SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
GENERATION AFTER generation has fallen in love with Walt Disney’s iconic animated masterpiece, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Its story of love and friendship follows the beautiful and kindhearted princess Snow White, who charms every creature in the kingdom except one, her jealous stepmother the queen, who has it in for her after the Magic Mirror proclaims that Snow White is the fairest one of all. Forced to flee into the forest, Snow White meets and wins the hearts of seven diminutive miners and ultimately triumphs over the wicked queen.
I love Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was the first full-length animated feature ever produced, launching a moviemaking enterprise that changed the face of cinema in a way that I’m sure not even Walt Disney himself could have imagined. It has become a part of our entertainment culture and has been replicated in various forms, performed in school pageants and plays, and has defined the essence of good and evil even at the most elementary level.
This is the first time that this film has been made available in 4K, sourced from new scans of the original nitrate negative. The results are quite impressive. The movie’s visuals don’t have the razor-sharp resolution of today’s digital animation, but fidelity is never in question. Colors shine brilliantly. Dynamic range is spot on, revealing deep blacks, sparkling whites and even contrast. High dynamic range doesn’t play a definitive role in the presentation but I never found the video lacking in terms of visual pop. It looks wonderful.
Let me begin by mentioning that the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 and 1.0 mono soundtracks on the 2016 Blu-ray have both been replaced with a 5.1 track here, this multichannel mix rendering dialogue, music and atmospherics in a front-loaded configuration. Prioritization is never an issue, allowing the recording’s various sound effects to be fully gleaned. No low frequency detail has been mixed to the subwoofer, however there really is no call for it. The dated elements in the recording never sound thin or dynamically starved. Overall, the listening experience proved quite good.
Bonus features include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, story meetings, production featurettes, a 1956 interview with Walt Disney, and an alternate sequence, all of which are quite interesting. A Blu-ray and digital copy code are the finishing touches. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is among the most beloved Disney animated feature films and holds special prominence, not only in the Disney universe but within filmmaking.