Rags Cannot Hide Grace: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

    As far as Disney's concerned, this film has been given the title of "The one that started it all." Although it technically wasn't the beginning of Walt Disney's career, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Disney's first full-length animated feature. Today, it is still one of Disney's most beloved classics despite not having quite the popularity of Disney films today such as Frozen or Finding Nemo. Besides the technical quality that is impressive for its time, why else is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs such a masterpiece? 

     Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful and very young princess by the name of Snow White, so called for her black hair and pale skin. Her stepmother, the queen, was horribly jealous of Snow White's beauty, and thus forced her to dress in rags and work in the castle as a scullery maid. The queen was afraid that Snow White would become more beautiful than herself. In the  possession of a magic mirror, the queen would ask said mirror every day, "Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" Every day the mirror would inform the queen that she was fairest of them all. But one day the mirror's answer changed: "Lips red as the rose, hair black as ebony, skin white as snow..." Snow White was now the fairest! Not only that, Snow White had just met a prince while drawing water from the well and now they were in love. To the Evil Queen, there was only one solution: Snow White must die. The queen orders her huntsman to murder Snow White and to bring back her heart as proof that she was dead. 
      The huntsman takes Snow White to a place where she can pick flowers as the queen has ordered. While Snow White gathers flowers, the huntsman looks around to make sure they're alone. Snow White turns to see the huntsman with his dagger raised to kill her. But the huntsman simply can't get himself to do it. He tells Snow White of the queen's plot and fearfully instructs her to run away and hide. After running through a frightful forest, Snow White makes some animal friends and they take her to the cottage of the seven dwarfs. Will she be safe there? Or will the Evil Queen become the fairest in the land?

      Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was different at its time because it was a FULL LENGTH animated feature film.  Not only that, it was also the first "cell" animated feature. "Cell animation," is a method of animation in which every frame is drawn by hand. CGI wouldn't be around for another forty or fifty  years! It did, however, spark the worldwide fame of Disney. Before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' release in 1937, Walt Disney's career was basically comprised of many short animated films, including Alice Comedies, (a series of short films following a live girl in a world of animation,) Steamboat Willie, and the first colored Silly Symphony: Flowers and Trees.

     At first glance, Snow White may appear as a character that only represents innocence and beauty. Although both of these attributes are indeed about her, it's felt by some that she should also be recognized for her smiles and kindness. When the Magic Mirror is telling the queen that she is no longer the fairest, he mentions that, "Rags cannot hide her gentle grace. Alas, she is more fair than thee." I read a comment that pointed out that throughout the entire film and all of her troubles, Snow White was seldom negative and was always kind to the world around her. She wasn't able to do that just because she was physically beautiful. Now mind you it is hard to be just like Snow White, but it's more than ok not to be. Don't be ashamed if you're not positive in this way all the time, but try to be.

     I think it's safe to say that Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is way more than just a technological breakthrough. Disney has never told a story quite like the way they did with Snow White. I'd consider it to be Disney's first telling of a well known fairy tale. Much of its uniqueness is contributed by the touch it gets from the retro feeling of the 1930's, such as the music and the cinematography. This will keep Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs a Disney classic now and forever. The best way to understand all of that would be to watch the film for yourself.

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Do not go through little Door: Coraline

    Before I start I'm going to tell you right now that the film we're about to discuss is NOT a Tim Burton film. Yes, it is made in the black, or dark, stop-motion animation style of Tim Burton but it's not a production of Tim Burton himself. The film that ETF is about to look at is none other than Coraline. Based on the novella by author Neil Gaiman, Coraline arrived to the theaters in 2009 as a stop-motion animated film adaptation by Henry Selick, the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Years later, a great number of the people I've talked to about this film have described it as "creepy". I don't blame them, but maybe there's more to Coraline than just a creepy film. 

     Once upon a time, a girl named Coraline Jones and her family move into a large house in Oregon known as The Pink Palace. It's been divided, so that means that there are neighbors in the house. Apart from making friends with the owner's grandson, Wybie Lovat, Coraline is generally unhappy. Her parents are busy writing a garden catalog, the food her father makes is unappetizing, and she misses her friends in Michigan. One day, Wybie gives Coraline a doll he claims to have found in his Grandma's trunk. The strange thing is that the doll looks exactly like Coraline. Of course she finds it weird, but isn't too bothered by it. That night, she sees jumping mice in her room and follows them to a small door in the living. Earlier, Coraline and her mother opened the door only to find a wall of bricks. But now there's a passageway. She crawls through and comes to a room identical to the one she just left. Not only that, it turns out that she's come into a complete replica of the Pink Palace. Moments later she runs into a woman she thinks to be her mother. This woman looks pretty similar to Coraline's mother, except for one thing: She has buttons for eyes. The woman tells Coraline that she's her "other mother." By the end of the night she's also met her "other father" and finds this new world to be better than the one she has left behind. But soon Coraline receives different warnings from the people in the real world which say that the other world is dangerous. Is it the best thing that's ever happened to Coraline? Or is she walking into something she may not be able to escape from?

    Let's talk about color. Like most, if not many, Tim Burton-style films, the fantasy parts of the film are the most colorful. With Coraline, this concept is similarly applied. In the real world, much of the world seems gray, even her parents. Coraline stands out with her blue hair, orange shirt, and yellow raincoat. And yes, Coraline dyed her hair blue. In the photo she has by her bed of her and her parents in Michigan, her hair is brown. If you look at some comic books, people who have black hair tend to be illustrated with blue highlights in their hair, which indicates the color black. 

     Other than the concept of  "Be careful what you wish for," Coraline also shows the importance of appreciating one's family. Bad times within the family don't last forever. Efforts can be made to make things better. Even if your dad's food isn't that great, even if your mom isn't always cheerful, and even if your own child has a mind of their own. When moving to a new place, someone you may look at as "weird" can turn out to be your new best friend, including a new neighbor. Look for the great things that are already around you. STRIVE to do that, and avoid the little doors in the wall that can lead to awful things. 

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