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When Disney lets a classic film out of the vault, we must pay attention. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs  has peeked out again, this time in a grand DVD/Blu-ray Diamond Edition combo pack. I paid attention last time Snow White came out in the 2-DVD Platinum edition, and I was wowed. The Blu-ray update went amazingly well - as good as the Platinum Edition was, the Blu-ray is better. The menus are beautiful and the content has no equal. The feature itself is as good as can be expected for a film that is 72 years old, and it's been souped up with a 7.1 audio upgrade.If you've never heard the story, it goes like this: Snow White (Adriana Caselotti) is a beautiful princess with an evil stepmother. The Queen (Lucille La Verne) is so egocentric, she looks to a magic mirror (Moroni Olsen) for validation of her beauty (and to be sure, I think the mirror must have lied for years, 'cause she's no prize). When the inevitable day arrives that the mirror fancies another (Snow), the Queen must eliminate her rival. She gets one of her goons to take her into the woods. While Snow is communing with the fuzzy critters, he is to kill her and return her heart to the queen in a special box. This is the part that may be a bit intense for younger viewers. The Huntsman loses his nerve, however, and tells her to run into the forest (sort of like when Tom took Bernie into the woods in Miller's Crossing  , but without as much crying). In the woods she finds a group of seven dwarves (couldn't see that one coming, eh?) who work in their own diamond mine and let their meticulously crafted house get filthy. They begin to live their lives together in peace, but the queen and her magic mirror find out about her. There can be no tranquility.This is the film that really kicked things off for Disney. It was pre-slandered as Disney's Folly, as it was costing more than half a million to produce. The critics quickly changed their tune when they saw it and it became a runaway hit/ The second Blu-ray disc of this three-disc set is thick with information, storyboards, mini-documentaries, and special guest appearances from the likes of Andrew Stanton (Wall-e  ), Ron Clements (Aladdin ), and other Disney creators. This information is presented in the form of an interactive tour of Hyperion Studios - the original Disney animation studio, before Snow White made it possible for Walt to build a new studio. You can search through different departments at Hyperion, such as animation, layout, music, story, and more. It's a very organic way of organizing the information, and though much of the info is the same as was in the Platinum Edition, the presentation
is so well-done that it makes its predecessor pale by comparison.
Behold the power of Blu-ray! The magic mirror, who hosts the main menu, knows what time of day and what time of year it is and changes his greeting to you accordingly. Well done, Disney!While the Blu-ray presentation of the film is exceptional, the included DVD is lackluster at best. Its great for taking on the road, though there is no digital copy included. Extras on the DVD include commentary by John Canemaker and Walt Disney himself, a new music video, and a sneak peek at The Princess and the Frog, which is also included on the Blu-ray. |
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