Dumbo
Walt Disney Home Video ($29.99)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Walt Disney Home Video ($29.99)
Uncle Walt Disney would have turned 100 years old this week, on December 5. Personally, my best bet for celebrating would be to curl up with the new 60th anniversary DVD edition of Dumbo. That flying, flap-eared elephant brings joy and comfort with every viewing. In my most expansive moments, I’ve even speculated that the real secret of world peace might lie in having the entire world population watch, in unison, as baby Dumbo nestles in his mother’s trunk. All animosity and pain melts with that one embrace.
However, the ultimate way for any appreciative animation fan to celebrate would be with the new two-disc DVD release of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This “platinum edition” is a real collectors’ item and has so much extra stuff that a second three-hour disc had to be added to include it all. Released in 1937, Snow White was groundbreaking: Not only was it the first feature-length animated film, but its three-dimensional use of Disney’s new multiplane camera and the honing of the animators’ storytelling skills from gag-centered Silly Symphonies to full-bore narrative was nothing short of amazing. The extra material on the DVD provides a castle-full of illustrative information about how this animation coup was accomplished. Included are lots of the original conceptual drawings, test footage filmed under different filters and mechanical specs, and vast visual demonstrations of the whole animation process, plus lots of other goodies. While the Snow White discs are certain to provide hours of fascination for anyone interested in the history of animation, I do recommend adult supervision for any kids watching the cartoon. It’s important to balance every one of the movie’s archaic “One Day My Prince Will Come” sentiments with creative rejoinders about such things as the happiness and safety that hiding out with seven impotent little men can bring. Or better yet, double-bill Snow White with Howard Hawks and Billy Wilder’s Ball of Fire. You won’t be sorry.
This article appears in December 7 • 2001.
