Walt Disneys first feature length animation, Snow White, has finally got the package and medium it deserves with this Blu-Ray Diamond Edition box set. Its only fitting then that the film which innovated legendary storytelling and mechanical processes became the first in a series of Diamond Edition packages, Disney claiming that at least two will be released each year from now on.
Snow White is the story of a beautiful young girl who, thanks to her vein stepmother (the Queen), is made to work day and night as a peasant. The Queens Magic Mirror, now something of a cultural icon like so many of Disneys creations, one day tells the Queen the truth – that she is NOT the fairest of them all, and is only eclipsed by Snow White. Outraged, the Queen calls for a henchman to kill the young girl, but when he fails under the pressure of moral, Snow White runs away into the forest and befriends a group of friendly Dwarves by accident.
And yes – there are Seven of them, all with very unique personalities! I’ll leave you to figure out their names.
Evil as ever, the Queen cooks up a toxic apple which, in disguise, she hopes to poison Snow White with, leaving her as the fairest one of them all. Will she succeed in getting away with her plan? Or can Snow Whites dream Prince save the day and pave the way for a legendary final quote?
You have the choice of both Blu-ray and standard DVD discs in this package (just to reiterate – both discs are in this case), which is a wonderful idea as you can take the discs round to anyones house and always watch the film. Providing they don’t still use VHS…
This makes the package all the more great value alongside the extras disc. The feature film on blu-ray gives you the option of aspect ratio – either its original 4:3 aspect ratio, or an anamorphic display which, in English, means its tidily Pan and Scanned. Which… in proper English, means it fills the whole screen. Obviously if you have any sense, you’ll pick 4:3 any day, though some people just prefer filling the whole screen.
The remastering process is faultless and reveals every piece of detail within the artwork, with absolutely no blemishes or glitches. The colours are more vibrant and, particularly for the backgrounds, reveal the true softness of the lush watercolours. For the characters, it provides an insight into how animation and inking had developed over time, for closer inspection reveals to those concerned how the studio needed time to train their skills on such a grand scale – its so easy to forget that this was not only Walts first feature film, it was the first feature length animation! You only have to compare these areas to Pinocchio, Disneys second film (also on Blu-Ray), to witness just how much tidier the inking is, and how smoother the animation flows within the space of a couple of years.
Such an importance on live action footage has always given Snow White a unique look, for the studio was still experimenting with Rotoscoping (tracing over film), and so such amazing remastering actually reveals the innocent nature of the animation. But the way the story flows in this film is completely original, for this was the possibly the only true “traditional” fairy tale that the studio created. Later efforts such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, although just as wonderful films, follow in different directions that were more engaging artistically and in terms of story, leaving Snow White as more of a genuinely sweet little romp thats truest to a fairy tail style. This doesn’t make it any less enjoyable – Snow White herself pulls the film along, narrating the actions of the Dwarves just like a childs storybook. She talks down to the viewer in a mother-like way that is quite enchanting, and the importance of the music, from the memorable “Hei Ho” to “Some Day…” will always live on as classic pieces of storybook music. Thats the key-word – this is a pure storybook film that feels as if its jumped out of the pages.
On the subject of sound, I feel some people can be over-critical of the quality with many of these remasters. What we must not forget is that films such as Snow White, 1937 and post, were recorded on microphones from 1937 technology… Not 2009 technology. As such, the fidelity is incredibly limited. Not only this, but it was then mastered onto Nitrate film – possibly the worst medium for storing audio after such a long time, and needless to say these soundtracks will never be 100% pristine quality. We only have to take into account the way ‘Fantasia’s’ (1940/1) soundtrack was almost deemed unrepairable some time ago because it was in such a bad state, so we can think ‘Snow White’ as being in a very fortunate condition. And its an older film remember!
But if this edition is anything to by, then I have absolutely no problems with it. Their is almost no distortion at the hi-ends (something of a rarity), their are no crackles or any kind of blemishes in terms of the clarity, and the mixing-down is extremely well balanced; particularly important as Snow White herself has a powerful, high-pitched tone to her voice which thankfully doesn’t overpower the music in this edition. I highly doubt the soundtrack could be improved further than this, so I’m really looking forward to future Diamond Edition titles if this is the standard to come.
The extras disc (which is Blu-ray format) contains a host of fantastic goodies are mainly centred around an interactive tour of Hyperion Studios, which was the original home of Disneys production. The Menu begins with an outside shot of the Studio, and you have the ability to ‘wander’ through it and see/hear different archives from the various departments (inking, animation etc). This is a beautiful piece of archive that houses very rare sound recordings, interviews and videos. Many are just sound clips of old staff members who tell their favourite stories of life their – a memorable one being the staff flicking ‘push-pins’ at the wall to try and hit a target, but Walt walked in unexpectedly, had a go himself and got a Bullsyeye immediately! He raised his eyebrow and simply said “Let that be a lesson, fellas”.
Galleries are in abundance with literally hundreds of images, while theirs a rather fun ‘Jewel Jumble’ game and a karaoke sing along for the kiddies outside of the Hyperion section. The niggle so far is that the menu’s are not very easy to Navigate once you’re “in” the Studio, because the visual target/cursors are very small.
Disney claimed in a press release that, quote, the Diamond range would ‘revolutionise home entertainment’. This is probably a little bit over-stated, but some new features such as returning play back from a previously stopped event (Not the feature from the blu-ray player, but the disc itself amazingly) have been extremely helpful when muggins here presses the Square button by accident. If you’re using a Hard Drive based player like a Playstation, information is recorded to the HDD that contains what featurettes you have accessed. Overall though, this is the best extra’s disc I’ve ever got with a Blu-Ray/DVD, and I’m beginning to wonder how Disney could top this with further Diamond Edition Blu-Rays.
As usual, trailers precede the main menu and provide some interesting schedules. ‘Dumbo’ was actually released a month later than the trailer on this pack suggested, while ‘Beauty and The Beast Diamond Edition’ will see light in October. Although no mention is made of ‘Fantasia’, Disney has recently stated that this will also be released as a Diamond Edition early December.
As a package, it remains to be seen what the actual difference is between these Diamond and Platinum Editions, yet without wanting to sound cynical, it may well be just Disney trying to excite the market with a new, flashier name for an edition (B.D Live, the Online feature, isn’t even available in the U.K yet!), as they trawl through every kind of precious mineral known to earth. Never the less, Snow White has eclipsed so many of the household terms and names we use today, setting the standard for those films to come, only for the studio to surpass themselves on several occasions with even more magnificent efforts thanks to everything they learnt. To believe that critics thought Walt was biting off more than he could chew prior to release is hilarious given its unprecedented success upon release, and the legacy the film has left. Snow White remains not just one of the companies best films, but one of their better ‘family’ films that secured a new lifestyle of hope and fantasy.
DVD reviewed – Diamond Edition (Blu-Ray + DVD Combo Pack)
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