Snow White Post 3 (Ariela Cruz)

“Snow White” by Brothers Grimm had several similarities and differences to Walt Disney’s, “Snow White”. There were many aspects that were familiar and others that were not. The first aspect that was unfamiliar was Snow White’s age. In Brothers Grimms’s tale, Snow white was only seven years old when she became more beautiful than the queen, while in Walt Disney she was depicted as much older. The request that the queen made of the huntsman was also different in the two versions. In Walt Disney’s version the queen asks for Snow White’s heart where as in the Grimm Version the queen asks for Snow White’s heart and liver so she may eat them. There was also a great difference between the stories in regards to the dwarves.

The dwarves home in the Grimm tale was described as, “dainty and spotless” and  they were even depicted as clean freaks. Walt Disney’s dwarves were quite the opposite, for their home was a disaster and they were in need of a, “mother”. Another sharp contrast between the two tales was that the stepmother came to visit Snow White twice with a poisoned comb, in the Grimm’s version, and both times Snow White died and was then revived by the dwarves. In Walt Disney’s version Snow White is visited by her step-mother once and dies right away because she sate the poisoned apple. It was also interesting to note that in the Grimm version the step-mother was so conniving that she even ate a part of the apple with Snow White to trick her. They way that Snow White is finally revived is also different between the two tales. In the feature film Snow White is brought to life by the kiss of the prince where as in the Brothers Grimm version she is dropped by the prince’s servants and the apple stuck in her throat is spit out, causing her to come back to life. The last aspect that was different was how the evil stepmother dies. In Walt Disney she is smashed by rocks and in the Grimm tale she dances in hot iron shoes until she dies.

I was quite surprised by the differences that were in the two tales but I was most surprised by the way that Brothers Grimm depicted Snow White to be. In the tale it seemed that Snow White was extremely gullible and rather quite superficial herself. I was shocked that Snow White allowed the same little old lady, with the same little old comb to trick her twice. I mean, really? She let the old lady in because she liked the comb so much she had to have it. It really caused me to think of Snow White as just being a dumb girl who wants a hair product. I was surprised that sort of depicted her as a beautiful girl who knew how to clean and even if she wasn’t the smartest thing on the earth she still got the guy. It almost seems that the theme of the story was:

As long as you are beautiful, know how to clean, and have men to help you out: You’ll live happily ever after.