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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The enchanting classic fairy tale, but definitely not the best adaptation..., May 3, 2005
Snow White, produced by Jetlag Productions in the year 1996 and released on DVD format by Goodtimes Entertainment in 2002 is based on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, "Snow White". Alright, so Jetlag Productions has produced some pretty mediocre animated films and I have to say that "Snow White" really is one of them. Unlike " Pocahontas" (1994), "Snow White" does have very strong competition from Disney, the 1937 " Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is an animated masterpiece if there ever was one. Even alone, Jetlag Productions' "Snow White" will come off as poorly crafted and somewhat bland. Its weaknesses overshadow its strengths, for it does have one or two, and it really doesn't fall as downright awful in any particular category, either. Compared to other adaptations by the studio of Grimm's and Charles Perrault's fairy tales, such as " Cinderella" (1994), "Snow White" falls flat. Some may be a bit too harsh and argue that the film is not worth its price, which I doubt would ever pass the six dollar mark, but I think that's an exaggeration. "Snow White" shows enough strength to show that some care and attention was put into the film and that it wasn't simply made as a quick Disney rip-off as it has often been accused of.
The story begins when the king and queen of a beautiful, happy kingdom have a child. The new princess' skin was white as snow and therefore, her parents named her Snow White. Sadly, shortly after her birth, the queen fell ill and died. The king soon remarried, choosing for a new wife a woman that was beautiful, but sadly, her beauty went no deeper than her skin. The new queen was vain and selfish and cared only about making herself even more beautiful. When her husband died fighting off in a war, she wasn't the least bit sad for she could now tax the people heavily in order to buy new beauty potions for herself. Her favorite past-time was looking at herself through her many mirrors, especially a magical one which always told the absolute truth. When the queen asked the question of who was the most beautiful maiden in the land, the mirror always replied that it was she. As Snow White grew up, she became more and more beautiful and one day, the answer given to the queen by her mirror changed, telling her that now Snow White was the fairest in the land. The queen could not tolerate any woman in her kingdom being more beautiful than she was and so ordered her royal huntsman to murder the princess. The huntsman saw no option but to obey the queen's cruel request and walked with Snow White to the forest. However, instead of killing the princess, something the huntsman couldn't bring himself to do, he gave her an opportunity to escape and asked her to never return. Shocked, Snow White left running deep into the woods where she eventually found a small, wooden cabin that she made her home. In the cabin lived seven little dwarfs who accepted to give Snow White shelter when they learned of the queen's evil wishes. Unfortunately, the queen soon learns that Snow White still lives and decides to take the matter into her own hands. Snow White is a very trusting creature and the dwarfs must repeatedly warn her to keep a look out for the queen trying to harm her. Snow White will have to overcome her stepmother's jealousy and hatred if she wishes to be alive to share the rest of her life with a handsome prince in the safety of his palace.
I've seen several adaptations of Snow White and by far, Walt Disney's has always been the best one. The producers at Jetlag Productions must have been rather discouraged because of that when they created their version of Snow White, because unfortunately, this 1996 production is rather disappointing. The film does have one strong point as opposed to Disney's film, however, and that is that it follows the original Brothers Grimm tale more faithfully. There simply wasn't enough room to adapt each of the queen's evil attempts to murder Snow White in the 1937 version, but they're all included here, even the less romantic "rescue" by the prince. Speaking of the prince, these princes have always been rather clichéd, but this guy is just beyond ridiculous; "Oh miss, I'm sorry for bumping into you. This must be love". If something like that could be considered a strong point, then "Snow White" does have plenty of unintentional humor. Watching Snow White's dress getting caught on thorns as she runs through the woods and seeing her ripping herself free is pretty amusing. The voice acting, as with most of these, was pretty unrealistic, and hearing the same voices from previous films is a bit boring. Neither Snow White nor the vain queen are drawn in a way in which they're really beautiful; as a matter of fact, the art in "Snow White" is rather mediocre; the colors used, at least in the DVD version, are far too "warm", making the film somewhat "stuffy". On to the good points; "Snow White" features a selection of three songs; The first song, "The Power of Love" is short, but it has a lovely message and a soft melody. The second song, "Hip, Hip Hooray!" sounds like Walt Disney's "Heigh Ho" as the dwarfs sing while they work. The third and final song, "A Little Big of Magic" is great; the song sends a great message about love and one's dreams. All things considered, the film was made primarily for children, and even with lackluster animation, the film manages to remain entertaining for the younger audiences. I recommend adults to avoid it, for this is one title that was definitely not thought out to please older viewers.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Enchanting Double Experience, August 16, 2010
I grew up with both this and the Disney versions of Snow White and Cinderella. This is MUCH better than the Disney interpretations, for both Cinderella and Snow White.
SNOW WHITE: I never cared for Disney's Snow White. I did not find Snow White to be particularly beautiful at all - she's pretty, but not gorgeous enough to be "the fairest in the land." The songs were mediocre, and the story strayed very much from the original. I was terrified when the evil queen transformed into the old hag, and she gave my brother nightmares. He used to run out of the room and hide under his bed whenever she appeared.
In THIS version, Snow White is positively stunning, and she is portrayed as very kind and sympathetic. The song "The Power of Love" is very good and "A Little Bit of Magic" is fantastic. "Hip Hip Hooray" is very funny. The evil queen is also very beautiful, and her vanity is depicted much better. True to the original tale, the queen visits Snow White THREE times. The Brothers Grimm have her take on the same form each time, but in this version,she has three different disguises (probably so Snow White does not look like an idiot, accepting poisonous gifts from the same person). Her first disguise is of an old woman, not too frightening, but she smiles evilly. This is much better for children to see, for they are only a little scared, rather than petrified. The second disguise is that of an old man, and the third - brilliantly so - is that of a pretty little girl. This girl is the one with the poisoned apple. She puts on a very convincing show, even taking a bite out of the half of apple that had not been poisoned. This shows that you should not accept things from ANY stranger. Disney's Snow White is famous for that scene when the prince awakens her with a kiss. However, in the original story, the apple is dislodged from her throat when the prince picks her up. This is what happens here. The queen's end is also different. Disney has her fall off a cliff, which I remember finding extremely horrifying. The Brothers Grimm have her dance herself to death in red hot iron shoes, which could also be very scary. THIS version has her sucked into her magic mirror, trapped there for eternity - a chilling end, but also fitting and much more child-friendly. I am giving you the opinion of myself as a little girl and of myself as a fourteen-year-old. I look back on THIS movie fondly, and Disney's in distaste. I watched this again a couple months ago, with my eight-year-old sister - she loved it, and I was delighted to find I thoroughly enjoyed it.
CINDERELLA: I must admit that I am partial to the Disney Cinderella. However, I still love this version. In Disney, Cinderella (the character) is more beautiful and has a wonderful, heart-melting voice. She also appears to be older. The fairy godmother is like a magical grandmother and Cinderella has plenty of mice and bird friends. The stepmother is menacing and evil, with a wicked cat and two daughters who are constantly quarreling.
In THIS version, Cinderella has a happy family until her mother dies from an illness. When her father remarries, he leaves Cinderella with her new stepmother and stepsisters (who soon take control of everything) and he goes away on business. Cinderella soon meets her fairy godmother, a smaller fairy with wings, pink hair, and a distinct personality. The fairy is fun and has a sense of humor, as seen when she plays a couple tricks on the stepsisters and stepmother. She lives in Cinderella's snow globe and affectionately calls the girl "Cindy." The stepsisters are portrayed as spoiled and selfish. One stepsister is blonde and thin, with a high laugh, and is smarter than the other. The other is fat, unattractive, and brown-haired, nearly always stuffing herself, and is rather dumb, with a low, dull voice. These stepsisters are also constantly bickering. The stepmother is not as frightening as the Disney stepmother, which is good for younger children, and she is a rather vicious, greedy woman. Closer to the original story, the stepmother empties a bowl of lentils into the ashes, telling Cinderella that she can go to the ball if she picks out all the lentils in time. With the help of the fairy godmother and a flock of birds, the task is completed, but of course the stepmother still doesn't let her go. (Thanks to the fairy godmother, Cinderella makes it after all.) In this version, the prince is tired of snobbish suitors and so his two meddling parents decide to throw the ball. Cinderella arrives in at the ball in glass slippers and a blue and yellow dress, her brown hair with a pretty reddish tint (unless that's just because I have a very old copy). The BEST part about this version is definitely the songs. This Cinderella's voice is not as gorgeous as Dinsey's, but the prince has a wonderful, heart-melting voice. The songs are better, and even one of the stepsisters sings in one of them. The prince's duet with Cinderella ("When Love Has Gone Away") is romantic, the "theme song" ("Dream On, Cinderella") is lovely, and "(It's the) Chance of a Lifetime" is delightful. All of the songs are catchy and definitely worth hearing. As a litte girl (aroind five years of age) I was enchanted, and I even learned two new words: elegant and gaudy. At fifteen years old, this movie still delights me.
I HIGHLY recommend this movie. It is a must-see for any child (even my brothers loved it!) and is a pleasurable experience at any age.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT, August 9, 2009
My daughter loves watching this. It's nothing like the original, but that's as close as I could get at the time.
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