--- title: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" year: 1938 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs" fi1m_score: 85 critics_score: 80 critics_reviews: 12 published: "2026-09-17T05:51:44.033753+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T05:51:44.606926+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938) Directed by David Hand, Ben Sharpsteen, William Cottrell, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Wilfred Jackson · 1h 23m · MPA G · Fantasy, Animation, Family **Fi1m score: 85** · Critics 80 from 12 reviews *In a sentence:* The heroine is a wisp, the prince a coat stand, and the film belongs to a woman shouting at a mirror > The first feature-length Disney film still frightens and still charms, and its Queen is one of the great screen villains. Its heroine is barely there and its prince less so. See it anyway; nearly everything animated that followed is standing on it somewhere. ## Synopsis Snow White (Adriana Caselotti), a princess, scrubs the castle steps because her stepmother the Queen (Lucille La Verne) will not have a rival. Each day the Queen asks the Magic Mirror (Moroni Olsen) who is fairest, until it names the girl. The Queen orders her huntsman to take Snow White into the forest and bring back her heart in a box. He cannot, and tells her to run. She flees through a wood that seems to reach for her, finds an untidy cottage with seven small beds, and cleans it with the animals’ help. At dusk its owners march home from the mine, singing: Doc (Roy Atwell), Grumpy (Pinto Colvig), Dopey (Eddie Collins) and four others. ## Review Walt Disney’s studio had spent years on short cartoons when it tried a feature, and the question when this reached British cinemas on 24 February 1938 was whether anyone would sit through 83 minutes of drawings. Six directors share the credit, eight writers worked on the script, and the story is the Grimms’ tale with the cruelties trimmed and the dwarfs given names. It is still worth an evening. The surprise is not that it holds up but how strange and how dark it remains. The Queen is the reason. Lucille La Verne voices her low and level, a woman who has never had to repeat herself, and the animators draw her in long straight lines and hold her still while everything else in the film bounces. She stands before the Magic Mirror (Moroni Olsen), a face that surfaces in smoke and tells her the one thing she does not want to hear, and the film’s coldest moments are hers. La Verne also voices the crone the Queen later becomes, and we will not describe how or where that goes, except to say that the cellar is the best-drawn room in the film and the one we thought about on the way home. We were frightened, and we are a long way past five. Snow White (Adriana Caselotti) runs from the huntsman into the forest and the forest turns on her: trunks grow faces, branches become hands, a floating log opens its jaws, and dozens of eyes come on in the dark. Bill Melendez cuts it faster and faster until she falls, and then the light comes up and the eyes are rabbits and deer. The relief is as well judged as the terror. We had forgotten how long the film is prepared to keep a child in the dark before it lets her out. Then the dwarfs come home and it becomes a comedy. Doc (Roy Atwell) leads and tangles every sentence he starts. Grumpy (Pinto Colvig) refuses to be won over and is, slowly, which is the film’s one properly written change of heart. Dopey (Eddie Collins) never speaks and steals most scenes he is in; we laughed out loud when he rearranged his ears and again when he tried to swallow a bar of soap. Happy (Otis Harlan), Bashful (Scotty Mattraw), Sneezy (Billy Gilbert) and Sleepy (Colvig again) make up the seven, and the washing scene, in which seven small men are made to face a tub of water, is the funniest thing in it. What does not work is the middle of the story, which is Snow White herself. Caselotti’s soprano is thin and the character is thinner: she cooks, cleans, scolds and waits, and she wants nothing of her own beyond a man she has met once. That man, the Prince (Harry Stockwell), appears at a well, sings, and is then largely absent. The dwarf business, good as much of it is, also stalls the plot for the better part of half an hour. One critic has called the whole film insipid and badly paced. On the middle stretch we see the point; on the rest we think they are wrong. The songs are the other reason it survives. Frank Churchill, Paul Smith, Leigh Harline and Edward H. Plumb are credited with the music, and *Whistle While You Work* and *Heigh-Ho* are the ones people still know, but the score is at its best when it stops being songs: the low strings under the Queen, the woodwind that follows each animal down the stairs. The music moves when the drawings move, beat for beat. That habit sounds mechanical and is what gives the film its rhythm. Set against what came after it, from *Pinocchio* (1940) on, this is the roughest and the boldest. Later features are smoother, better plotted and kinder to their heroines, and none of them is as afraid of the dark. Watch it with a child of five, sit them where you can see them, and count how long the forest takes to work. Certificate U, 83 minutes, and a knife drawn well inside the first quarter of an hour. *Fi1m score 85, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics treat the film as a landmark, and the praise clusters on the animation itself: the detail in every frame, the colour, and the way editing, camera angles and sound give the forest flight an intensity the medium had not managed before. The dwarfs and the forest animals are singled out repeatedly as the characters that still charm, and several reviews note that the songs and slapstick keep it fun for children eighty years on. The reservations are mild and scattered. A few critics find the wicked stepmother overdone, the dwarfs’ dialogue a touch tough, or some scenes too frightening for the youngest viewers, and others allow that the animation looks dated beside what came after. The spread is narrow, with one clear dissent: Slant Magazine finds the characters insipid and the pacing abysmal, granting only the craft and the historical importance. Paste still faults the film for confining American animation to children’s entertainment. ### Reviews we read (12) - **Los Angeles Times**, Charles Solomon (90/100, inferred): A landmark in animation history that set box-office records and introduced big-time cinema techniques to the medium, establishing standards of emotional depth and technical skill that later features struggled to surpass. Scenes like the forest flight demonstrate unprecedented emotional intensity through editing, camera angles, color, motion, and sound. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-16-ca-4233-story.html) - **Sight and Sound** (90/100, inferred): The critic finds it difficult to spot flaws in this lovely film full of beauty, tenderness, fantasy and humour that perfectly captures a child's dreams. They single out the near-perfect animation that brings the dwarfs, queen and animals to life, while noting some scenes may be too scary for young children. [Read](http://old.bfi.org.uk/features/ultimatefilm/chart/details.php?ranking=3) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, THR Staff (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a masterpiece of entertainment for all ages that proves length is no handicap in animation. It highlights the innovative drawing, animation, color, music, and the dwarfs' comedic characters as key strengths. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-review-movie-1937-1235286007/) - **The New Yorker**, John C. Mosher (90/100, inferred): The first feature-length Disney film is entrancing and skillfully avoids the pitfalls of its length and artifice, refreshing even jaded adults with its fairy-tale charm. The director excels with animals, birds, coloring, and Snow White herself, though the wicked stepmother is somewhat overdone and the dwarfs' dialogue is a bit too tough. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1938/01/15/1938-01-15-060-tny-cards-000034052) - **The New York Times** (90/100, inferred): The film remains a landmark whose revolutionary impact on animation and cinema has been taken for granted as it became a beloved classic. Its original release set box-office records and influenced generations of artists and filmmakers. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/12/movies/snow-white-at-50-undimmed-magic.html) - **Empire**, William Thomas (80/100, inferred): This animated treatment does the well-known story absolute justice as a timeless classic that remains fun thanks to its scary moments, slapstick humour and memorable sing-along songs like Whistle While You Work and Heigh-Ho. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/snow-white-seven-dwarfs-review/) - **Little White Lies**, Nathanael Smith (80/100, inferred): The piece celebrates the film's enduring appeal 80 years on, praising its technical innovation and quality in every frame despite some dated elements and tropes. It singles out the detailed animation and simple storytelling that captures romance and magic. [Read](https://lwlies.com/in-praise-of/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-at-80) - **The Independent** (75/100, inferred): The 1937 Disney film remains visually sensational with a sinister bite, particularly the poisoned apple scene and Snow White's flight through the forest, even as modern audiences are accustomed to more sophisticated animation. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/dvd-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-pg-various-directors-dvd-83-mins-1819424.html) - **Slant Magazine** (1): The critic deems the film an underwhelming underachiever that fails to transcend its insipid characters, kitschy setting, and abysmal pacing. It acknowledges the technical craft and historical importance in animation but finds the overall result callow and poorly structured. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs/) - **Den of Geek**, Mark Pickavance (5 out of 5): The critic praises the film as a groundbreaking achievement in animation with tight storytelling and iconic scenes that still charm. They single out the restoration's color saturation and the enduring appeal for animators and children. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-blu-ray-review/) - **Eye for Film**, Gator MacReady (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the 1937 Disney classic as showing a level of class and innovation that later Disney features lack, highlighting its groundbreaking animation and charming elements like the dwarfs and forest animals. They contrast it favorably with modern Disney's reliance on celebrity voices and gimmicks while noting its European style and enduring appeal despite tame elements by today's standards. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-film-review-by-gator-macready) - **Paste**, Kenneth Lowe (70/100, inferred): The critic views the film as an indispensable cornerstone of animation and the Disney princess formula, while criticizing its role in confining American animation to children's entertainment. He praises the lavish cel animation and realistic movement. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/disney/snow-white-seven-dwarfs-disney-first-princess) ## Details - **Director:** David Hand, Ben Sharpsteen, William Cottrell, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Wilfred Jackson - **Director:** David Hand, Ben Sharpsteen, William Cottrell, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Wilfred Jackson - **Screenplay:** Dick Rickard, Richard Creedon, Ted Sears, Earl Hurd, Otto Englander, Webb Smith, Dorothy Ann Blank, Merrill De Maris - **Editor:** Bill Melendez - **Music:** Paul Smith, Leigh Harline, Frank Churchill, Edward H. Plumb - **Costume design:** Virginia Lockwood - **Producer:** Walt Disney - **Cast:** Adriana Caselotti as Snow White (voice) (uncredited); Lucille La Verne as Queen / Witch (voice) (uncredited); Harry Stockwell as Prince (voice) (uncredited); Roy Atwell as Doc (voice) (uncredited); Pinto Colvig as Sleepy / Grumpy / Dopey (hiccups) (voice) (uncredited); Otis Harlan as Happy (voice) (uncredited); Scotty Mattraw as Bashful (voice) (uncredited); Billy Gilbert as Sneezy (voice) (uncredited) - **Runtime:** 1h 23m - **Certificate (MPA):** G - **Release (the US):** 4 February 1938 - **Genres:** Fantasy, Animation, Family - **Budget:** $1 million - **Box office:** $185 million ## Where to watch in the US - Disney+: streaming, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1938: Best Score, Adaptation or Treatment (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Pinocchio* (1940), Fi1m 88: The studio’s next feature, darker still, with a whale and a better-drawn boy — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/pinocchio.md) - *The Adventures of Prince Achmed* (1926): Silhouette animation from a decade earlier, a fairy tale cut from black paper - *Spirited Away* (2001), Fi1m 92: A girl lost in a stranger house than the dwarfs’, and braver than Snow White — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/spirited-away.md) - *The Company of Wolves* (1984): The Grimm forest for grown-ups, with the fear left in and the wolves closer - *Kirikou and the Sorceress* (1998): A West African fairy tale, flat colour and a sorceress to rival the Queen --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. 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