The story of Snow White

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a classic fairytale, but most people tend to only know Disney’s version of the tale. Snow White comes in a variety of versions. One of the first versions of the tale is the Brothers Grimm. Between Disney and Grimm there are many differences and similarities within the fairytales. One major difference between the two versions is how many times the queen tries to kill Snow White. In the Grimm Brothers version the queen tries to kill Snow White three times.

The first time with lace, the second time was with a poisoned comb, and the third is the fatal red shiny apple that ends everything. Or so she thought. While in the Disney version the queen only visits Snow White once and when she approaches she has a red shiny apple with her. Another difference I spotted is what Snow White does when she first enters into the cottage. In the Grimm Brothers version Snow White is demanded to make a promise to the seven dwarfs that she will cook, clean, and keep the house running in order for her to live with them. In the Disney version Snow White arrives to the cottage and notices that it’s a mess, so she starts to clean it for them in hopes that the seven dwarfs will allow her to stay. 

 

This part of the tale instills the belief of domestication of women. However, in both versions of the fairytale the King is not mentioned, to me it's the most important similarity because it foreshadows the reason Snow White and the Queen have conflict. Another similarity is Snow Whites ignorance. To conclude I think Disney diverted the fairytale from the original story for a lot of reasons. One main reason was to make money. Another huge reason is because of the time period that Disney was filming the movie, which was during the time of the Great Depression. He wanted to raise morals of his fellow Americans. Disney wanted to make the fairytale his own something that reflected parts of his life.