Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest Snow White of them all?

Fairy tales were not originally written for children, and although the Disney classics seem to dominate the fairy tale domain, it is only recently that directors and animators seem to be exploring the twisted side to them: think of the creepy bedtime story narrated by the Oscar nominated Granny O'Grimm. Like any other child, I loved watching Disney's heroic tales of restoring princesses to their rightful place, getting rid of evil step parents, being rescued by a dashing young prince charming and ending up living happily ever after in a beautiful castle. In today's world, where happy endings are for dreamers and castles are overpriced, it is interesting to go back to these stories as an adult and somewhat satisfying to learn that these 'princesses' were not as lucky as Disney has led us to believe. 

"The realm of fairy-story is wide and deep and high and filled with many things: all manner of beasts and birds are found there; shoreless seas and stars uncounted; beauty that is an enchantment, and an ever-present peril; both joy and sorrow as sharp as swords. In that realm a man may, perhaps, count himself fortunate to have wandered, but its very richness and strangeness tie the tongue of a traveller who would report them. And while he is there it is dangerous for him to ask too many questions, lest the gates should be shut and the keys be lost."

~J. R. R. Tolkien in 'On Fairy Stories'

'Snow White swallows the poisoned apple'
Paula Rego

There have been two new Snow White films released this year. Snow White is one of the darkest fairy tales: with murderous rivalry, adolescent sexual ripening, poisoned gifts, bloodshed, witchcraft, and ritual cannibalism. So Snow White has probably stopped dreaming that 'some day her prince will come' but has ended up rather like the distressing painting by Paula Rego (right). The author, Terri Windling, gives a very good overview of the various versions of the Snow White tale in her article: Snow, Glass, Apples: The story of Snow White. I have taken a look at different Snow White films over the years, and will compare the actresses who have taken on the roles of Snow White to see who rules fairest of them all.

"Snow White" (1916)

The 1916 version of the 'Snow White' tale was directed by J. Searle Dawley and based on a script written for the stage by Wintrop Ames. Below the two minute youtube clip gives the perfect impression of the actress who played Snow White, Marguerite Clark.

Clark was thirty-three years old when she did this film. Surprisingly, the majority of her films and on stage performances where done in her thirties, which is very unusual compared to the age 'limit' that Hollywood portrays today (Charlize Theron is thirty-six and  playing the evil old Queen in 'Snow White and the Huntsmen'). Although the cinematography is slightly lacking, and it's set up leans more towards a stage production, Clark gives the Snow White character a personality which is very vibrant and youthful.

The look of intrigue on her face when she is peering through the hole in the front door of the cottage is captivating and she has this innocence about her which is very endearing thus making her a beautiful Snow White-but consequently she is more of a damsel in distress than a fighting warrior. Walt Disney was a massive fan of this version and he used elements of it in his first full length animation "Snow White and the seven dwarfs" (1937) . One can easily see the similarities between the Disney Snow White caricature and Marguerite Clark.

Roland C. Crandall's "Snow White" (1933)

It would seem ludicrous not to mention a cartoon version of Snow White in this post. So here's Roland C. Crandall's short animation with Betty Boop as "Snow White" (1933) and music by Cab Calloway.

This cartoon took Crandall six months to complete by himself and is considered to be a masterpiece. The voice of Betty, Mae Questel, is very childlike with the mispronouncing of words and squeaky voice. The character of Betty Boop however is a far cry from the 'innocent' child. Her character was based on the flappers of the 1920s mainly with the voice of Helen Kane (especially in her song "I wanna be loved by you") and wide-eyed, carefree, "it" girl, Clara Bow.

In this film (made before the production code of 1934 was enforced) Betty is wearing her classic, very short, black dress and a suspender on her upper thigh (which slips off at some point). Visually, her character is overtly sexual, a far cry from the childish demeanour of Marguerite Clark. However her narrative says something different: "Always in the way, I can never play" she cries out like a damsel in distress, to which the guards reply "what a shame! Poor Betty!" and throw away the axe. Once again Betty Boop is not a fighter and ends up getting trapped in a ball of snow creating her own avalanche which leads to her being trapped in a glass coffin. In the end she is rescued by her Prince Charming (Koko the Clown).

The evil Queen stepmother resembles the character Olive Oyl (from "Popeye") and she transforms into several different objects throughout the animation: the best, in my opinion, is when her eyes turn into two fried eggs as she is observing Betty's beauty. Thus we have, yet again, a damsel in distress, a defeated evil Queen and order restored with a happily ever after.

"Snow White and the Huntsmen" (2012)

Directed by Rupert Sanders. I had to take a break before I got down to writing about this version of the Snow White tale, simply because of my dislike of Kristen Stewart and her inability to portray expression in any film that she does. Nevertheless, it is clear she was chosen precisely because she is the last actress expected to play the beautiful and fair Snow White. Although parts of the script are poorly written (Stewarts' speech to her army is not inspiring whatsoever), the story dips in and out of old versions of the Snow White tale with new twists. The Huntsmen becomes her mentor and the Prince Charming is cast aside. Charlize Theron makes an excellent evil Queen- giving deeper psychological dimensions to the misunderstood character. The viewer sees a glimpse of the Queen's past and why she goes to extreme lengths to preserve her beauty- i suppose the magic holding Theron's character together is a reflection of the copious amount of plastic that makes up Hollywood today- but perhaps Theron goes about retrieving beauty in a more dramatic manner and with better effects. As a whole the film brings to light the darker side to the Snow White story- but with a bland Snow White who sometimes chips in to fight her battle, but with the Huntsmen always close behind.

"Mirror Mirror" (2012)

I was going to dismiss this film, but after watching it I feel it is worthy of comment. Directed by Tarsem Singh, the story is framed by a narrative told by the evil Queen (Julia Roberts). It has some comic lines and Lily Collins is a fun Snow White, defiantly with more spark than Stewart. Julia Roberts as the evil Queen is more sympathetic than Theron and it is clear that this version is a light hearted approach to the tale. Although, presumably, aimed primarily at children it could have taken more risks- even the Disney version is more terrifying. The end is as one expects, but I will not even go into detail about the bizarre Bollywood-esque song at the end of the film. It is witty in parts, for example when Julia Roberts comments on how the name Snow White was the most pretentious name that Snow's parents could have chosen, and the dwarfs are banished bandits who wear stilts to fool their victims into thinking they're giants. The dwarfs (there are seven of them but they have different names to the Disney version- it blows the mind) teach Snow White how to fight for herself but are always ready to defend her along with her prince Charming when things get tough.The use of make-up is what really transforms Collin's into Snow White (with eyelashes and red lipstick). 'It's time to change that fairy-tale ending' is essentially the tag line of the film but yet there is only one real difference between Singh's Snow White and the rest- the fact that Collins' does not take a bite of the poisonous red apple- apart from this all the other elements are present.

Writing this post I have realised that Snow White is not particularly the best princess to represent today's society. She will never be able to completely fight her own battle; she is just one of those girls- perceived to be too 'fair' to fight by men and so they either go into combat for her or wade close behind to lend a (massive) hand and finish her fight. Therefore who is the fairest Snow White out of the above? In my personal opinion each of them (apart from Stewart, apologies) is worthy of a Snow White title. Scott Meslow mentions many notable Snow White adaptations over the years in The Atlantic online paper of which, I heard that Micheal Cohn's "Snow White: A tale of terror" (1997) is one of the best. So, as Meslow states: "There is always another Snow White around the bend," and each of them is trying to be the fairest of them all.