Empire Magazine (2008) Greatest Movies List - #141: Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

Odds are you know the story of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs by heart, and the odds are greater still that the first you became familiar with the story was when you saw the 1937 Walt Disney animated musical, directed by David Hand. The Brothers Grimm were the ones who first popularized fairy tales in the 19^th century, but it was the creator of Mickey Mouse who created the versions we all know in the 20^th and 21^st century. Comparing the work of the Brothers Grimm with the cheerful films of Uncle Walt is like comparing Game of Thrones to Frozen: they both feature princesses and elements of fantasy, but one has a lot more blood and murder.

Of course by removing the more mature parts of the Grim fairy tales and using colourful animation as well catchy tunes to tell the story, Walt Disney pictures managed to reach millions of viewers and cemented their movie as the definitive version of the fairy tale. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs was Hollywood’s first full-length animated feature and the earliest in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, but it is constantly being rediscovered by new generations of children even though it was released 78 years ago. I can’t recall exactly when, but I know I watched it as a kid sometime in the early 90s, most likely in a classroom. Nothing will calm down a group of toddlers like the sight of the seven dwarfs singing “Heigh-Ho, it’s off to work we go.”

Knowing the story is one thing, but for a real pop culture challenge try remembering the names of the seven dwarfs off the top of your head. That’s right up there with knowing the names of Santa’s reindeers or the names of the Magnificent Seven. I can’t do it, but I do remember my favourite dwarf was the mute and bald dwarf Dopey because of how silly he behaved.

Both girls and boys usually love the animated movie, but of course nowadays the idea of a princess cooking and cleaning for seven guys who go work all day in a mine seems somewhat antiquated. Add to that she is eventually placed in a coma and falls in love when the first guy who kisses her while she is asleep, and there is a lot here to anger feminists the world over. This is probably why in 2012 alone there were two new live action versions of the film that featured a much more proactive Snow White. Mirror Mirror has her becoming essentially a stick-up artist with the dwarfs, and Snow White and the Huntsman has her picking up a sword and storming the castle of the evil stepmother for a final showdown. Apparently the studios really wanted to emphasize the “action” part of a live-action version of Snow White.

Although those new versions are definitely more progressive in terms of giving the female protagonist a lot more to do other than cooking and cleaning, it does still feel like something has been lost from the early animated version. The Walt Disney version is a product of its time, when a female character in movies was at best a prize to be rescued, but seen today the movie still has a certain magic. It’s a simple story with lots of cutesy characters and a damsel in distress, yet if it has lasted for close to eight decades Walt Disney must have done something right.

Empire Magazine Greatest Movies List - #333: Grease

Nostalgia is a powerful feeling. You have some good times in a period of your life, time goes by and you feel like going back to that time period. I am guessing someone in the late 70s felt nostalgic about late 1950s high school life in America, leading to the creation of “Grease,” one of John Travolta’s first hits. The life and time are very dated today, but every now and then you still hear the soundtrack on classic rock stations. Clearly the lyricists did their jobs right. This is not my favourite musical. It’s cutesy with catchy tunes, but my top two musicals are “The Blues Brothers” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” If it involves car chases, Ray Charles, the Time Warp, Meat Loaf, and Carrie Fisher with a rocket launcher then count me in. I have less enthusiasm for Danny Zucko singing about his summer love for Sandy. But the movie was available for a dollar on iTunes during an evening when I had nothing to do in University, so I might as well kill two hours and ...

Empire Magazine (2008) Greatest Movies List - #357: The long Goodbye

Sometimes in a detective story the mystery is not half as fun as the detective stuck in the chaos of the story. Philip Marlow is one of those detectives. His name is synonymous with Hollywood noir and in The Long Goodbye (1973), he dives deep into a mystery involving a murder, then a suicide, then a missing person, and eventually a very violent gangster operating in sunny Los Angeles. One thing I love about this version is that this detective loves his cat enough to go buy him food at three o’clock in the morning. Now that is a dedicated pet lover. The late great director Robert Altman starts the action at a slow pace to introduce Marlowe (Eliott Gould) as he wakes up to his hungry cat. Here is a man who falls asleep in his clothes, always the same suit and tie, and is either constantly smoking or lighting a new cigarette. He is a friendly person, nice enough to pick up an item for his neighbours while going out to get cat food. It probably helps that said neighbours are five y...

Empire Magazine (2008) Greatest Movies List - #20: Blade Runner

Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) is one of those movies that gets more relevant with each passing decade. Set in a (now passed) future in which Los Angeles is overrun with people and pollution, the story focuses on artificial lifeforms clashing with their human creators. As the chase for these lifeforms progresses, writers Hampton Francher and David Peoples imply they may not be so different from the humans chasing them. If this sounds topical in 2024, imagine how relevant it will sound ten years from now. When writing these amateur reviews, I usually try to think back on the first time I watched the movie and what I felt at the time. This is tricky with Blade Runner considering there have been five versions of the film released since the 1980s. I believe the first version I did see on TV was the original theatrical version with the narration to guide the audience since executives thought that was needed. I eventually disagreed and purchased the Final Cut on Blu-Ray to see th...

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