Schneewittchen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? An evil stepmother tries to kill Snow White, who makes friends with the animals of the forest and finds refuge with the seven dwarfs. The fairy tale published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, adapted by Disney in 1937 as the first feature-length animation in film history, became one of the most successful transatlantic cultural transfers and the Disney studios' most financially lucrative work. Where in German Romanticism “envy and arrogance grew like weeds in the heart”, Disney develops a colorful, whimsical melodrama about a romantic, childlike beauty who behaves tenderly towards wild animals and motherly towards bearded little people. The hand-painted animation enchants the movement and the ingenious use of multi-plane cameras makes the painted image spaces tangible. Thanks to Prince Charming, even death does not last forever. (Tom Waibel)

Photo: Austrian Film Museum