David Hand (1900–1986)

I'm trying to rate this movie as fairly as I can.

The animation is excellent, for the 1930s. This shit was done frame by frame on cels, with paint and brushes. You had to draw the same thing so many times but slightly different every time for an animated film. Sounds like a real pain in the ass, right? And it'll look dated to people who have been spoiled by CGI and flash animation and what have you. But it's hard to not appreciate the effort that went into this.

The story on the other hand is show more rather simple. The dwarves have more personality than Snow White. Sure, Snow White is sweet and kind and all that, but that's what was expected of girls and women back in... well, pretty much forever, even today, strongly in some circles/ So I'm trying to not be too harsh on the story here but eh, the 2025 remake of Snow White, for its issues, has a better story than this film.

And there's what happened with the girl who did the voice of Snow White. Disney didn't want any other company having the voice of Snow White, so the poor girl (Adriana Caselotti) who got shit pay to begin with, was not credited for the role, and Disney actively worked to stop her from having opportunities elsewhere because the jackass thought he was entitled to the rights to her voice. Remember this was the 1930s so the poor girl did not have the legal options she would today.

She did manage to get some jobs and opportunities, but not as many as she could have/deserved. So with this, I can't in good conscience give this movie any more than two stars, though for the animation itself I'd give 4. show less

While the film with to a contemporary audience is rather hampered by an overreliance on gags and musical numbers while unfortunately minimizing the (already very simple) plot and character arcs, the movie remains a stunning achievement. Not to mention it still looks beautiful, and is (impressively) still frequently both funny and gripping.

A beautiful princess flees from a jealous queen.

I was literally grinning through the entire film. I can't believe I've managed to never see this movie until now. I guess I had just figured it was like all the Disney "classics" from the 50's and later that I'm familiar with. Nope, not at all. This is no less than one of the greatest films of all time.

Concept: A
Story: A
Characters: C
Dialog: A
Pacing: A
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A

Enjoyment: A plus

GPA: 3.8/4

The adorable story about a newborn deer and his young animal friends--Thumper the Rabbit and Flower the Skunk. After his mother is killed by hunters, Bambi must confront the realities of adulthood and come to understand his reign in the forest.