Yes, My [Future] Kids Will Watch Snow White

Disney movies may as well be a part of my DNA. I grew up in a home where both of my parents were huge fans of all of the movies. In fact, the first movie I ever saw in the theater at the age of 2 was the theatrical rerelease of the movie I want to talk about today on this blog post – Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs.

While I’ve loved just about every Disney movie I’ve ever seen, the princess movies have always had a very special place in my heart. When I was very young, I was riveted by these beautiful girls who had beautiful singing voices, beautiful dresses, and were loved by everyone – things that painfully shy little me had a hard time envisioning for myself. As I got older, the princesses became something more for me. As I was able to analyze the movies with a more mature mind, these movies, and the music that goes along with them, became even more important in a world where “Princess Culture” was starting to be looked down upon.

When my husband and I have kids of our own some day, I will absolutely show them, no matter their gender, Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs. It is a Disney classic – in fact, the “original” Disney classic, as it was Walt’s first full length animated movie released in theaters in 1937.

If you weren’t aware, Snow White’s age during the movie is 14. Let that sink in for a minute while you imagine what you were doing when you were 14 years old. I was in the eighth grade and my biggest life problem was that I didn’t make my high school’s dance team for my freshman year and thought my life was literally ending. Now think about the beginning of this movie. Snow White is essentially being enslaved by her stepmother, The Evil Queen, after her father passes away for no other reason than that The Evil Queen is jealous that Snow White is prettier than she is. She then hires The Woodsman to literally take Snow White into the forest, MURDER HER, and BRING BACK HER HEART IN A BOX AS PROOF, which is pretty brutally metal no matter which way you look at it. Again – SNOW WHITE IS 14 YEARS OLD. Now, we know that The Woodsman is actually a good guy who can’t go through with the plan and, knowing how severely he’ll be punished, tells Snow White to run away and not come back so she can stay alive, then kills a pig so he has a heart to present to the Queen. Then there’s that scene that probably scared more than just me as a kid where Snow White is terrified and runs through the forest and feels like it’s attacking her before discovering it’s just trees and adorable anthropomorphized animals. Then, she says something that I think as an adult is SO IMPORTANT no matter what age you are: “I’m awfully sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you, but you don’t know what I’ve been through. And all because I was afraid. I’m so ashamed of the fuss I’ve made.” This sweet, gentle 14 year old girl apologizes for being terrified out of her mind because she scared someone else and then breaks out into song to make herself and everyone else feel better.

While there’s an argument to be made that we shouldn’t apologize for being afraid of something, I choose to look at what she says as making a choice to not let fear completely engulf and overcome her because she doesn’t like the way it made her and those around her feel. In fact, at the end of With a Smile and a Song, she says, “I really feel quite better now. I’m sure I’ll get along somehow. Everything’s going to be alright.” This is something that as a woman in my late twenties I still have a hard time grasping, and I feel like everyone can hear that and take a lesson from it, no matter what their age, gender, background, whatever. We all get scared, we all have to figure out a way to overcome it – there’s no use turning into a basket case because it doesn’t help anyone and just makes you feel miserable.

Ok, I know this is a music blog – I just have A LOT OF FEELINGS about my princesses. So, let’s get to the soundtrack. If I had to pick 3 songs from Snow White to claim as my favorites, they would definitely be the following:

I’m Wishing/One Song by Adriana Caselotti & Harry Stockwell At Disneyland, there is a little area off to the left of the castle where Snow White’s Wishing Well stands in a semi-secluded area, looked over by a beautiful tiny waterfall and statues of the princess and her seven best friends. You can throw coins into it and parts of this song play from inside the well, and it’s really just very beautiful and kind of a private experience despite being next to the largest attraction in the entire park. My husband actually proposed to me at Disneyland, and as we were walking along before he did the actual proposal we stopped at the Wishing Well and I thought what a wonderful place that would be for it to happen. Long story short – definitely didn’t happen there which is totally fine, but ever since that July day in 2014, this song means a little something different to me when I hear it. Want to know a secret? Promise not to tell? When you’re standing by a wishing well, make a wish into the well – that’s all you have to do. And if you hear it echoing, your wish will still come true.

Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum (The Dwarf’s Washing Song) by The Dwarf Chorus Yes, I am fully aware that Heigh-Ho is the classic song everyone thinks of when they think of the Dwarfs, but since I was a little girl the song they sing when they’re washing up for dinner has been my favorite scene in the entire movie. It’s just too funny to me that these men who do this very difficult work in a probably dangerous mine every day are terrified of water and soap, and then when they force Grumpy into the tub I still laugh every single time at the ridiculousness of it. Well it’s good for the soul and it’s good for the hide to go bud-dle-ud-dle-ud-dle ud-dle-um-dum.

Someday My Prince Will Come by Adriana Caselotti Ah, yes – of course the “princess theme” of Snow White is one of my favorites. Part of a lot of people’s problems with princess movies I think is that they think the princesses are obsessed with finding a prince or that they think they can’t do anything unless a man comes and saves them (if you are one that thinks that – please go watch Ralph Breaks the Internet and become both educated and enlightened while having a great time because that movie is a gem). Snow White, again, is 14 years old – yes, she has a crush on this handsome prince she met who gave her the time of day and made her feel beautiful when she was dressed in nothing but rags and doing crappy chores for her stepmother that other servants were apparently too important to do. However, while she does talk about her love for her prince (even though she just met him…and yes the Elsa in me is shaking my head but let’s move on), the real theme of the song is her wanting to get away from that life of servitude and live happily ever after with the guy she loves and just be happy, and I think that’s so pure and beautiful. Someday, my prince will come. Someday, we’ll meet again and away to his castle we’ll go to be happy forever, I know. Someday, when spring is here, we’ll find a love anew and the birds will sing and wedding bells will ring someday, when my dreams come true.

There is just something so pure about our OG Disney Princess who sometimes gets lost in the shuffle for being so innocent. This girl deserves to be an absolute queen, and she’d be damn good at it too – she is kind to everyone, she loves with her whole heart, and always sees the best in everyone despite the abuse she endured at the hands of the Evil Queen.

If you’re not ridiculous like me and haven’t watched this movie since you were a kid (I am well known for having regular Disney princess marathons at my house) – go watch this movie on Disney+ or another medium if you don’t have that particular streaming service. Apart from being just a really beautifully animated classic, you may view it with different eyes now that you’re an adult.