Snow White is the main protagonist of Disney's 1st full-length animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She is a princess and a sweet, gentle, kind-hearted and beautiful young girl. When her jealous stepmother, the Evil Queen sends the Huntsmanto kill her, he tells her about her plan and Snow White runs away into the forest and befriends the Seven Dwarves. She is the first Disney Princess in the official lineup. In the film, she was voiced by the late Adriana Caselotti. In other media, she was voiced by Katherine Von Till. In Ralph Breaks the Internet, she is voiced by Pamela Ribon.
Background
Personality
Snow White is well-known for her kindness and optimism — both of which act as her greatest strengths, as they've guided her safely through the various hardships faced throughout her life. She is quick to charm, winning the trust and admiration of the Prince, forest animals, and the Seven Dwarfs rather quickly, proving her kindness and pleasant aura makes her a beloved figure. Coined as the "Fairest one of All", Snow White's beauty lies both within her physical appearance and pure heart. With no negativity within her, Snow White is the physical embodiment of positivity and innocence.
She can also be playful, and somewhat sassy, as she takes advantage of Grumpy's sour disposition and initial dislike for her by teasing him, and continuously ignoring his rude remarks by keeping a soft smile or cheery glow, as opposed to acting out of shock, much to Grumpy's annoyance.
Though generally childlike and gentle, Snow White can also be assertive, with the authoritative nature of a mother. Once she takes residence in the cottage of the seven dwarfs, Snow White takes control of the household, turning it from an unkempt hovel to a clean and humble environment, something the Dwarfs show acceptance and delight over. She furthered her authority by giving the dwarfs a designated bedtime, as well as forcing them to wash in order to eat dinner; though they showed great reluctance and made attempts to avoid the situation, they were ultimately unable to bypass Snow White's firm attitude. In addition, she showed leadership potential when guiding the animals around the house during their cleaning session, successfully instructing them on how to best clean the house and various items inside.
Having been turned a slave in her own home by the Evil Queen at a relatively early age, Snow White is hard-working. In spite of her servant work being forced upon, she was shown efficient with her chores. In the Dwarfs' cottage, she didn't hesitate to clean the household upon discovering how filthy it was, never minding the work that had to be put into such a task. She doesn't take her blessings of finding shelter in the Dwarfs' cottage for granted, instead making the decision to work for her residence.
Possibly Snow White's greatest flaw is also her greatest strength. Due to her strong sense of kindness and goodwill upon others, the princess can be manipulated to rebel against the orders of others, such as when she invited the old crone (believing her to be a harmless, and sickly peddler woman) into the cottage for health care, disobeying the Dwarfs' orders to stay away from strangers. This would result in her downfall. However, as mentioned above, her loving heart is ultimately able to prevail, as her mutual love for the Prince ultimately saves her life. This exemplifies both the dangers and advantages of having a pure heart and making her a more human character.
She is often labelled by radical feminists as a "passive, helpless, weak, stupid and worthless damsel in distress" due to their hate for any princess before Mulan. They don't like the fact that she "waits for the prince" to "save her", when in fact she actually was lucky and managed to survive, or she would have not woken up.
Appearances
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White was the daughter of a Queen and after she died, Snow White's vain step-mother, the Evil Queen, took over the kingdom. Jealous of her step-daughter's beauty, she made Snow White a scullery maid and dressed her up in rags to conceal her beauty. But as Snow White grew older, she became more beautiful until one day, a Prince came by and noticed her and the two fell in love. Unknown to any of them, the Evil Queen was watching and grew jealous of them.
The Huntsman was ordered to take Snow White out into the forest and stab her to death and bring her heart in a wooden box, but he was unable to, and confessed to the young princess and told her to run away. Snow White complied and fled deep into the forest, and had a terrible hallucination, imagining the trees were trying to grab her, and she collapsed on the ground, sobbing. When she recovered, the forest animals approached her and she befriended them. The animals led her to the house of the Seven Dwarfs, and after she cleaned the house, she went to sleep on their bed.
It wasn't long before the Dwarfs returned after a hard day of working. Finding the house clean, they believed a monster was in their house and armed themselves, but instead found Snow White, still asleep. The Dwarfs allowed her to stay if she did the housework, but one Dwarf, Grumpy, was wary of her, as he didn't trust women. The Dwarfs quickly warmed up to her, even Grumpy, and they performed a song for her. After dancing and telling a story, Snow White slept in the Dwarfs' room, while they found a different place to sleep. As she went to sleep, Snow White blessed the Dwarfs for their kindness.
Meanwhile, back in the castle, the Evil Queen had discovered that Snow White still lived, and decided to deal with her herself. Using a potion, she transformed herself into a hideous hag and took a poisoned apple that would put someone to sleep if they ate it. When the Queen had went to search for Snow White, the Dwarfs had left to work. While Snow White baked a pie for them, the Queen found her and peered at her through the window. After Snow White let her inside, the Queen offered her an apple. She bit it, and the spell worked, and Snow White collapsed, asleep.
As the Queen was about to leave, the Dwarfs attacked her and she fled up a cliff to escape, but lost her footing when lightning struck the cliff, and she plummeted to her death below, and a boulder crushed her, and two vultures flew down to feed on her. With the Queen dead, the Dwarfs returned to find Snow White apparently dead, and they wept. Placing her in a glass coffin, she remained there until the Prince from before came looking for her and kissed her, and she woke up from her sleep. The Dwarfs rejoiced that Snow White was alive, and celebrated as the Prince carried Snow White to his kingdom, where they were most likely married.
Sofia the First
Snow White appears in the series Sofia the First, in the episode "The Enchanted Feast". Here, Snow White briefly tells the story of how a seemingly feeble old woman offering an apple turned out to be her wicked stepmother in disguise, telling Sofia to trust her instincts and that people aren't always who they seem to be; tying into Sofia's suspicious feelings toward a visiting sorceress (who is actually an evil fairy in disguise). At the end of the episode, Snow White briefly appears again in a magic morpho mirror, smiling proudly at Sofia.
She is the second princess to not have a special song for Sofia after Aurora. She is also the second princess to make a double appearance in the same episode; first in the courtyard, and second in a magic morpho mirror. She is also one of the Princesses that has a short visit to Sofia compared to those before her.
Ralph Breaks the Internet
In Ralph Breaks the Internet, a netizen of Snow White works as a cast member in Oh My Disney, where she and the other princesses meet net users that answer Disney Princess quizzes. Vanellope von Schweetz appears just as Snow White is meeting one of her fans. Shortly after, First Order Stormtroopers target Vanellope as an unauthorized pop-up. Vanellope makes her escape and finds safety in the princesses' private quarters; Snow White is seen greeting a baby bird when Vanellope arrives. However, she is the only princess not to confront Vanellope with hostility. When Vanellope explains that she's a princess as well, Snow White asks if Vanellope has ever been poisoned or has had true love's kiss, both of which Vanellope denies.
Nevertheless, Snow White is able to relate when Vanellope notes that she doesn't have a mother. When the princesses officially declare Vanellope a princess, herself, Snow White briefly sings in celebration. Afterwards, when Cinderella has the mice create comfy modern attire for the ladies, Snow White dons light chartreuse, polka-dotted pants, chartreuse slippers, and a blue off-the-shoulder top with artwork of the poisoned apple and text that reads "POISON" under it. As the princesses converse, they learn that Vanellope has never had her own song. Pocahontas advises her to find some water and stare at it; Snow White aggress, explaining that she sings to a wishing well.
During the climax, Snow White returns with the other princesses as they spot Wreck-It Ralph falling from the sky. The princesses use their unique skill sets to save him, with Snow White supply numerous poisoned apples, as well as her discarded gown. The gown is used in part to catch Ralph, while the other princess gowns are used to parachute the bad-guy to safety. Once Ralph is awakened by a kiss from Prince Naveen, Snow White and the princesses greet him as friends of Vanellope's as they befriend him as well.
Gallery
Trivia
- This version of Snow White served as the inspiration for the parody character Ella on the Total Drama series
- In the series, Animaniacs, she had an evil version and was the daughter of another villain.
- Despite most people viewing her as a stereotype and cliche with no real helpful qualities, her goodness and unbendable passion for helping others are admirable traits themselves.
- Her appearance is slightly youthful, despite her being a teenager. This could be because of Walt Disney's intention of showing the movie to kids and the fact that she is 14, which led him to give her a very modest, non-sexual figure. Thus, she looks more cute than beautiful, however in all promotional art and VHS/DVD covers, she is svelte with a small waist.
- Snow White is the first protagonist in an animated film, because Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the world's first animated film ever.
- She and Cinderella are the only princesses from movies distributed by the company RKO Radio Pictures.
Other Versions
References
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Ribon, Pamela (June 4 2018). You guys. I finally get to tell you. I’m Snow White. (Tweet). Retrieved on June 4, 2018.
- ↑ Christopher Finch, The Art Of Walt Disney, p. 66. ISBN 0810903210