Snow White – Film Review
by Brian Merriman

Directed by Marc Webb
Written by  Erin Cressida Wilson based on the original work by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Starring Rachel Zegler, Emilia Faucher, Gal Gadot

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) – the animated cartoon with a memorable musical score, was the first full-length movie from the Disney Studios. It created a new genre of films, which are still being produced today. There have been various iterations of the original Grimm Brothers fairytale, so why a new one from Disney, over 80 years since its first triumph on the big screen? Quite simply, writer Erin Cressida Wilson has a new twist to the everlasting fairytale first published in 1812 and it’s well worth telling.

Borrowing a little from Robin Hood, our hero Snow White, an enchanting Rachel Zegler (Maria, West Side Story) has all the qualities of a Disney princess – beauty, purity and bravery. Her arch nemesis is the menacing Evil Queen (Gal Gadot). Wilson’s story fleshes out what we may already know, with a more detailed back story and a more edgy outcome.

Spoiler alert: Once upon a time… the faraway Kingdom was happy under their benevolent and wise Royal Family, but all changes when the Queen dies and is replaced by a new darker character, who persuades the King to go to war, never to return. Snow White spends her Cinderella days cleaning the palace until her life is under threat. Ansu Kabia’s strong Huntsman struggles with divided loyalty to alter the course of the Queen’s evil plans.

Snow White seeks refuge in the forest. The forest bandits are led by Jonathan (a swashbuckling Andrew Burnap) and he and his bandits join up with the seven tiny comic miners to win the day. They remind the downtrodden people that even though things are grim now – it is possible not just to remember but to re-create the old days and better times – perhaps there’s a message for modern-day America in that?

Add to this anticipated intrigue, the rich musical score by Jeff Morrow, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul which reinvents some of the original movie classics and peppers the story with new melodic tunes and we feel the warm glow of familiar territory throughout this new telling of a classic fairytale. The lush orchestral arrangements are pure Disney quality.

Add even more to this rich palate of colour, from the settings in Kave Quinn’s production design with set decoration by Stella Fox and Claire Simpson to the glorious costumes by Sandy Powell and this latest telling of Snow White truly meets all high expectations.

Though G-rated, there are a few scary bits in the forest, but without another spoiler alert, they do live happily ever after.

The life-like animation of her seven small companions is magnificent. All the characters are beautifully and comically crafted but Dopey is adorable. With a feast of animated animals, deer and birds to fall for, it is Dopey who captures the heartstrings throughout and plays them like a harp.

If you don’t bring your inner child with you at the beginning, you will certainly leave with them by the end. It’s a magical, melodious movie that splashes optimism and colour in these more gloomy times. It is a timely reminder of the triumph of good over evil, no matter how hopeless it feels. Once again, Disney’s trade mark optimism shines through this timeless classic. You’ll love it.