Snow White, As Told By the Brothers Grimm

Much like my previous post about Mulan, when the name of famous characters in history are brought up, our minds quickly jump to the Disney versions of them. Since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Walt’s breakout film and made history by being the first ever feature-length animated film in history, it makes sense that people believe Walt and his animators also came up with the story too. However, Snow White had been around for over 100 years before Walt made the film, and he got the inspiration for the story from watching a play of it in 1916 in Kansas City. The original telling of the story of Snow White is by the Brothers Grimm, popular storytellers in the 19th century, responsible for most of the fairy tales we know today. So, did Disney’s telling of their story hold up accurately? Was anything changed? Well, you’re about to find out!

Image from: https://www.loc.gov/item/23006927/

Image from: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SNOW-WHITE-AND-THE-7-SEVEN-DWARFS-1937-CineMasterpieces-MOVIE-POSTER-DISNEY-/171888986890

Who is Snow White?

The story of “Snow White” was published in 1812 by Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm, being the 53rd story within their first collection of fairy tales. It was revised over many years and they published their final version of the story in 1854. There have been many theories over the years about if Snow White was based on a real person the brothers may have known about during their lifetime. The most common theory I’ve seen was coined by Eckard Sander in his book “Schneewittchen: Marchen oder Wahrheit? (Snow White: Is It a Fairy Tale?)”. Eckard says that Snow White is based on Margarete von Waldeck, a countess in Germany in the 1500s. Margarete was known for her beauty, and had a stepmother who was very cold toward her. Margarete fell in love with a prince, Phillip II of Spain. Margarete mysteriously and suddenly died at the age of 21, rumored to be from poison. Although there have been accounts found to say her health was declining for many years, and her stepmother had died before her. None of this has been confirmed to be the true inspiration, as Eckard published his book in 1994.

The Brothers Grimm. Image from: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/ai-robot-brothers-grimm-fairytale-write-story-princes-and-fox-a8393826.html

Image from: https://www.eurobuch.com/buch/isbn/3861341638.html

Margarete von Waldeck. Image from: https://curioushistorian.com/the-true-story-behind-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs

The Real Story Before Disney

Here are some key differences from the original tale to the Disney version that are worth noting:

The story begins with Snow White’s real mother, longing for a daughter who would be “as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood [of a frame she was holding]”. She was blessed with this daughter whom she named Snow White, but died immediately after giving birth.
Instead of asking the huntsman to bring back Snow White’s heart, the Queen rather asks for her lungs and her liver, so she could eat them to become immortal, and be sure Snow White was dead.
Snow White was the one to suggest she runs off into the woods if the huntsman spared her. He agreed and took the liver and lungs from a boar near by.
There was no “whistle while you work” sequence at all, as the little house in the forest was actually extremely clean and perfect.
Snow White took a bit of food from each plate that was sitting on the table already, then went up to sleep in one of the beds that actually was the right size for her.
All 7 dwarfs spoke in this story, unlike Dopey in the Disney version.
When the dwarfs found her asleep in their bed, they all allowed her to sleep and greeted her in the morning.
The Queen did not give an apple to Snow White right away, instead she gave her a lace bodice, and tied it so tight to Snow White that she couldn’t breathe. Snow White passed out on the ground in the house. The dwarfs saw her, cut the ties, and she told them what happened.
The magic mirror explained that Snow White was still alive, so this time, the Queen offered to comb Snow Whites hair, and she agreed. The comb was riddled with poison and when it made contact with her hair, Snow White fell unconscious again. The dwarfs found her again, pulled the comb from her hair, and warned her not to let anyone in.
The Queen went again this time with the apple, and proved that it would be okay by eating the white part in front of Snow White. However, it was the red part that was poisonous. Snow White gave into temptation and took a bite, falling seemingly “dead”.
The dwarfs placed Snow White in a glass coffin since she didn’t look dead as her cheeks were still flush, so they didn’t want to bury her.
The prince came across the coffin and asked the dwarfs for it as he loved her so much. The dwarfs reluctantly gave it to him. He didn’t kiss or touch her.
As he carried the coffin away, he tripped, and the piece of poison apple came up from Snow White’s throat and she woke up. The prince and her went back home to the kingdom to get married.
The prince was wary of the Queen, as she attempted to kill her again, so he punished her at their wedding by forcing her to wear hot iron shoes that were in burning coals until she died.

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As you can see, there are quite a few differences from the original tale to Disney’s version, but the essence of the story is the same. One big difference to note that has gotten a lot of criticism over the years is that only the kiss of the prince was able to save Snow White’s life, but really that wasn’t even a detail in the original story. Snow White was not just a girl who needed a man to save her, but rather feared for her own life from her murderous step mother and had the apple dislodged from her throat luckily.

She’s Not The Only Snow White

One of the first ever media adaptations of the fairytale was the 1916 film featuring Marguerite Clark that Walt had seen as a young boy. The only other adaptation that happened before Disney’s film was a feature of the character in the Betty Boop series in 1933. It has been adapted into several other films, television shows, in theatre, books, and even comic books. But even still, deemed “Disney’s Folly”, it is one of, if not the most iconic Disney film of all time for people who love Disney history. The company would not be what it is without that leap of faith to make the film, as everyone in Walt’s life was against it at first. It’s important to remember that although Snow White longed for love in the beginning and got it in the end, that is not what makes her story. It is the courage she had to run away, create a new life for herself, take care of her friends the animals and dwarfs, and do the best she could on her own.