This is a modified transcription of an episode of Dyer’s Daily podcast. Between 2018 and 2023, the podcast series featured Jamie Dyer speaking for three minutes about a chosen subject, completely off the cuff. For a list of episodes on the official podcast page, see here.
This was part of the Disney100 series of Dyer’s Daily podcasts, where Jamie picked an element of Disney to discuss in their 100th anniversary year. This time, the millennial broadcaster and writer gave his thoughts on the 1937 Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. This episode was originally released in 2022.
No discussion of the Walt Disney Company would be complete without mentioning their first animated feature film, which some say is the first animated feature film ever, although that’s debatable—Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, based on the Brothers Grimm’s 1812 fairy tale. The original fairy tale is quite gruesome.
In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, they tone it down, although there are still some scary sequences. I remember being mildly scared by the witch who transforms into an old lady and gives Snow White the apple. That scene is scary at times, with a lot of flashing. What’s important to remember is that nothing like this had ever been done before—a full-length animated story. This was sometimes referred to as “Disney’s Folly.”
It was unique. No one had ever sat for 90 minutes to see a full animated story. Before that, we’d only seen short subjects—everything from Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Mickey Mouse. By this point, a lot of the Looney Tunes shorts from Warner Brothers were around seven to ten minutes long.
This film, at 83 minutes, was a huge success. The music is very much of its time, but it helped set a template. Historically, Disney has been known for princesses, hence the term “Disney Princess,” which led to Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and more modern Disney princesses.
Is it a kid’s film? I think it’s a family film. They are releasing a live-action version in a year or two, which I’m excited to see, but I don’t think anything could be as innovative or original as the first. The animation style is still breathtaking—even now, the rotoscoping they did is fantastic.
If you haven’t seen it, go and watch it now. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) is available to stream on Disney+.
