Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Title: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Producer: Walt Disney
Starring: Adriana Caselotti, Lucille La Verne, Roy Atwell, Pinto Clovig, Billy Gilbert, Otis Harlan, Scotty Mattraw
Rank: 34

Every so often, a film comes along that changes the way people look at its genre. For the animation genre, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs not only changed the way people look at animation, but really created the animated film genre. Before Walt Disney came along, animation was a simple novelty- people would see cartoon shorts before the main feature when they went to the theater. Sure, cartoons were cute, but Disney turned animation into an art.

It doesn't really matter that the story is specifically Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney could've easily decided to do Hanzel and Gretel, or The Princess and the Pea, or anything else for that matter. Yes, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a great story, and the characters are very memorable, but the importance of this film comes from the contribution it has made to the cinema world. Because of this film, the multiplane camera was invented, giving more depth and realism to animation. (See video below.) Never before had such care, devotion, and passion been dedicated to a cartoon. In fact, most people don't even think of Disney features as "cartoons," but as "animation." Really, there is no difference, except for the fact that Disney films have the highest standards of quality animation, and people view them as so much more than "just a cartoon."

Many in Hollywood even dubbed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with the nickname "Disney's Folly," certain it would be a complete failure and send the Disney Studios into bankruptcy. After all, who would ever want to sit through a cartoon that's an hour and a half long? But of course, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a huge success, paving the way for all of the other Disney classics, such as Bambi, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and The Lion King, among the others. It paved the way for all of the other animated feature favorites: The Land Before Time, An American Tail, Spirited Away, Panyo, and many others.

Could you imagine, though, if Walt Disney had listened to his critics and pulled production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? Could you imagine if he had decided not to build Disneyland, as his creditors had advised? There would, most likely, not be a Disney Company around today. If you have passion about something, don't let anyone else tell you that you can't do it. If you believe you can do it, then it doesn't matter if anyone else believes you can do it. Go out and prove them wrong. Do it for your self! If anyone who had ever been criticized for a new idea or invention had decided to give up at the first sign of another person's doubt about it, we certainly would not have much. What if someone had told Neil Armstrong that he'd never be an astronaut? What if someone told John F. Kennedy that he wasn't smart enough to be president? What if Abraham Lincoln was told it was a waste of time to try to free the slaves because he'd never be able to? The thing is, all of them were probably at one point told that, but they didn't take the criticism to heart, and changed the world. Besides, most of the time when someone tells you "You can't," what they're really saying is "I hope you don't because I know I can't." Live your dreams, pursue your passions, make the world a better place. Nothing is impossible unless you believe it is! As Walt Disney once said: "It's fun to do the impossible."

Here to tell you a bit about the multiplane camera is Walt Disney:

Trivia:
•Pinto Clovig, who provides the voices for Grumpy and Sleepy, also provided the original voice for Goofy in the Disney cartoon shorts.
•Although often credited as the first-ever full-length feature animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was actually not. The first was done by a female director in Germany, and it was the story of Pinocchio. However, Pinocchio was silent, black and white, and extremely unsuccessful.
•Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first film ever to have a soundtrack album released.
•In 1938, Walt Disney received an Honorary Academy Award for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The award inscription read "For Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field." There was one tall statue and seven miniature ones given to him.


Movies to Go: 77

Sullivan's Travels

Title: Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Director: Preston Sturges
Starring: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake
Rank: 61

It's amazing the things a person can learn just from observing others. "Take a walk in another man's shoes" is a common phrase, but not something commonly practiced these days. Sullivan's Travels is about a director, John Sullivan, who wants to make a dramatic film about the lives of poor people. His investors, however, think this is a terrible idea: What does wealthy Sullivan know about the life of the poor and hobos?

Wanting to make an exceptional movie, Sullivan goes in disguise as a hobo to try to gain insight for his film. His first attempts to blend in are frivolous, and don't yield much understanding for Sullivan. He does, through a case of mistaken identity, end up living life as a hobo in chains for three years. When he is finally returned to his luscious life in Hollywood, he has a new appreciation for life, a genuine understanding of the hardships of a life on the street, and a realization that he doesn't want to make a drama about the hobo life. Instead, he wants to make a comedy: while on the streets, he observed first hand how laughter takes away the stressfulness of any situation, and knows that he wants to make a comedy to lighten the spirits of the less-fortunate as a sign of gratitude for all they taught him.

Laughter is, indeed, the best medicine. Scientifically proven to reduce stress, increase mood, and is even heart-healthy! (Source: Laughter is the Best Medicine) Sullivan learned through his experiences that when a person is in a discouraging situation, it is better to make them lighten up with humor rather than reaffirm their sorrowful circumstances. The film even opens with a dedication to humorous people:
To the memory of those who made us laugh: the motley mountebanks, the clowns, the buffoons, in all times and in all nations, whose efforts have lightened our burden a little, this picture is affectionately dedicated.

But more importantly than just learning the value of laughter, Sullivan learns what life is like through the eyes of another. All of us have our hardships in life, and all of us have the good points about life, too. Whatever the situation is, there's always someone who has a situation we would consider worse than our own. It takes a great deal of intelligence to learn through the observation of others rather than continuously making our own mistakes, and this holds true with learning about sorrow. Life is beautiful, but has complications. Life isn't easy (and if it was, it would certainly be boring and uneventful), but we can learn to appreciate the positive things in our lives rather than dwelling on the negative.

Sullivan's Travels touches on the benefits of showing charity and kindness to others. While Sullivan spends time as a tramp, people show him mercy at times. Some people give him food, sometimes it's as simple as just not turning him into the cops or letting him sleep in a place for the night. When he returns to his normal life, he pays the favors forward, giving $5 (which was a lot more back then than it is today) to all the hobos on the street. He even gives $100 to a man who gave him food when Sullivan had no way to pay for it. A gift of kindness, given without anything expected in return, is the purest form of love. Just remember this: even simple gestures of help can make a big difference. Giving to others is one of the most satisfying things a person can do. If the tables were turned, wouldn't you hope there would be someone out there willing to look past your situation and give you a little bit of a break?


Movies to Go: 81

Toy Story

Title: Toy Story (1995)
Director: John Lasseter
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Jim Varney, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger
Rank: 99



Change is inevitable, as we all know. Yet, even though we know change cannot be stopped, we often still fear change. It can be scary when the life you are used to and love suddenly changes, just as Woody's life changed. He was always Andy's favorite toy, until Buzz Lightyear arrives and captures Andy's playtime affections, threatening to leave Woody in the toy chest to collect dust. It doesn't matter if a king suddenly loses his wealth and becomes a peasant, or if a poor man wins the lotto and has riches beyond his dreams: change can be difficult for anyone. As humans, we tend to get used to things and like what we are familiar with, which is why it is so easy to fall into routines. But, as Woody learned, change isn't always a bad thing.

Through an amazing toy-journey, Woody and Buzz both discover new things about themselves. Change can be, and often is, a good thing. Woody and Buzz become the greatest of friends because of change. If we always stay in our comfort zones, we will never develop or evolve as people. My life is vastly different from what it was five years ago, and I know my life will be greatly different five years from now. To me, this is an exciting thing. I love life, I love where my life is right now, but if I thought that I was going to be here for the rest of my life it would make me sad. Change comes either by force or by choice, and adapting to change can be greatly rewarding, if we face the things that we fear about change. Life is not frozen- it's constantly moving, constantly growing and developing. It's a beautiful thing, really. Life without change would be uninteresting and nothing new would ever happen.

Toy Story may be about change, but it also made changes to the face of animation. It was the first full-length feature film to be completely computer animated. Toy Story paved the way for films like the Shrek tetralogy, the Ice Age trilogy, Kung-Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens, How To Train Your Dragon, and of course all of the other gems PIXAR has given to the world (A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and coming June 30th is Toy Story 3). Even Beowulf could fall into this category, as well as a slew of others that have already been made and are being released in the coming years. Toy Story gave birth to a new generation of films, ones which the entire family can enjoy: kid-friendly, but just as appealing to adults, with a few adult-aimed jokes hidden throughout the films (I noticed this time that at one point Woody mockingly calls his friend "Buzz Light-Beer" instead of "Lightyear"). These films are admired by fans of all ages, bringing families and friends together once again. See? Change isn't always a bad thing.

Trivia:
•Every PIXAR movie has four things in common: 1) A visual reference somewhere in the film to another one of their projects. 2) A list of "Production Babies" (babies that were born to people who contributed to the film while it was in production). 3) A short film that accompanies it in the theaters. 4) John Ratzenberger does the voice of one character.
•In Toy Story, the visual reference to another PIXAR project is in Andy's room: among the books on his bookshelf (can be particularly seen when Woody is hosting the toy-meeting) there are books whose titles are PIXAR shorts, one of them having John Lasseter (the director) listed as the author. Also, the gas station Buzz and Woody fight at is Dinoco- the company that Lightening McQueen hopes to be sponsored by in PIXAR's Cars (2006).
•Toy Story was the first film to be completely computer animated. Each frame took between four to thirteen hours to render. (There are 24 frames in each second, the film is an hour an twenty minutes- you do the math.)
•There's a nod to Disney on Andy's wall: he has a Mickey Mouse clock.


Movies to Go: 82