Snow White v. Snow White

 In both the original tale by the Grimm brothers and Walt Disney’s film from 1937 there are some specific details that occur in both versions. One similarity that is very apparent is the appearance of the evil stepmother (queen), the magic mirror, and the description of Snow White. The description of Snow White that is translated through the various editions of the fairytale is: white as snow, black as ebony, and red as blood. The queen came up with the disguise of an old hag in order to trick Snow White into trusting her. In both versions, the evil queen uses an apple to poison Snow White. Both also include the help of the seven dwarves hiding and protecting Snow White from her stepmother. They both put forth the idea that women belong in the household cleaning and cooking.  

In the Disney version, the evil queen only attempts to kill Snow White once with a red apple. Snow White offered the idea of her cleaning and cooking for the dwarves while they were out mining for gems. They did not show the presence of her father throughout the film. In this version, the evil queen tried to kill the dwarves and she ended up knocking herself off the cliff. Snow White was woken up by the kiss of true love.  

In the Brother Grimm’s version, Snow White’s stepmother attempted to kill her three times: a corset, a comb, and an apple. The apple in the tale had two sides; white and red which was the poisonous side of it. The dwarves offered her a proposition of cleaning ad cooking in order to stay there. Her father was only mentioned in the beginning of the story. The wakening of Snow White only occurred when the dwarves gave her as a gift to the king, and the king’s men stumbled with her coffin causing her to cough up the piece of apple. In the ending, the evil queen was forced to dance in heated iron shoes until she died.  

I think Disney diverted from the original tale of Snow White to Americanize the tale and to also make the tale kid friendly. He Americanized the tale by changing certain details in order to make sure that the movie would be very successful and popular for years to come. 

Magical Success?...

To believe that someone can reach success simply on the suspicion of magic or marriage means belittling the journey it takes to reach your goal. In order to truly feel successful, you should be able to reflect upon the time and effort it took you to achieve what you set out to do. Marriage should be a symbol of combining your love as unity rather than a building block towards success or riches. Entering marriage with the thought of just the outcome would seem as though it were an arranged marriage, because you want something in return.  

I feel that reaching success or riches with magic and marriage is not realistic because that is simply the opposite of how you would perceive life in the 21st century. You are now taught to follow yourself and how you feel towards your actions and your feelings. I feel that you can essentially receive success and riches through marriage by encouraging your partner to achieve their dreams and pushing them to be the best themselves they could be. You can also receive riches through marriage by working towards it together or either marrying into money. I don’t think magic could play a part in success or riches because I would say I don’t entirely believe in it. I believe that miracles may happen in occurrences in life, but magic is something different that I would say I don’t totally agree with.  

To be honest, I feel that in order to reach success and riches fully you would have to work for it. Unlike in Cinderella, you can’t just upgrade your life status by just meeting a prince that can bring along his riches and success. Especially, with such a big impact of feminism in society today, you will rarely see the women dependent on the man anymore or waiting in the background for their time to shine.  

In conclusion, it may be possible for marriage to be permitted through magic (whether you believe in it or not). Magic can be as simple as a spell or as optical as an illusion. Such an illusion may be make-up, showing certain parts of your personality, or whatever effort a person puts forth for you to see. A person may be totally different from what they allow you to perceive in the beginning. Marriage happens through these means all the time so yes magic/illusions can make marriage possible. 

Movie v. Book

The movie, “The Brothers Grimm,” and the real life of the of the Brothers Grimm took different approaches on showing the lives and the journey of the brothers. Some similarities that coexist in both the movie and the book are: they are brothers, they still have the last name Grimm, they still traveled to hear the different fairytales that people had to share., they worked together, and Jacob still wrote a book. With little comparisons, there were many differences that went along with it. The comparisons gave you the gist that they were following the same people, but the actions of the brothers in the movie did not correlate with the actions the brothers did in their real life. Which made you consider if the producers actually used this movie, to show the lives of the Brothers Grimm or just plainly for entertainment? 

The stories vary in telling of the relationship between Jacob and Wilhelm and how it the fairytale unfolds. The brothers seemed to argue at every turn in the movie, while in the book they agreed with each other and seemed very close knitted. In the book, they both seemed very knowledgeable about fairytales and intelligent people. In the movie, they were con men and made up witches and pretended to catch them, and they also seemed less intelligent and Jacob seemed to be tolerated or dealt with. In the movie, they were also included in the fairytales rather them just “contaminating” the stories and publishing them.  

In the movie, there were different fairytales shown throughout such as: Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Gingerbread Man. A lot of fiction was shown throughout the movie, such as aspects of the brothers lives and the fairytales in general. In their real lives, they did not sell a cow for beans, or go into the woods and save 12 girls from the evil queen trying to young again by drinking the blood of youthful girls. They also balanced each other out, rather in the movie where Wilhelm seemed to be in control and bossing Jacob around and seemed to be the most intelligent out of the both of them.  

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brothers_grimm

https://bluemoonrising.com/movies/the-past-looks-bright-for-the-brothers-grimm

Why?...

For my first year seminar I chose Grimm to Disney because I have always enjoyed fairytales as a child and even today. As a child I’ve always seen fairytales as an interesting story filled with many lessons such as: being kind to others, staying focused, and to be strong. I have heard of the Grimm versions of some stories, but I never took the time to read them. I have avoided reading the Grimm versions because the thought of corrupting my childhood memories frightened me. Afraid to find out the stories I once knew had a totally different ending or story line.  

During this course, I hope to accomplish a better understanding of the origin of the different fairytales. Through this class, I will finally be able to read the original “fairytales” that are used as a base for the happier and upbeat Disney movies. During this semester, I also hope to gain better writing and analytical skills to demonstrate the comparison and differences between the Disney version and the German descent origin story.  

My favorite fairytale would have to be Princess and the Frog because I love the determination and the passion, she has to pursue her dreams of owning her own restaurant. In Princess and the Frog, you learn to never give up, to keep going, and pushing along through all the problems that seem to appear along the way. When I first seen the movie, I watched it on replay for a whole month straight every day. She also seemed relatable to me because she looked like me. This movie was filled with lessons, laughter, and joyful moments. My favorite moment in this movie would be when they go visit Mama Odie in hopes of her turning them back into humans. She explained the advice for each of them through one of my favorite songs, “Dig A Little Deeper.”