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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (16th November 2009). |
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The Film
 It’s hard to imagine that the gargantuan empire that the Walt Disney company has amassed over the last 75+ years hinged on the success or failure of a single film: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937). When Walt came up with the idea of making a feature-length animated motion picture most critics laughed at him. His idea came to be known as “Disney’s Folly” long before it had been seen by a single person. Initially anticipating a production budget of around $250,000, the animated feature eventually ballooned up to a then-massive total of over $1.8 million. Most would have assumed that the odds of recouping any of that grand sum would be nil, but as we all know, Disney managed to be repaid in spades. All told, “Snow White” pulled in a 1939 record of $6.5 million, and has gone on to gross over $180 million in total revenue, making it one of the most successful films of all-time when adjusted for inflation. The success that Walt Disney enjoyed with “Snow White” allowed him to vastly expand the Disney brand, eventually culminating in theme parks, numerous feature-length animated films, an animation studio, and countless other endeavors. Now that the film is over 70 years old, how does it hold up? Surprisingly well, as a matter of fact. I hadn’t really sat and watched “Snow White” for a number of years; I was probably 10 years old when I last saw the entire film. But I knew it would still play just as well for me now as it did then. Disney was a master craftsman in the field of animation (among many others), and he was superbly talented at creating timeless films that could be viewed by anyone, at any age, and still be enjoyable. He knocked it right out of the park with his first foray into feature-length animated pictures, choosing to adapt the Brothers Grimm (Wilhelm and Jacob) tale, “Snow White” Though he took a few liberties with the source material, he retained the essence of the fable needed to assemble what would be his ultimate gamble. Snow White (Adriana Caselotti) works as a maid, toiling under her wicked stepmother, the Queen (Lucille La Verne), a woman as vain as she is cruel. When the Queen’s Magic Mirror (Moroni Olsen) informs her that Snow White, not she, is “the fairest in the land” the Queen demands that Snow White be killed. After a huntsman (Stuart Buchanan) chases her into the woods, and ultimately allows her to go free, she befriends a group of seven dwarfs who work in a nearby mine after stumbling into their cottage. When the Queen learns that Snow White lives still, she uses her magic to transform into an old woman, and seduces Snow White into taking a bite of a poison apple. The dwarfs arrive too late, but they manage to corner the Queen high upon a mountaintop, where a confrontation commences. Snow White remains in her coma, encased in a glass coffin, waiting for her prince (Harry Stockwell) to awaken her with a kiss. It’s a tale as old as time, or so it would seem. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t familiar with this film. It’s practically a right of childhood passage to watch Disney classics, and most parents seem to start off with this inaugural picture. Walt worked for many years getting all of the aspects of the film right, but most troubling for him was the animation. He felt that the most important piece of the story was making sure that the audience could get a sense of realism from these animated characters. He had crews of animators working on getting down human movements, and even wound up discarding some scenes with the Prince from the final film because he wasn’t 100% satisfied with how he moved. The script was less problematic, though it did go through many drafts. At one point it was intended to be more of a comedy, and many sight gags were intended to be included. However, Walt wisely decided that the film needed to be more serious in tone if audiences were to take it as such, so he jettisoned many of the more outlandish comedic elements in favor of a more straight-forward approach. I think this was a crucial decision in cementing the film’s reputation as a classic because if it had been too overly-comedic then it could not have been viewed as a legitimate feature-length animated film, something which had never been done before at that time and was a risky move for any studio. “Snow White” is a film that has withstood the test of time, and come out as an unheralded masterpiece. Walt was even given an honorary Academy Award for the film, one large statue along with seven smaller ones. Its success directly contributed to the Disney animated classics we all know today and it is currently the only animated film on the American Film Institute’s list of the greatest American films of all-time (ranked number 34 out of 100 films listed). I make it no secret that I’m a huge fan of Disney as a man, of his animated features, and his incredible theme parks. And it still amazes me to think that, had “Snow White” failed to generate much interest at the box-office, we may not have any of it.
Video
The Blu-ray’s 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded 1.33:1 full-frame image does little to disappoint, providing an impressively cleaned-up, crisp image that looks like it was rendered within the last few years, not 70 years ago. Disney has been restoring some of their older films in ways few thought possible, and the results thus far have all been spectacular. I didn’t detect a single problematic instance within the image; there’s no background noise, speckles, scratches or print damage visible. All in all, this is a stunningly perfect transfer and likely the absolute best possible presentation viewers are going to see for this classic film. Also worth noting is that Disney provides viewers the option to watch the film in "DisneyView," which attempts to fill in the black bars on either side of the image with changing designs and artwork. Once selected, viewers will enjoy unobtrusive images such as stage curtains, pillars or forest canopy in lieu of dead black space. This is a great feature for those of us who enjoy having our screens filled without having to sacrifice the all-important original aspect ratio. This should, hopefully, be a standard feature for all forthcoming Disney full-frame Blu-ray discs. The standard-definition DVD’s 1.33:1 full-frame image looks remarkably good. The print has been cleaned up considerably, resulting in an image that looks pristine. Colors do look a little duller than the Blu-ray counterpart, but that’s to be expected. The image is well-defined, with a crisp look to Snow White and all of her woodland friends. I saw virtually no signs of print damage or specks and scratches. It’s quite obvious a great deal of work went into restoring this image to look this marvelous.
Audio
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround sound mixed at 48 kHz/24-bit on the Blu-ray sounds rich and full without resorting to adding additional sound effects to fill out the track. As expected, the dialogue and most of the action are relegated to the front end of things, with the LFE track there to provide a little bass to make the track a bit more robust. Surrounds are given some use, though it is minimal at best. For such a dated track, Disney has done a great job to make it sound crystal clear and easily discernible. Adding additional sounds would have given it an alien quality that, quite frankly, is not needed. Purists will also be pleased to hear that the original English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track has been included as well, so those who yearn to hear “Snow White” in its original presentation will be pleased. French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound tracks are also included. Subtitles are available in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish. The DVD of the film contains Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix in English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound track. For a film that’s over 70 years old, this track sounds mighty impressive. Rear channels don’t have much to do, as I might have expected, but the dialogue and sound effects, which are mostly front-centric, sound crisp and clear. There is little distortion, pops or hisses, which is, again, impressive when you take the film’s age into consideration. Also included on the DVD are French and Spanish Enhanced Home Theater Mixes in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, as well as the film’s restored original soundtrack in English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono only. Subtitles are available in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
Disney has absolutely jam-packed “Snow White” on Blu-ray with more features than anyone could have possibly asked for on this 3-disc combo Blu-ray/DVD set. We get an audio commentary, dozens of featurettes, deleted scenes, documentaries, interactive games, a music video, trailers, BD-Live access and lots more. Oddly enough, however, I’ve learned that some crucial bonus materials were not ported over from the previous DVD special edition, such as additional deleted scenes and some interesting featurettes. I’m not quite sure why, as this Blu-ray set would seem more than capable of holding mass amounts of extras. But unless you’re a seriously die-hard fan of the film, the wealth of material provided will likely test your mettle as it is. DISC ONE: DVD This DVD contains the standard-definition version of the feature-length film, along with a few select bonus features. “Music & More” contains the following: - “The Princess and the Frog” sneak peek runs for 7 minutes and 48 seconds. - “Someday My Prince Will Come” by Tiffany Thornton music video runs for 3 minutes and 34 seconds. “Classic DVD Bonus Features” contains the following: - An audio commentary with Walt Disney is listed, but once selected my DVD experienced an error and stopped playing. The packaging lists an audio commentary with John Canemaker, but that is nowhere to be found on this disc. However, doing some quick online research has led me to find that this is a commentary track utilizing interviews with Walt himself, “moderated” by film historian John Canemaker. Regardless, that still doesn’t explain why the track won’t work once selected. However, once I began playing the film I was able to select the track using the “audio” button. The track is very informative, with plenty of audio interview clips from Walt as introduced and set-up by Canemaker. This is obviously as close as we’ll ever come to having a full-blown Walt commentary track, and this one was very well put together. Sneak peeks are bonus trailers available for the following: - “Dumbo: Special Edition” runs for 1 minute and 14 seconds. - “The Princess and the Frog” runs for 2 minutes and 33 seconds. - “Santa Buddies” runs for 51 seconds. - “Disney Blu-ray” promo runs for 1 minute and 13 seconds. - “Disney Movie Rewards” promo runs for 20 seconds. - “G-Force” runs for 1 minute and 35 seconds. - “Ponyo” runs for 1 minute and 32 seconds. - “Beauty & the Beast: Diamond Edition” runs for 1 minute and 42 seconds. - “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Choo-Choo Express” runs for 40 seconds. - “Mickey’s Magical Christmas” runs for 48 seconds. - “Disney Parks” promo runs for 30 seconds. - “D23 fan community” promo runs for 34 seconds. DISC TWO: BLU-RAY This contains the feature-length film in high-definition along with some of the package’s supplements, including an audio commentary, bonus trailers, interactive games and a music video. - “The Princess and the Frog” sneak peek runs for 7 minutes and 48 seconds. “Backstage Disney: Diamond Edition” contains the following: - “Snow White Returns” featurette runs for 8 minutes and 44 seconds. This is a fascinating look at some unused sketches that were recently found in the Disney animation archives which may have been intended for a never-produced sequel film. - Two unfinished black & white deleted scenes are presented for the following: - “Soup Eating Sequence” runs for 4 minutes and 7 seconds, Snow White makes soup for the dwarfs, and they, naturally, have a song to sing about it. - “Bed Building Sequence” runs for 6 minutes and 28 seconds. The dwarfs decided to build a bed in a typically whimsical fashion. “Music & More” contains the following: - “Someday My Prince Will Come” by Tiffany Thornton music video runs for 3 minutes and 34 seconds. “Family Play: Games & Activities” contains the following: - “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall” is an interactive game where players answer questions in order to have their “inner princess” revealed. - “What Do You See?” is an interactive game where players have to guess what a scrambled image is before time runs out. - “Jewel Jumble” is an interactive game where players must catch jewels from the mines using a cart. Think of it as Disney’s version of Bejeweled. - “Scene Stealer” is an interactive game which allows viewers to insert their family photos into a Snow White music video for play back. The audio commentary with Walt Disney, as moderated by John Canemaker, from the DVD is also included on this disc. “Learn How to Take Your Favorite Movies on the Go” promo runs for 1 minute and 4 seconds. This shows viewers how to upload DisneyFile digital copies onto their computers for use on portable media devices. Sneak peek bonus trailers are available for the following: - “Disney Blu-ray” promo runs for 1 minute and 13 seconds. - “Disney Movie Rewards” promo runs for 20 seconds. - “Up” runs for 2 minutes and 34 seconds. - “Santa Buddies” runs for 51 seconds. - “Ponyo” runs for 1 minute and 32 seconds. - “G-Force” runs for 1 minute and 35 seconds. - “Beauty & the Beast: Diamond Edition” runs for 1 minute and 42 seconds. - “Disney Parks” promo runs for 30 seconds. - “Dumbo” runs for 1 minute and 14 seconds. - “The Princess and the Frog” runs for 2 minutes and 33 seconds. - “Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure” runs for 1 minute and 13 seconds. There is a BDisney-Live which is a BD-Live link that leads to the standard Disney interactive webpage for those who have profile 2.0 players. It took an abysmally long time to load. DISC THREE: “Backstage Disney: Diamond Edition” contains the following: - “Hyperion Studios” is an impossibly exhaustive interactive feature which guides viewers through each and every facet of the classic studio Walt built. Just maneuvering your way through the entire building seems like a daunting task. Disney has truly put the mighty powers of Blu-ray to use in assembling this piece. The breakdown of the tour, along with included supplements, is as follows: “Hyperion Exterior” contains: - “Family Business” featurette runs for 1 minute and 57 seconds, we get a glimpse at the studios and learn Walt’s approach to filmmaking. - “Where It All Began” featurette runs for 11 minutes and 48 seconds, this is an introduction the studios and a look at the production staff. - “The One That Started It All” featurette runs for 17 minutes and 8 seconds, this looks at impact the film has had since it came out. “ Story Room ” contains: - “ Storyboard Art Gallery” is a gallery that has 135 images. - “In Walt’s Words: The Huntsman” featurette runs for 3 minutes and 25 seconds, voice actors recreate a scene between Walt and his writers using transcripts. - “Walt’s Night Prowls” featurette runs for 52 seconds, Walt was something of a dumpster diver, looking through animators’ trashcans for discarded ideas that could prove useful. - “Abandoned Concepts Gallery” gallery which has 63 images. - “Babes in the Woods” cartoon runs for 8 minutes and 4 seconds, this is an early Disney cartoon. - “Stories From the Story Room” featurette runs for 1 minute and 14 seconds, quick interviews with the story writers. - “Gabby, Blabby and Flabby” featurette runs for 1 minute and 14 seconds, the writing team had a tough time coming up with names for the dwarfs. - “Five Bucks a Gag” featurette runs for 1 minute and 46 seconds, writers were paid a tidy sum by Walt if they could come up with some great gags. “Music Room” contains: - “Music Room Host” runs for 48 seconds, this is an introduction to what the "Music Room" is. - “David Hand’s Dirty Trick” featurette runs for 1 minute and 18 seconds, an archive interview with Hand who recalls a trick he played on Walt. - “The Music in Snow White” featurette runs for 6 minutes and 14 seconds, talk about the film’s soundtrack and score. - “The Skeleton Dance” featurette runs for 6 minutes and 2 seconds, this was the first Silly Symphony cartoon Walt produced, and it’s still a classic. “Art Department” contains: - “Visual Development Gallery” this gallery has 146 images. - “Creating the World of Snow White” featurette runs for 6 minutes and 53 seconds, discusses brining the storybook the cinema screens and its intended look. - “The Idea Man” featurette runs for 1 minute and 41 seconds, quick discussions about artist Albert Hurter and his many ideas. - “In Walt’s Words: Cleaning the Cottage” featurette runs for 7 minutes and 3 seconds, this is another re-enactment between Walt and his staff about a scene in the film. - “ Gustav Tenggren Art Gallery ” is a gallery has 16 images. - “ Music Land ” cartoon runs for 10 minutes and 15 seconds, another early Silly Symphony cartoon, this one about love. “Character Design” contains: - “Character Design Gallery” this gallery has 5 images. - “In Walt’s Words: The Dwarfs” featurette runs for 5 minutes and 49 seconds, is a re-enactment of talks with Walt about the film’s little people. - “Color Tests Gallery” is a gallery which has 12 images. “Background and Layout” contains: - “Setting the Stage” featurette runs for 4 minutes and 4 seconds, discusses all of the steps necessary to complete a shot within the film. - “Layout Gallery” is a gallery that has 115 images. - “Backgrounds Gallery” is another gallery which has 25 images. “Animation Department” contains: - “Bringing Snow White to Life” featurette runs for 11 minutes and 33 seconds, we learn what certain animators brought to the film and how they were influenced. - “Goddess of Spring” cartoon runs for 10 minutes and 4 seconds, is another early Silly Symphony cartoon. - “The Animators’ Favorite Animators” featurette runs for 2 minutes, we learn some of the team’s favorite peers. - “Playful Pluto” runs for 8 minutes and 9 seconds, an early animated short with the popular character. - “Blowing off Steam” featurette runs for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, learn how the staff relaxed with some pranks. - “ Animation Art Gallery” is a gallery which has 39 images. “Live Action Reference” contains: - “Live Action Host” featurette runs for 50 seconds, this is a quick overview of what the animators had to do with live-action subjects. - “Drawing on Real Life” featurette runs for 1 minute and 37 seconds, discusses how Walt ended up using real performers as an inspiration for his animators. - “Live Action Reference Gallery” is a gallery has 26 images. - “Giving Voice to Snow White” featurette runs for 2 minutes and 46 seconds, this talks about finding the right voice for a character and how they came to cast Adriana Caselotti. “Sweatbox” contains: - “Sweatbox Host” featurette runs for 53 seconds, we learn what exactly the sweatbox is and how vital it was for Walt’s process. - “Sweating it Out” featurette runs for 1 minute and 9 seconds, talks about Walt’s incredible eye for detail. - “Deleted Bedroom Fight Scene” runs for 2 minutes and 26 seconds, this is a deleted scene that was cut from the final film. “Ink and Paint” contains: - “Life in the Nunnery” featurette runs for 1 minute and 59 seconds, this discusses the animators being separated from the inkers & painters. - “Flowers and Trees” cartoon runs for 8 minutes and 31 seconds, the first animated film to win an Academy Award, this is another Silly Symphony cartoon. - “The Challenges of Ink and Paint” featurette runs for 1 minute and 41 seconds, this talks about the women who finalized the film’s animated cells. - “Painted Cells Gallery” is a gallery that has 14 images. “Camera Department” contains: - “Decoding the Exposure Sheet” featurette runs for 6 minutes and 47 seconds, Walt used exposure sheets to better organize his animation. - “The Old Mill” cartoon runs for 9 minutes and 6 seconds, is another Silly Symphony cartoon, one where Walt used a multi-plane camera. - “Stories from the Camera Department” featurette runs for 2 minutes and 4 seconds, more archive audio interviews discuss the camerawork used for the film. “Sound Stage” contains: - “Steamboat Willie” cartoon runs for 8 minutes and 2 seconds, this was Walt’s first cartoon to feature synchronized sound. - “Walt’s Early Memories of Sound” featurette runs for 1 minute and 51 seconds, talks about the creation of the film’s sound effects. “Walt’s Office” contains: - “Production Photos Gallery” is a gallery that has 21 images. - “Working with Walt” featurette runs for 1 minute and 48 seconds, the team behind Snow White discuss working with Disney. - “Publicity Gallery” another gallery that has 34 images. And, so with that ends the extensive tour of Hyperion Studios. “The One That Started It All” is a featurette which runs for 17 minutes and 16 seconds, this piece talks about how hugely important “Snow White” was in securing the future of Disney, as well as the difficulties and criticism Walt faced while making the film. “Classic DVD Bonus Features” contains the following: - Animation Voice Talent” is a featurette which runs for 6 minutes and 2 seconds. This talks about the importance of voice talents, specifically that of Snow White’s Adriana Caselotti. “Disney Through the Decades” is a multi-part documentary which runs for 37 minutes and 14 seconds, this timeline piece talks about what Disney was doing as a company from its beginning in the 1930’s all the way up through to present day, with plenty of interviews and archive footage used to fill in viewers. “Dopey’s Wild Mine Ride” is another interactive game for viewers to play. “Heigh-Ho” karaoke sing-along is provided for those eager to embarrass themselves, and it rounds out our astronomical helping of extras found on this set.
Packaging
Disney has inexplicably elected to release “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” on Blu-ray with 2 different types of packaging, both of which contain the exact same contents. This set came housed in a standard DVD amaray case with an attractive, embossed slipcover. The set was also released in a standard amaray Blu-ray case with the same slipcover. The actual DVD-only set of the film doesn’t arrive for 7 weeks after the Blu-ray, so I’m guessing this is an unexpected effort on Disney’s part to confuse customers into buying a Blu-ray disc in hopes of increasing sales of the format.
Overall
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