Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Walt Disney Signature Collection (Disney, Blu-ray+DVD Combo)
It’s hard to grasp today how revolutionary Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was in 1937. The beautiful (and at times a little dark and scary) Grimm Brothers fairy tale of a pathologically narcissistic queen, a beautiful princess, and a lovable troupe of little men who protect her was a grand gamble, an expensive animated feature in Technicolor made a time when animated features were practically nonexistent and Technicolor was Hollywood’s expensive new toy. It was dubbed “Disney’s Folly” by the industry, until it became a massive success. Though technically not the first animated feature, the elaborately painted images and graceful execution of the Technicolor feature redefined the idea of what animation could do, pushed the possibility of color cinema into a new realm, convinced the audiences that animation could tell a story for adults and kids alike and launched the Disney legacy. Delicately shaded and delightfully old fashioned, like a fairy tale come to life from a 19th century illustration, it remains to this day one of the most beautiful animated features ever made and my favorite Disney film of all time.
It was first released on Blu-ray in 2009, a “Diamond Edition” release that has been out of print for years and commanding high prices on the collector’s market. This edition features the same HD restoration and transfer from that release, which preserves the distinctive texture of the painted cels and the thirties-era colors beautifully.
The difference is in the supplements. New to this disc is the four-minute “In Walt’s Words: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” an audio-only interview with Walt Disney discussing the film set to an image track, the seven-minute featurette “Iconography” that explores the film’s influences on popular culture, art, and fashion, “@DisneyAnimation: Designing Disney’s First Princess” with four contemporary animators discussing the design of Snow White, and an “Alternate Sequence: The Prince Meets Snow White,” plus the breezy promo-style pieces “The Fairest Facts of Them All: 7 Facts You May Now Know About Snow White” with Disney Channel star Sofia Carson and the rap retelling “Snow White in Seventy Seconds.”
Also new to this is the Digital HD copy, which you can redeem at Disney Movies Anywhere.
“Disney’s First Feature: The Making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is an expanded version of the featurette “The One That Started It All” from the 2009 “Diamond Edition” release, running just over half an hour, while “Hyperion Studios Tour” is a condensed (30-minute) version of the virtual tour from the 2009 edition.
Carried over from the earlier disc: commentary by Roy E. Disney and animation historian John Cannemaker, two deleted scenes (in pencil animation, sketches and finished soundtrack), sketches and story notes from an unmade sequel “Snow White Returns,” audio of story meetings, “Animation Voice Talent” (on Snow White voice actress Adriana Caselotti), and “Decoding the Exposure Sheet” (on animation innovations from the film). Gone are the interaction activities and set-top games, some of the galleries and featurettes from “Hyperion Studios Tour.”
Which means what really? It’s not so much an upgrade from the 2009 release as an alternate version aimed at new buyers. Which may frustrate collectors (and for good reason—why not carry over all the previous supplements and make the new disc definitive?) but won’t matter to most casual fans. Basically, if you don’t already have the film, you can now own it without dipping into the collector’s market.
Josh Spiegel writes about why the Disney Vault (which keeps films out of circulation on disc for seven years between releases) is no longer relevant in the 21st century at Movie Mezzanine.
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