In “Snow White” written by the Brothers Grimm, the first paragraph describes a queen who longs for a child who was white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of the window frame. In the next paragraph, the king and queen have Snow White- but the mother does not live. This is already contrary to Disney’s interpretation because Snow White is portrayed to be an orphan. Walt Disney’s release of this movie occurred in 1937- during the Great Depression.
Although the stories partially shared a similar message against narcissism and vanity, Disney’s version had some hidden messages as well. The Prince was made to represent him while the dwarfs represented his workers and animators. Another similarity between the two is the themes. Both versions had sexist views of women along with their domestication. Men were shown as hardworking while the princess cooked and cleaned and could not help herself when presented with an obstacle.
A huge difference between the two depictions of Snow White was the amount of murder attempts made by the Evil Queen and how they were executed. In the original story, there are three attempts to get rid of Snow White. One by suffocating her with a stay-lace, another by combing her hair with a poisonous comb, and finally, giving her a poisonous apple. “Once inside she made a deadly poisonous apple. On the outside it looked beautiful-- white with red cheeks.” However, in the film, the apple is all red and it is the only attempt made by the Evil Queen.
In the movie, Evil Queen tries to get rid of the dwarfs so that they can’t shelter Snow White and protect her. She uses a boulder to try and crush them, but it just kills her instead. This is different than the original because the Evil Queen died at the wedding while wearing hot iron slippers.
Photo 2 (Drawing By Walter Crane)
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