Snow White-Journal #3

It may come as a surprise that Snow White(1937) is one of the greatest films of all time. But if you take a deeper look at the film and everything that is put into it, you will be able to see much easier what makes this film so wonderful. This famous Disney classic was originated from folk tales collected and published by The Grimms Brothers in the early 19th century. As most know, who finds herself on a desperate run to escape her evil stepmother who is determined to capture and kill her. On her venture to escape the wicked queen, Snow White comes across the seven dwarfs; Dopey, Sleepy, Grumpy, Happy, Bashful, Doc and Sneezy. In attempt to protect Snow White, the seven dwarfs allow her to stay with them in their cottage in the woods. When the queen finds out where she is hiding, she arrives in disguise with a poisenous apple that she feeds to Snow White that will put her asleep until she is later awoken by the kiss from her prince charming.

The topic I chose to notice and analyze throughout the film was the music. The music in this film is absolutely incredible if you actually take the time to notice it and recognize how well it goes with what is going on in the movie and how it goes well with the type of movie. The music in the movie is so uplifting and just has a way of adding much character and mood to the Disney film. The music for the film was composed by Frank Churchill. Frank is well known for his musical scores for animated films, such as his selection for the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He got his inspiration from musician Franz Schubert who is known for hundreds of composed songs.

In the film, I also noticed sound too. There is some definite diagetic sound throughout part of the films. An example of diagetic sound is when the dwarfs are working in the mine and they are hitting their hammers against the rock, it makes a dinging and clicking noise. Then music starts up and the dwarfs start to sing which give the scene meaning. The music is all very original for the majority of the scenes. Most people wouldn't take the time to notice things like music in a classic disney film, but comparing it to other non-animated films, the music is much more interesting and adds much more to the film. THe composer made an effort to make the music very catchy and uplifting to match the feeling of the movie, even though there were sad or "scary" parts in the movie, the music matched the scene but still kept it catchy and exciting. The composer was striving to match the musical melodies, singing and just overall tunes to exactley what was happening in the movie. If you watched the movie on mute, you would never know that the movie is as happy and bouncy as it is and the music is basically what gives the movie it's mood. I think that is exactley what the composer wanted. Overall, the music plays a huge role in this Disney classic as well as other disney films. As I start to take notice in other films, music is a huge part of all films and especially in Snow White, the music adds a totally different meaning to the movie and it, in my opinion, makes the movie what it is.