There is no doubting the fact that “Snow White” was the most significant leap forward in the history of animated feature production – most of the features produced at Disney studios and the majority of those produced by their Hollywood competitors since have been according to the formula set by Snow White. I have been asked to write a few words about this much-discussed edition of this fine piece of film artistry, even if there are a few problematic spots here and there, they only serve to enhance the viewing experience.

As is usual in the DVD market, the feature is accompanied by a choice of attractive bonuses. The double album includes, amongst other items, a documentary about the production process of “Snow White”. The interviewees include among others, some of the top Disney animators of all time, from Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (the co-authors of “Disney, The Illusion of Life” seen by many as the premier animation book of all time) through Mike Gabriel and Andres Deja. An extra bonus is the archaic animated film “The Goddess of Spring” (1934), added mainly as a curiosity to demonstrate the incredible advances made by the animation team in the three years preceding the premiere of  “Snow White”.

Not all of this package will appeal to the heart of the average animation aficionado (who is, no doubt, one of the main target audiences of this album), the digitally animated spots, for example, seem totally alienated from the whole. A problematic item of another type occurs in the opening words to one of the bonus sections when Michael Eisner wrongly claims, for some reason, that “Snow White” was the first full length animated feature in history. However on the whole the bonuses are enjoyable and welcome, they include a Barbera Streisand music video and a computer game.

This double album is a highly recommended purchase. By the way, the album is overflowing with features, not all of which I have paid attention to here (due to lack of time). At any rate I have given my views on the sections that I perused, which comprise the majority of the album.

Incidentally this article refers to the “Zone 1” version of the album, available through Amazon.com on the Internet. Local video and record stores stock the “Zone 2” version which includes the Hebrew language dub and which is similar (I assume)  to the version I viewed.

Click here to buy this DVD on amazon.com

Li-On Peretz