The Brothers Grimm Version Of Walt Disney's Snow White
Fairy Tales and MTV: A modern retelling of the classic fairy tale of Snow White played by Snooki and the cast of the Jersey Shore.
Walt Disney once said “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Walt Disney’s statement not only captures his philosophy in life, but also captures the progression of Fairy Tales and their changes from generation to generation. The fairy tale you remembered today are not the fairy tale your kids are likely to experience.
Fairy tales transcend popular folklore and have a way of reinventing themselves into different versions. It’s difficult to figure out whether fairy tales have influence our society or whether our society …show more content…
has influence fairy tales. Looking back at the origins of fairy tales, I am taken back at how much fairy tales have changed. The key element to all the different adaptations is that you can draw a parallel to the environment of the time. The social and political environment is the driver that determines how a fairy tale will be told. Looking at Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs we can really observe some of the reasons behind the different versions of the same story.
The Brothers Grimm original version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs really differs from the Disney version you might be familiar with.
The Brothers Grimm version is a crude and barbaric telling of the story of Snow White. Their version of Snow White has the evil stepmother who makes not one but three attempts to kill Snow White. Once all attempts eventually fail the evil stepmother goes to the wedding “were they put a pair of iron shoes into the fire until they glowed, and she had to put them on and dance in them. Her feet were terribly burned, and she could not stop until she had danced herself to death” (National Geographic’s 04 March 2011). This Brothers Grimm version was not a child’s fairy tale. It was meant for a mature audience, and therefore one could take the liberty to tell a dreadful …show more content…
version.
In contrast Walt Disney’s version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Is a modern version of the original fairy tale. It’s an uncomplicated retelling full of color and enchantment where everything is divided between good and evil. This adaptation of Snow White is meant for a wider audience. The story itself leaves out many of the barbaric elements that were included in the Brothers Grimm version. In this version the evil stepmother only attempts to kill Snow White once with a poison apple, and in the end meets her fate by falling off a cliff after being chased by the seven dwarfs. And of course the prince and Snow White live happily ever after. Walt Disney was successful in appealing to the masses by keeping all the elements of the story simple and focus on good versus evil.
Anne Sexton’s interpretation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a cynical look at Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Anne Sexton brings to the forefront the stepmothers depraved need to be the fairest in the land. This is a very factual representation of what Anne Sexton herself might have experienced as a fashion model. You can easily see to what extent women will go to be the “fairest us all” (Sexton 5). In this version Snow White is portrayed as a “dumb bunny” (Sexton 8) sent out to be killed in the woods, and only to be released into the wild forest that holds wild wolves, and dangerous snakes. Anne Sexton’s version is giving a warning to young girls about the dangers one might encounter in the real world. This story also shows how there is no clear distinction between good and Evil. In the end as in the Brothers Grimm the evil stepmother dies in the same manner with “red-hot iron shoes” (Sexton 9). And what does our heroin do? She takes the place of her evil queen by “referring to her mirror as women do” (Sexton 9). This ending clearly breaks away our basic understanding of how fairy tales have ended in the past, by completely removing the happily ever after.
How would the story change if it were to be written today? Well here is my attempt at writing a modern version of a fairy tale: In a land far away or the Jersey Shore, there lived a young lady named Snow White played by Snooki that was as slutty as can be. She was loved by all due to her out of control personality. She had everything she wanted except her handsome guido. One day as she was taking the bus from work and she met a guido that seemed to be as charming as can be.
Snooki was lacking confidence due to her evil sister that would always point out her weight gain. Yet Snooki trusted her sister and told her of the guido she had met on the bus. The evil sister could not tolerate Snooki being happy, so she paid her friend to beat up Snooki. The friend could not do it, and Snooki had to run away to her best friend’s house where he lived with his six guido brothers. Her friend knew that Snooki was still in danger and warned her against opening the door.
The evil sister was scared that Snooki would still meet up with the guido she had met on the bus. She made up her mind to go find Snooki and take care of her herself. The evil sister was disguised as a mobile tanning girl and knocked on the door. What did Snooki do? She opened the door and was sprayed with peanut based sun tanning lotion, and Snooki was allergic to peanuts and immediately went in to shock. Her best friend and six guido brothers arrived home and noticed that Snooki had passed out.
As they rushed Snooki to the Hospital they ran over the mobile tanning girl. They didn’t have time to stop and offer her help. Once they arrived at the Hospital they were greeted by a charming young guido doctor who quickly gave Snooki a shot of Epinephrine. Snooki quickly came to life and realized that the Doctor was the same charming guido that she had met on the bus. What happened to the Evil sister you ask? Well, she just had a twisted ankle, and once she was prosecuted for attempted murder, she could bring no additional harm to Snooki. And of course the charming guido and the Snooki lived happily ever after.
This version of Snow White was written with a modern approach to what is popular.
This approach is not confined to modern times. The original Disney “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was produced in 1937 and our country was just recovering from a World War and a Stock crash. The country was asking for enchantment and that’s what they got with Disney. During the 1950’s Anne Sexton was resisting being placed in the restrictive roles of a mother, a homemaker, and an obedient wife. These repressive roles might have made her lash at what society by then had fully accepted in the reprised versions of fairy tales. Today society had embraced pop culture, in such a deep way that it’s not uncommon for an actor to be part of a television show, have and album, and also be on film. We tend to gravitate to what’s popular and mass produce it. And that’s the reason why it wouldn’t be uncommon to find someone like Snooki playing the role of Snow White.
Fairy tales continue to adapt generation after generation, and it is a safe bet that as we evolved so will the fairy Tales. As Walt Disney said “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Fairy tales play a part in capturing a snap shot of our society and our taste. One thing is certain fairy tales are alive and breathing, and will continue to change as we change. We will definitely influence the direction that fairy tales take in their future
adaptations.
Works Cited
O'Neill, Thomas. "Grimm Brothers @ Nationalgeographic.com." National Geographic - Inspiring People to Care About the Planet Since 1888. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/article.html>.
Sexton, Anne. Transformations. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print
Walt Disney once said “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Walt Disney’s statement not only captures his philosophy in life, but also captures the progression of Fairy Tales and their changes from generation to generation. The fairy tale you remembered today are not the fairy tale your kids are likely to experience.
Fairy tales transcend popular folklore and have a way of reinventing themselves into different versions. It’s difficult to figure out whether fairy tales have influence our society or whether our society …show more content…
has influence fairy tales. Looking back at the origins of fairy tales, I am taken back at how much fairy tales have changed. The key element to all the different adaptations is that you can draw a parallel to the environment of the time. The social and political environment is the driver that determines how a fairy tale will be told. Looking at Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs we can really observe some of the reasons behind the different versions of the same story.
The Brothers Grimm original version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs really differs from the Disney version you might be familiar with.
The Brothers Grimm version is a crude and barbaric telling of the story of Snow White. Their version of Snow White has the evil stepmother who makes not one but three attempts to kill Snow White. Once all attempts eventually fail the evil stepmother goes to the wedding “were they put a pair of iron shoes into the fire until they glowed, and she had to put them on and dance in them. Her feet were terribly burned, and she could not stop until she had danced herself to death” (National Geographic’s 04 March 2011). This Brothers Grimm version was not a child’s fairy tale. It was meant for a mature audience, and therefore one could take the liberty to tell a dreadful …show more content…
version.
In contrast Walt Disney’s version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Is a modern version of the original fairy tale. It’s an uncomplicated retelling full of color and enchantment where everything is divided between good and evil. This adaptation of Snow White is meant for a wider audience. The story itself leaves out many of the barbaric elements that were included in the Brothers Grimm version. In this version the evil stepmother only attempts to kill Snow White once with a poison apple, and in the end meets her fate by falling off a cliff after being chased by the seven dwarfs. And of course the prince and Snow White live happily ever after. Walt Disney was successful in appealing to the masses by keeping all the elements of the story simple and focus on good versus evil.
Anne Sexton’s interpretation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a cynical look at Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Anne Sexton brings to the forefront the stepmothers depraved need to be the fairest in the land. This is a very factual representation of what Anne Sexton herself might have experienced as a fashion model. You can easily see to what extent women will go to be the “fairest us all” (Sexton 5). In this version Snow White is portrayed as a “dumb bunny” (Sexton 8) sent out to be killed in the woods, and only to be released into the wild forest that holds wild wolves, and dangerous snakes. Anne Sexton’s version is giving a warning to young girls about the dangers one might encounter in the real world. This story also shows how there is no clear distinction between good and Evil. In the end as in the Brothers Grimm the evil stepmother dies in the same manner with “red-hot iron shoes” (Sexton 9). And what does our heroin do? She takes the place of her evil queen by “referring to her mirror as women do” (Sexton 9). This ending clearly breaks away our basic understanding of how fairy tales have ended in the past, by completely removing the happily ever after.
How would the story change if it were to be written today? Well here is my attempt at writing a modern version of a fairy tale: In a land far away or the Jersey Shore, there lived a young lady named Snow White played by Snooki that was as slutty as can be. She was loved by all due to her out of control personality. She had everything she wanted except her handsome guido. One day as she was taking the bus from work and she met a guido that seemed to be as charming as can be.
Snooki was lacking confidence due to her evil sister that would always point out her weight gain. Yet Snooki trusted her sister and told her of the guido she had met on the bus. The evil sister could not tolerate Snooki being happy, so she paid her friend to beat up Snooki. The friend could not do it, and Snooki had to run away to her best friend’s house where he lived with his six guido brothers. Her friend knew that Snooki was still in danger and warned her against opening the door.
The evil sister was scared that Snooki would still meet up with the guido she had met on the bus. She made up her mind to go find Snooki and take care of her herself. The evil sister was disguised as a mobile tanning girl and knocked on the door. What did Snooki do? She opened the door and was sprayed with peanut based sun tanning lotion, and Snooki was allergic to peanuts and immediately went in to shock. Her best friend and six guido brothers arrived home and noticed that Snooki had passed out.
As they rushed Snooki to the Hospital they ran over the mobile tanning girl. They didn’t have time to stop and offer her help. Once they arrived at the Hospital they were greeted by a charming young guido doctor who quickly gave Snooki a shot of Epinephrine. Snooki quickly came to life and realized that the Doctor was the same charming guido that she had met on the bus. What happened to the Evil sister you ask? Well, she just had a twisted ankle, and once she was prosecuted for attempted murder, she could bring no additional harm to Snooki. And of course the charming guido and the Snooki lived happily ever after.
This version of Snow White was written with a modern approach to what is popular.
This approach is not confined to modern times. The original Disney “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was produced in 1937 and our country was just recovering from a World War and a Stock crash. The country was asking for enchantment and that’s what they got with Disney. During the 1950’s Anne Sexton was resisting being placed in the restrictive roles of a mother, a homemaker, and an obedient wife. These repressive roles might have made her lash at what society by then had fully accepted in the reprised versions of fairy tales. Today society had embraced pop culture, in such a deep way that it’s not uncommon for an actor to be part of a television show, have and album, and also be on film. We tend to gravitate to what’s popular and mass produce it. And that’s the reason why it wouldn’t be uncommon to find someone like Snooki playing the role of Snow White.
Fairy tales continue to adapt generation after generation, and it is a safe bet that as we evolved so will the fairy Tales. As Walt Disney said “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Fairy tales play a part in capturing a snap shot of our society and our taste. One thing is certain fairy tales are alive and breathing, and will continue to change as we change. We will definitely influence the direction that fairy tales take in their future
adaptations.
Works Cited
O'Neill, Thomas. "Grimm Brothers @ Nationalgeographic.com." National Geographic - Inspiring People to Care About the Planet Since 1888. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/article.html>.
Sexton, Anne. Transformations. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print