Entry #5
Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first major popular film that Disney produced, and the beginning of a long line of "Disney princess" movies to come. What many Disney lovers don't know, is the very different original story of Snow White, and the many trials and tribulations she faced in the Grimm story.
In the Disney movie, Snow White's father is never once mentioned, and yet in the original story he is mentioned one time at the very beginning of the tale. This completely removes all traces of an oedipal struggle or patriarchal presence from a fatherly point of view. Another major difference in both stories is the fact that in the original tale, once Snow White finds the dwarfs' cottage, she is only permitted to stay there if she agrees to work the house cooking, cleaning, etc. In the movie, she finds the cottage and believes that she could appease whoever lives there by cleaning the house and cooking them food. Once she meets the dwarfs, they agree she can stay on these terms. True love's kiss is a very popular aspect of Disney movies, but that's not the case in this Grimm tale. While the movie Snow White is awoken with a kiss, story Snow White is jolted in her coffin, and the poisonous chunk of apple become dislodged, waking her from her sleep. The last major differences are all about the infamous Evil Queen. In the Grimm Brothers' story, the Queen kills Snow White three separate times: with lace, with a comb, and finally with the apple. The first two times the dwarfs revive her. In the movie, the princess is only killed once, with the apple. Lastly, the Queen is offed in a very dramatic way, falling off a cliff following her attempt to kill the dwarfs with a boulder. In the story however, a more symbolic approach is taken at her demise. At the wedding of the Prince and Snow White, the Queen is given hot iron shoes, where she is expected to dance in them until she falls over, dead. The differences definitely outweigh the similarities when it comes to the movie and the story.
Similarities
Walt Disney, a proud man due to his successful climb to success after years of hard work, tended to be a bit vain when it came to his movies. He commonly altered the stories and plots of the movies from the original to portray different aspects of his life, contaminating the true fairy tale and creating the famous movies we know well today. There are many differences, and few similarities between the the movie and the original fairy tale, but both hold special places in the hearts of children all over the world.
Differences
In the Disney movie, Snow White's father is never once mentioned, and yet in the original story he is mentioned one time at the very beginning of the tale. This completely removes all traces of an oedipal struggle or patriarchal presence from a fatherly point of view. Another major difference in both stories is the fact that in the original tale, once Snow White finds the dwarfs' cottage, she is only permitted to stay there if she agrees to work the house cooking, cleaning, etc. In the movie, she finds the cottage and believes that she could appease whoever lives there by cleaning the house and cooking them food. Once she meets the dwarfs, they agree she can stay on these terms. True love's kiss is a very popular aspect of Disney movies, but that's not the case in this Grimm tale. While the movie Snow White is awoken with a kiss, story Snow White is jolted in her coffin, and the poisonous chunk of apple become dislodged, waking her from her sleep. The last major differences are all about the infamous Evil Queen. In the Grimm Brothers' story, the Queen kills Snow White three separate times: with lace, with a comb, and finally with the apple. The first two times the dwarfs revive her. In the movie, the princess is only killed once, with the apple. Lastly, the Queen is offed in a very dramatic way, falling off a cliff following her attempt to kill the dwarfs with a boulder. In the story however, a more symbolic approach is taken at her demise. At the wedding of the Prince and Snow White, the Queen is given hot iron shoes, where she is expected to dance in them until she falls over, dead. The differences definitely outweigh the similarities when it comes to the movie and the story.
Similarities
The movie adaptation of this classic fairy tale does follow several key aspects that come directly from the original story. For example, in both the tale and the movie Snow White is driven away to the dwarfs' cottage by the huntsman trying to kill her, but then giving up and encouraging her to run away into the forest. Another similarity is that in both stories, the dwarfs are working as miners. In both versions, Snow White dies by the hands of the Queen, poisoned by an apple, but eventually is awoken and marries the Prince, to live happily ever after.
Walt Disney, a proud man due to his successful climb to success after years of hard work, tended to be a bit vain when it came to his movies. He commonly altered the stories and plots of the movies from the original to portray different aspects of his life, contaminating the true fairy tale and creating the famous movies we know well today. There are many differences, and few similarities between the the movie and the original fairy tale, but both hold special places in the hearts of children all over the world.
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