Fairy Tale Giveaway Blog Hop

The Random.org has spoken and it spoke the number "6" - that is Darlene from Darlene's Book Nook :-)

So, Darlene, I'll be expecting you to read the book and write a review and publish it somewhere and leave me a link to your blog in this blog. Preferably also this blog entry. :-)

But because there's only 16 of you, I'm going to send a little something to each and everyone of you :-)
I was a bit sad about the fact that most people wanted the new and shiny giveaways from other blogs, and so few of you wanted what I have to give. So all of you are extra precious to me, so I will send all of you a little something. (It fits in an ordinary letter.)

Send me your address to ketutar at yahoo dot com, and I will send you snail mail :-)

(Now, I said to Darlene, that if she can wait for her book for two more months, I can put on "mischievous baby animals", as the Swedish post office publishes such stamps, but I was wrong, they give those out in August... and that long I don't think you want to wait... but apparently there should be these. Those are stamps illustrated by a fashion illustrator Lovisa Burfitt, on the theme "write letters". Two of those on each envelope, what do you say about that?  So - if you have any preferences...? Let me know.)

"Twice Upon a Time" is a collection of re-tellings of fairy tales, edited by Denise Little and cover art by Yvonne Gilbert.

The stories included are
Spinning a yarn, by Jody Lynn Nye (Rumpelstiltskin)
How I came to marry a herpetologist, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Diamonds and Toads)
Puck in boots, the true story, by Connie Hirsch (Puss in boots)
Case #285B, by Esther M. Friesner (Goldilock an the three bears)
The Beanstalk incident, by Jane Lindskold (Jack and the Beanstalk)
Gilly the goosegirl, by Nancy Springer (The Goose Girl)
Fifi's tail, by Alan Rodgers (several)
The golden stair, by Richard Parks (Rapunzel)
True love, or the many brides of prince Charming, by Todd Fahnestock and Giles Custer (several)
Savior, by John Helfers (Little Red Ridinghood)
Wolf at the door, by Lupita Shepard (The Three Little Pigs)
The castle and Jack, by Tim Waggoner (Jack and the Beanstalk)
Baron Boscov's bastard, by Jacey Bedford (Cinderella)
The emperor's new (and improved) clothes, by Leslie What (The Emperor's New Clothes)
One fairy tale, hard-boiled, by P. Andrew Miller (mostly Rumpelstiltskin)
Feeding frenzy, or the further adventures of the Frog prince, by Josepha Sherman (The frog prince)
A leg up or The constant tin soldier (Gonzo version), by Gary A. Braunbeck (The Steadfast tin soldier)
Mrs. Myrtle Montegrande vs. the vegetable stalkers/slayer, by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (Jack and the Beanstalk)


My copy is from 1999 and I have read it. There are some boxed pages, and light creases in its back, but no stains or wear. It looks like any average once read pocket book.

Here's the Amazon.com's page on it
Here's a review.
Here's another review

It is not for children, there's both sex, drugs, violence and cussing - not bad, but enough to make this not for children.
The quality differs a lot, as does in most anthologies. My favorites are brides of prince Charming and herpetologist's wife, but there's a lot of good stories. I wouldn't mind if no-one wants to have this book. :-D

Happily N'Ever After II - Snow White, another bite @ the apple

I forgot I hated Happily N'Ever After I.
I forgot I hated the stupid creatures, Mambo and Munk.
I forgot how bad the animation is. (Compared to other contemporary animations. Barbie is better... and that's much said.)

But I'm glad I did, because "Another Bite @ the Apple" was better than the first one.

In this, Snow White is a spoiled, vain, egocentric brat. She lost her mother, who was good and kind, when she was just a kid, and now her life is all party, fun and looks. Her father decides she needs a woman's touch, so he decides to remarry.
There is this ugly girl who was told that the Queen was loved by everyone because she was beautiful, so she tried to be as beautiful as the queen had been. The Magic Mirror makes her that. She looks exactly like the Queen, and the King wants to marry her.

Snow White isn't happy about it, and mopes, so Lady Vain gets an enchanted apple from the Mirror. She gets Snow White to eat the apple. The apple doesn't kill her, it makes her share her innermost thoughts. This Snow White has something nasty to say about everyone living in the town, and Lady Vain lets everyone know what Snow White thinks about them, and they get angry and Snow White flees from the town.
(Remember, the apple didn't twist her mind, she really, truly thought that way.)

She finds her way to the Seven Dwarves, who remember well the Queen, and because of her they decide to teach Snow White a lesson, and they manage to make her change her shallow ways to being as good and kind as her mother had been. 
So she goes back to the town just in time to interrupt the wedding, and her father decides he doesn't need to marry anymore, now that Snow White has changed. Lady Vain gets ballistic and uses the mirror as a weapon.

Earlier Snow White had met "Sir Peter", an orphan who grew up in one of Queen's orphanages, and who adores the Queen, and doesn't much appreciate Snow White. Now, that Snow White has changed her ways, Peter noticecs that he likes her after all. When Lady Vain starts shooting magic around, he jumps in to rescue Snow White, and is knocked out of the way. (and he stays knocked out!)
Her father joins the battle but he is old, and is just about to fall, when Snow White joins him and steadies his hand. Together - even Mommy Queen gets to be part of the family union, as they use her picture to guide the magic flare - they break the mirror and Lady Vain is ugly again.
They are just about to hang her, when Snow White interferes and tells her outer beauty is not worth much, it's only inner beauty that matters, and the dwarfs agree to teach her the same lesson they taught Snow White.
Happy End.

Now, it wasn't anything one will regret missing... it's more the other way around. One might regret seeing it... Especially if one paid to see it.

It has a nice message - helping others is what makes you beautiful, not clothes and make-up and hairdo.

Also, the villain, even though she tried to kill Snow White, is not evil, just misguided, and there's hope for her.

Animation, as said, was pretty bad.

The king is a poor version of the king in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, and he wears Burger King crown...

The wedding is accompanied with Wagner's wedding march, the bride is wearing a white dress, and the priest reads the Christian wedding ceremony... I suppose people wouldn't know otherwise that it's a question of a wedding.
And even though the prince... er... Sir Peter, the orphan, I meant, had to fetch Snow White to the wedding, and found her in the middle of the forest fixing Humpty Dumpty, and then they galloped back to the castle and had to get over hurdles to get to the church in time, Humpty Dumpty, and everyone else was in the church already... just in time to witness in favor of Snow White, when Lady Vain claimed she hadn't changed.

But if you can ignore such small details, it's not a bad movie.
It's not good either.

(Made 2009 by BAF (Berlin Animation Films)

Snow White: A Tale of Terror

Just to remind myself, I watched Snow White; A Tale of Terror, again. This Snow White is from 1997. It is fascinating... because one doesn't really know if the stepmother, Claudia, played by Sigourney Weaver, is a witch or just mad.

The first time I saw it, I was seriously scared, and to my surprise, they managed to scare me this time too :-D
If I remember correctly, this movie was received with delight as a true Grimmesque retelling and as something seriously different from the cutie-pie Disney versions. There is a point when one isn't quite sure if anyone survives...

This is yet another Snow White where I like the Evil Queen/Stepmother most. Claudia was the most faceted personality, and her motivation was made very clear. As she was treated by both her stupid husband and his bratty daughter, I wish she had managed to bring her son back to life. Now, that would be an interesting story…
It doesn’t harm that the queen is played by Sigourney Weaver. I just adore her. I can’t decide if she is beautiful or not… because she can be the most beautiful woman just as well as quite ugly. Her Old Woman is wonderful, and reminds me of the Old Hag from Disney’s Snow White. So she chats, giving the harmless idea, one can imagine the old hag as a young woman… and the whole time I KNOW it’s Sigourney! But, she’s so good I forget her, and see the old woman as a young girl, playing around with boys, being witty and cute…

I felt sorry for Sam Neill for having such a horrible role to play :-D I think half of his lines were [groaning]. And the other half was mostly stupid.

As Snow White’s love interests, we see both David Conrad as doctor Gutenberg, and Gill Bellows, as Will, and outlaw. I know David from Ghost whisperer, where he plays Melinda’s husband, and Gill from Ally McBeal.  Good looking fellows.

18-years-old Monica Keena plays Snow White, and does a good job in portraying a bratty teenager. And I have to give her that she plays well a scared young woman too.

The manuscript isn’t very good. There's things happening in the movie that are there for the effect, but are not explained satisfactory, like the wolves in the opening scene and the zombie maid? Or is she just imagination? Or what? Also the dialogue is rather stupid. But it was revolutionary 1997. :-D

Director Michael Cohn, has made only three feature length movies, but he’s starting a new project, Sacrifice, with Forest Whitaker’s production company.

Here's another review, from last year's Fairytale Fortnight

Snow White and the Dwarfs' Secret

The next movie I watched was an absolutely delightful Czech-German-Italian-Spanish co-production movie. "Snow White and the Dwarves' Secret", (Snehurka a Sedm Trpasliku / Schneewittchen und das Geheimnis der Zwerge). This lovely piece is from 1992.

It begins with the king leaving for a crusade and leaving the kingdom to be ruled by the Queen. She is vain and somewhat stupid woman. She starts her rule by sending Snow White with the court jester to the royal hunting castle, out of the way, because Snow White is becoming more and more beautiful every day. The dwarves in this are engineers and inventors, and they invent a truth telling machine - which is the magic mirror. One of them takes this machine to the court, dressed in a mechanical knight suit, that makes him as long as all the other men.

He falls in love with the queen, and therefore agrees to kill Snow White, but he's a good man, and cannot kill her. He kills a passing by wild boar, instead, to take its heart and liver to the queen as evidence of that Snow White is dead.

The Jester, who's in love with Snow White, starts looking for her, and manages to find out the truth about the Black Knight, that is the dwarf in knight costume. He agrees to take him to Snow White, but they are too late, the Queen has managed to find her first, and has given her the apple, and she is laying in the crystal coffin. The Fool wishes to say goodbye to her, and lifts her from the coffin, which makes the apple piece to pop out from her throat, and she's breathing and alive again.
It turns out that the Fool is no fool at all, but a prince, and they marry and live happily ever after.

The queen, on the other hand, goes home, and finds the knight machine and realizes that her Black Knight was a dwarf, and as the mirror tells her she is NOT the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, she gets angry and breaks the mirror, which in turn burns her badly and destroys her beauty. The priest, who has been following the happenings behind the scene, takes her to a cloister, where she can finally be useful and learn some humility.

Natalie Minko is a delightful princess, joyful, innocent, but intelligent and brave.

Gudrun Landgrebe is truly a beautiful queen. Her hairdos are amazing. They have given her a long, red hair, which is braided into crowns... Really fascinating.

The Jester is played by Alessandro Gassman, who is better known to the world as the face... or body, actually - from a couple of ads. And, yes, he was 27 in the movie, and even though he was very kind to the eyes, he's even better now, 20 years later.

I also loved the dwarves. The Black Knight (Sándor Köleséry) especially was lovely. So in love with the queen and being seen as a long man... but yet gentle and kind. So aware of his own weakness, and powerlessness... And he wasn't ugly either :-)

Snow White: The Fairest of Them All

Hallmark production
2001

I like this version of Snow White. In it, Snow White’s parents are ordinary people, living in their little cottage in the middle of nowhere. But when her mother dies, the father (played by Tom Irwin) leaves the cottage, his dead wife and takes the daughter to find people and food for the little one. He gets lost in a snow storm, and realizes that they are both going to die, his newborn baby and him, he cries. His tears melt The Green-Eyed One (Clancy Brown), a demon or genie, who fulfills his three wishes, even though he didn’t realize expressing them. His first wish is milk to the baby, second is his wife and queen, and the third one… I have to say that the Green-Eyed One interprets his words a bit freely there – “If you want a queen, you should have a kingdom. Do you wish to have a kingdom? “ “Everyone wishes for a kingdom”, he says, and the next thing he knows is that he’s sitting on a throne and is being crowned to a king of a small kingdom.
The Green-Eyed One goes to his sister (Miranda Richardson) and makes her beautiful. He makes the king fall in love with her.
Everything is just fine the next 16 years, but then Elspeth, the queen, starts looking for a younger husband. Unfortunately, her love interest isn’t interested in her, but the young and beautiful Snow White (Kristin Kreuk).

The make-up is interesting. I love Miranda Richardson as the genie's sister was really cute.

As this is a Hallmark production, you will see a lot of faces known from the television. The dwarfs in this version are a bit different. They are the Weekdays or colors of the rainbow. One of them, for example, is over six feet tall. (Vincent Schiavelli). If you are any way the same like me, you’ll recognize also Sunday (Michael J. Anderson – Carnivale), Friday (Martin Klebba; Black Pearl’s crew man) and Saturday (Warwick Davis; Willow.) Warwick Davis and Michael Gilden both played also ewoks.

This movie has been directed by Caroline Thompson, who is better known as the playwright of Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Corpse Bride.

The setting is interesting, as they seem to have taken more inspiration from Russian fairytales than the German ones.

Snow White: “What does it mean, beautiful? I hate that. Beautiful. Do person's outsides have anything to do with being kind, or considerate or caring towards others. No. Or gentle or generous? No. Or loving or giving or just or wise...”

Cannon Movie Tales: Snow White, 1987

This is the worst of all these movies. The only thing, ONLY thing that saves this movie, and made it watchable, was Diana Rigg as the evil queen.

This is a musical. It starts with the prince singing – in a best “I want to be Andrew Lloyd Webber when I grow up!” musical style. He sings about how he has traveled all around the world, but haven’t found her princess yet.
And – oh, there she is! In a glass coffin.
But what is that? Dwarfs! Accompanied by a comical theme. Which is played every time they are in the picture. Because people might not understand that dwarfs are comical. Like clowns. But small. Funny. Hahaha!

Anyway, the prince hears the dwarfs talk about how Snow White is still as fresh and beautiful as she was a year ago, when they put her in the box, so it must be magic.
The prince jumps from behind the tree and almost attacks the dwarfs to defend Snow White.
The dwarfs tell him that he doesn’t need to be afraid that the dwarfs would do anything to Snow. They love her and they were the ones who build the box for her.
“Do you know her?”, the prince asks. I roll my eyes.

It all starts when the good queen is in her hobby room with her maids-in-waiting and they craft. They spin and weave and wind yarn on a shuttle, and then wind yarn from the shuttle to a ball… the room is filled with all kinds of craft tools, and no-one seems to know how any of them are used, so they start playing with cloth instead. And the queen pricks her finger and puts it in snow, and the king comes in and they all start singing about snow.

Some 12 years later, the king has remarried, because his wife died at childbirth, and the new queen hears her ladies-in-waiting talk about how beautiful Snow White will grow up to be, so she puts the huntsman to kill her during a hunting trip. Of course, he cannot, and the little girl is send alone in the forest filled with wild beasts.
A monkey, hedgehog, goat, rabbit, boa snake, wolf… the wild life of Black Forest.

She sees the wolf running at her, growling, drooling and howling, and she prays, and Hallelujah! The wolf turns into a nice little doggie. And everything is nice and peaceful and wonderful again. so there's some inspirational panpipe music.

She finds her way to the dwarfs’ home, breaks in, leaves door open, eats a bit from everyone’s plate, and then gets sleepy and goes to bed. But, alas, the first bed is too short, and second too narrow, and third… You get the idea.
The dwarfs come home, and, like the three bears, first note how someone has eaten of their porridge. And then they start going through the beds. “Someone’s been sleeping in my bed!” “Mine too!” “And mine – and there she is!”
And, of course, their actions are accompanied with comical music, because they - just like in Disney’s version – are very comical in their fear of strangers. *sigh*

The little princess agrees to stay with the dwarfs and clean their home and wash their clothes and mend and cook and be a good little housekeeper… even though she is indeed a princess and about 12 years old, and has never done any housekeeping.

And then the dwarfs sing a comical little song to present themselves. Their names are Iddy, Biddy, Kiddy, Diddy, Fiddy, Giddy and Liddy. Oh, no worries that the little princess cannot remember the names, they forget them themselves too, because they are so like each other! Hahaha! Dwarfs are so comical. You see, because they are dwarfs. *sigh*

Nevertheless, this is the truest to the original story (even the "three bears coming home and discovering someone's been..." act was in Grimm's version.) and it is very suitable for children (no references to sex, drugs or rock-n-roll).
It's harmless and if you plan watching several Snow Whites, watch this one first, after having read the fairy tale. You could watch the 1916 version and Disney version before this one, but avoid the others.
The costumes were interesting and I would say all the props and such, filming and what not are well done for a movie like this (better than "Grimm's Snow White"), so such details won't steal from the experience.

Here's another review of this movie, and here's a third.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Snow White was Disney’s first full length animated feature film. Every now and then someone mocks Disney movies in general and Snow White in special, after all, it was made 80 years ago, but the truth is that Disney animations are wonderful. Snow White is still watch-worthy, exciting, scary, lovely, and dang well made.

It is a very classical retelling of the fairy tale. So classical one can say it’s the mother of all fairy tale movies – animated or not. I can see features from it in all the other Snow White movies I have seen the last week, and I saw quite a lot.

It also sets the imaginary fairy tale landscape in Southern Germany. (Black Forest, Neuschwanstein’s castle in Bavaria…). The fairy tale fashion and ordinary people’s homes are modeled after the German folklore, too, which is why Snow White is dressed in Tracht and the dwarfs’ home is decorated with woodcuts like a cuckoo-clock.

Disney’s version leaves out some of the original (Grimm) version, but adds something else. The dwarfs are given names and personality (even though they were named in the 1916 version also, but there they were Blick, Flick, Glick, Plick, Snick, Whick and Quee) and about 1/3 of the movie is just about the dwarfs.

Now, everyone knows the story of Snow White. Her mother dies. Her father remarries, then he dies also. Snow White is left alone with the stepmother who hates her. To stop Snow White from getting beautiful, the queen makes her wear rags and do household chores. (Back in the pre-19th century working girls were uglier than non-working girls, because they had tanned skin and hard hands.) Nevertheless, Snow White grows up to be a beautiful woman, and her stepmother orders the huntsman to kill her. He can’t, because Snow White is not only beautiful, she is also sweet, lovely and innocent. So he tells Snow White to run away and never come back again, kills a bypassing deer or wild boar or something,  and takes that animal’s heart to the queen as evidence of that he killed Snow White. The mirror tells the queen that she has been lied to, that Snow White is still alive, and prettier than ever. In the original story, the queen tries several different ways before coming up with the poisoned (or bewitched) apple. Snow White lies in death-like sleep, and the dwarfs believe she is dead, but she is too beautiful to be buried, so they make a glass casket to her. The prince comes by and just have to kiss her, and now it just happens to be so that love’s first kiss is the only thing that could break the spell, and so Snow White and the prince live happily ever after.

I’m sorry if a spoiler alert should have been in order, I assume everyone knows this version of Snow White, even better than Grimm’s version. This is the one that has been repeated, retold and used as canon in practically every version of Snow White that came after 1937.  I might not be happy about that – I read Grimm’s unedited version of Snow White already when I was 7-8, and that is my Snow White. In Disney’s version the dwarfs have been made into funny little men, when they were kind, old miners, rather distinguished gentlemen in Grimm’s version. They were also very tidy in Grimm’s version, whereas Disney makes them quite wild and brattish. I suppose that is what people think seven men living amongst themselves in the middle of nowhere would be. One needs a woman’s gentle touch to make houses into homes.

Nevertheless, I recommend Disney’s Snow White to everyone who likes movies, not just fairy tales, fantasy or animated movies. If for nothing else, then to pay attention to Lucille La Verne, the Queen. She is the real star of this movie. Lucille La Verne had had a long and successful like as an actress, both on stage and movies, before Snow White. Snow White was her last movie. I think she is amazing. Just listen to how she changes her voice and manner of speaking as she turns from the beautiful queen to old hag…  (The story tells that she took off her dentures to change her voice…  I can imagine :-D)

Disney handpicked the 18 years old Adriana Caselotti to play Snow White. Her father was a music teacher, her mother an opera singer, and her sister was also an opera singer and voice coach. It is amazing that Adriana had such a squeaky voice, but that – and her bright soprano (or squeaky)  - made her the Snow White Walt wanted. And what Walt wanted, Walt got… They say he was so protective of his Snow White, he didn’t allow Adriana sing in any other movies or even on radio. I have to say I’m grateful, because I can’t stand her voice.

Another good reason to see this movie is for the use of music. I know of no-one who can use music as masterly to control the emotions of the audience.  Also, this movie is full of memorable tunes. I have been humming both one and another this week. It’s no wonder Disney has received quite a lot of Oscars for music.

Note also how Disney often makes things happen in tune with the music. Like the cleaning scene. How the squirrel uses his tail to mop off the spider webs, accompanied by the song, how the clothes are being washed, everything happens to the music.

A third good reason is to look at the results of Disney’s hard demands. I remember watching some documentary from Disney studios and Walt Disney's ideas about animation. He made all the animators study real animals, to get the movements correct. So when the animals lead Snow White through the forest, they all move in a typical manner to their own species. Also, when they enter the house, all the animals move suspiciously, all in their own way... and at the same time, they have been given enough human behavior - and that of pets; cats and dogs; to make Snow White's discussion with them understandable.

There are small jokes mixed into the story, like when Snow White dusts the shelf, and the squirrels and chipmunk sitting on it sneeze, one at a time, the little chipmunk sneezes so hard, he is thrown into a keg..

I noticed this time some details I didn’t remember from earlier times.

It is interesting how she got nice clothes when she was to go out to be killed.

"Silence!” the queen says, and I add “I'll kill you!" :-D

The scene in the forest where everything looks scary and threatening is wonderful... But Disney has always been masterly with creating emotional response. Everything, colors, shapes, music and editing plays together.

“The Sleeping Death can only be broken by love's first kiss... no fear of that. She will be buried alive...”
So this is where they got the idea in both Snow White, the Tale of Terror, and Snow White and the Huntsman.

The Queen/Witch has been created by the same person who created Goofy. I can see some of his expressions on the Witch’s face, which made the apple scene more funny than scary.

I hate the scene with the birds “helping” Snow White bake the pie. All I can think of is “Oh no, bird poo all over the pie! Those birds walking with their dirty feet on the dough… yuk…”

“It’s apple pie that makes manfolks’ mouth water”
I am reminded of Scarlett’s mothers deadbed scene from Gone with the Wind, when Snow White lies on the table between candles.

Thankfully there are no sequels.

Nevertheless, while I was looking at background information, I read that one of the animators, Art Babbitt (he created the Queen), got into trouble with Walt Disney, because he supported the strike of the "lesser talents", the inkers, gel painters and others, and Walt never forgave any of the people who were on strike. Now, he could avoid the "lesser talents", but main animator? No.

So Art did some work for other studios, like Warner Brothers. He was one of the animators working with “Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs”, 1943.

I watched this Merrie Melody. It’s only 8-10 minutes long. It’s a modern retelling of Snow White. It starts with a “mammy” telling a story to her little child. The heroine is So White, who works for the evil Queen "who was as rich as she was evil. She had EVERYTHING! (meaning, she was a hoarder of rationed goods, like rubber, coffee and sugar. Very unpatriotic 1941.) She is being courted by Prince Chawming, who in reality only visits her because of her maid. Queen sees them dance and calls a "blackout team" (who kills midgets for half a price and japs for free) to kill So White, but she is so beautiful and sexy, that she charms them all and they let her out in the middle of nowhere. Which happens to be close to a military training camp. So she becomes a cook there. Queen finds this out, and dresses herself as a "candy apple seller", and gives her a poisoned candy apple, and she dies. The dwarfs avenge her death by killing the Queen (arriving to the spot in a Jeep, a Beep and a Peep.) Prince Chawming tries to kiss So White back to life. He is a master of kissing, but how ever much he kisses her, she won't wake up. In the end Dopey dwarf kisses her and up she jumps! Prince asks Dopey what makes him so hot, and he just smiles and says it's a military secret. And he kisses So White again, and her pigtails jump straight up and the red ribbons turn into American flags. (So, young black men, if you want girls, join the army.)

This cartoon has been on censored lists for decades because of the racist stereotypes… Queen has painted a cute little "white" mouth on her enormous lips. Prince is dressed in a zoot suit, and has gold teeth, except for the front teeth, that are dice. So White is dressed all in red, white and blue, but her skirt is very short and her blouse very tight... your stereotypical exotic, sexy young black woman.

It is also war time propaganda.

What makes this version of Snow White interesting is that it parodies Disney's Snow White (and other things); that it is set in modern time, with all jazz soundtrack, and all the characters and almost all voice actors are black. Bob Clampett (the director) says that it was made in demand for more black characters in Warner Brother's cartoons. Several black people, for example the voice actors and musicians, participated in the storyboard phase to make the dialogue as authentic "black" as possible.  The music is exceptional, the animation work is very good… This movie makes me wonder how much of the things we today consider racist are in reality just reflection of our fear of being non-PC.

I was also interested of the fact, that Dorothy Dandridge’s mother and sister are part of the cast. Ruby Dandridge is the narrator of the story, and Vivian is So White.


Anyway, read this: Gray on Coal Black and then watch the short. (if for nothing else, then to be able to compare that to The Princess and the Frog)

I also saw the Snow White from 1916, which is said to have been Walt Disney’s inspiration for his own Snow White. Unfortunately, there are some parts missing from the remastered version available on-line. Nevertheless, it is well worth seeing.

It is very charming, and Snow White, played by then 33 years olf Marguerite Clark, is adorable. She was only 4’10 long, and slender, so she could well play a teenaged Snow White. Dorothy Cumming, who plays the vain queen Brangomar, was only 21.

In this, the queen has made a scullery maid of Snow White. The cook sends her to the huntsman to fetch some ducks for the queen’s lunch. The huntsman has three children, and they adore Snow White. They have a bird in a cage, and Snow White tells them to free it. Now, a prince is out hunting and is about to shoot the bird, when Snow White and the huntsman’s children run to him and plead him to let the bird live. He falls for Snow White, of course, but she won’t reveal her name to him. Later in the castle she finds out that a prince is expected to visit the queen, and she so wishes to see him, so her maids of honor dress her as one of them, and she dances a little dance with them, and sees the prince. It is the same prince, of course.

Now, the prince was sent to queen Brangomar to arrange the marriage between himself and princess Snow White, but he tells the queen that he can’t marry the princess, because he is in love with another. The queen thinks he means her, but he corrects her and says it’s one of the princess’ maids of honor. The queen calls in all of them, but Snow White is missing. She isn’t one of the maids. Now, here’s a part of the movie missing, so I don’t know how  the truth came out, but it is revealed that the maid the prince loves is none other than Snow White, the princess. The queen isn’t happy about this, but an agreement is to be respected. Reluctantly she promises the wedding to happen in a year and a day. During that time the princess is to be in a finishing school, which sounds more like a correction facility for bad princesses.

Now it is so that the queen is beautiful only because of magic, and she promised the witch Snow White’s heart as a payment for her beauty. She sends the huntsman to take Snow White to the school, but in private she tells the huntsman to bring her Snow White’s heart. The huntsman refuses, because he loves Snow White as his own children, but the queen threatens to throw his children in the tower if he won’t do as she says. The huntsman cries bitterly, but must do as he is told. In the forest he sees a boar and gets the idea that he can kill the animal instead of Snow White, and Snow White can run away. The queen doesn’t trust the huntsman, and throws him and his children in the tower anyway. She takes Snow White’s heart to the witch, who uses it to a potion, which is to give her beautiful hair, but as it is not Snow White’s heart, she gets pig tails all over her head instead…

It is hard to read some of the texts, as they are written in fracture script, and it is a bit irritating that parts of the movie are missing, but I love this movie. I love the Snow White, I love the huntsman, I love the witch’s cat…

See it.