Blog Entry 5


The original Brothers Grimm Snow White fairy tale is quite different from what most of the world knows as Snow White. This is due to the popular film by Walt Disney released in 1937. Disney became a master of contaminating fairy tales and Snow White was his first feature film. A lot of what Disney changed between the original tale and the feature film is what added meaning and authenticity to the tale. He contaminated it to appeal to a wider younger audience and to make the story last the full 88 minutes.
An important difference to note is the dwarves. In the Brothers Grimm version they are important characters that provide an opportunity for Snow White to be safe and learn domestic skills. They also allow her to stay with them as long as she cleaned, cooked and looked after the house due to a contract between them. The dwarves also do nothing but warn Snow White of the Queen and save her after the first few attempts on her life. In the Disney film, the dwarves are given names (along with personalities) Doc, Sleepy, Grumpy, Dopey, Happy, Bashful and Sneezy. They are also given a large part of the time on screen; when they are trying to figure out who is in the house and clean themselves. The dwarves also dare to go after the Queen after she attacks Snow White. Another noticeable difference is the lack of the three different plots the Queen tries to kill Snow White. She orders the Hunter to kill Snow White and when that fails she then poisons her with the apple. In the Brothers Grimm version, the Queen tries to kill her by lacing her too tight, a poison comb and then the poison apple. The core characters and idea of the tale is similar between the two versions. There is the angelic Snow White whose evil stepmother the Queen is trying to kill her. She is motivated by a magic mirror and the King is absent from the story. The Huntsmen is ordered to kill Snow White and instead lets her go where she then finds the dwarves. The Huntsmen takes animal parts to the Queen as proof of death. Snow White lives with the dwarves until the Queen kills her. The prince comes to take Snow White away and ends up saving her. The evil Queen dies and they live happily ever after.
The differences between these tales have a lot to do with the time and purpose of them. The Brothers Grimm wrote their version of Snow White around 1812-1819 based off stories they had collected from the people of Germany. The purpose of their writing was to save and collect folklore and other forms of literature to better understand German culture (Zipes, The Brothers Grimm 26). Whereas Walt Disney created the film during the 1930s and he intended to entertain the audience and give them a sense of wonder. Disney’s way of making films was revolutionary at the time and he “capitalized on American innocence and utopianism to reinforce the social and political status quo” (Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell” 428). These changes or times in society and the purpose behind the sharing/contamination of the tales is what ultimately led to the differences and similarities seen today.

Sources for images:
https://www.41a.net/tag/snowwhiteandthesevenpans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney
https://www.dw.com/en/the-brothers-grimm-freaks-or-visionaries/a-16465915



Works Cited
Zipes, Jack. “Breaking the Disney Spell”. The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatar. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999.332-353. Print.
Zipes, Jack. The Brothers Grimm. Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.


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