“Romancing the Tale: Walt Disney’s Adaption of the Grimms’ “Snow White”
Wright, T. (1997). Romancing the Tale: Walt Disney’s Adaptation of the Grimms’ “Snow White”. Journal of Popular Film and Television, 25(3), pp.98-108. To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01956059709602756
This article focuses on the impact Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had at the time of its release in 1937 as it was the first full-length motion picture in animated cartoon format. The piece goes in depth on the production process of Snow White, its influence on popular culture, and the films politics.
This article didn’t so much focus on gender roles in ‘Snow White’ as it did an analysis of when and why the film was created. The time the article was written (1997) could also account for the not so critical lens through which the film is looked at as in more recent years people have become more inclined to openly criticise films for the way they represent women.
This article was a good piece to read to gain a greater understanding of “Snow White” in context of when it was released. It was interesting to learn that at the time of it’s release, Snow White was seen as a strong female character, whereas looking at it now she is considered to be a very passive damsel. Further, the film was constructed to be inline with the cinema trends of the time, rather than be as true to the original story as possible.