Snow White's Evil Queen
Animated Disney Feature Presents Ultimate Evil
The classic Walt Disney animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) presents the quintessential struggle between good and evil: An innocent young woman seeking love and life and a corrupt old witch obsessed with hatred and death. While the goodness of Snow White is displayed through her generous nature with the dwarfs and forest creatures where she seeks refuge, the Queen’s evil presents itself through several well-developed examples throughout the film.
Snow White's Evil Queen: Comparison
The conflict in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is immediately identified with the Queen’s jealousy of Snow White’s beauty. Gazing into her magic mirror, the Queen routinely hears that no other woman’s appearance can compare to her beauty. Yet as Snow White blossoms into a young woman and unexpectedly encounters the handsome Prince of her dreams, her inner beauty becomes externalized and she presents a threat to the Queen.
The Queen trusts the evil face in her magic mirror (a reflection of her inner ugliness) to give her direction regarding her control of the kingdom. Within the forbidding castle, the Queen’s outward beauty and inner ugliness are images that dominate. Like the hatred and fear that reside deep within her, hidden in the bowels of the dark, unhappy castle is her vile dungeon where she mixes her magic potions and hides her secrets. Although her disguise could have been any alteration of her features, she curiously picks an outer appearance (ugly old peddler woman) that represents the ugliness within her.
Snow White's Evil Queen: Contrast
At the Dwarfs’ homey little cottage, happy engraved faces appear on almost everything. The water spout, the organ pipes, etc. contain friendly faces that remind Snow White that she is not alone and has nothing to fear under the care of the Dwarfs. Their brightly lit house symbolizes a safe haven for Snow White, a warm environment that contrasts sharply with the castle from which she escapes.
The forest embodies darkly frightening distortions while Snow White runs in fear for her life from the Huntsman. The same forest becomes happy, bright, and cheerful when Snow White befriends the animals that live there. Dark shadows also provide a contrast to the bright, sunny haven at the dwarfs’ cottage. The shadows in the forest reveal that the Huntsman approaches Snow White with a knife, the Queen as peddler woman casts an evil shadow as she approaches the cottage, and the friendly animals appear malevolent when lurking in the shadows.
In terms of direction, cuts go from dark, sinister scenes with the Queen to light, happy scenes with Snow White in the Dwarfs’ cottage. The contrast in mood is apparent, and the cuts help propel the story forward so we can see how good and evil work toward their ultimate goals: Snow White refines her domestic skills for when she eventually meets her Prince again; the Queen plots with her black magic to kill her beautiful rival.
To learn more about animation in the movies, read Cinderella in the Movies and The Fairy Godmother in Cinderella.
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