these innovations of others into his work. He had the foresight to understand how to use these advances that were mostly theoretical and implement them in concrete ways that no-one else capitalized on.

And it goes without saying, but this list could be 5 times as long.