Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition (Blu-ray) (1937)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Custom Play-DisneyView Presentation option Teaser Trailer-The Princess and the Frog sneak peek Featurette-Snow White Returns Deleted Scenes-Soup Eating and Bed Building sequence Music Video-"Someday My Prince Will Come" by Tiffany Thornton Game-Family Play: Games & Activities Audio Commentary-by Walt Disney and Film Historian John Canemaker Featurette-Hyperion Studios Tour Featurette-The One That Started It All Featurette-Animation Voice Talent Featurette-Disney through the decades Game-"Dopey's Wild Mine" Game Karaoke-"Heigh-Ho" Karaoke Sing-Along More…-extra disc of the main feature on DVD
Rating
Year Of Production	1937
Running Time	83:11
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	David Hand
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	None Given
Case	Soft Brackley-Transp-Dual
RPI	$39.95	Music	Frank Churchill Leigh Harline Paul Smith

    Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Just reading that sentence makes you think of the 1937 animated classic film from Disney, the one that started it all. Who was to know what this full-length animation feature film would become? At the time movie critics and film industry insiders were certain that Disney would fail. Who wanted to go to the cinema and watch a full-length cartoon? Weren't they just good for short films?

    This film, adapted from the fairy tale version by the Brothers Grimm, has come to be the official version of the fairytale. Before this 1937 version, the prince did not play such an important role at the end of the film. Now, after 70 years, it is simply inconceivable of a different ending for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Also, it was Disney who first gave the dwarfs names and characters.

    Snow White was a huge critical and financial hit in 1937, so much so that when Disney was facing financial pressure in 1944 the decision was made to re-release the film and its success led to the current Disney policy of re-releasing their classic animated titles every seven years. One unfortunate consequence of this policy in the 21st century has been the difficulty for collectors to obtain Disney titles on DVD after their availability has been withdrawn. As I write this review I am aware that I am a fortunate soul who owns the Lion King and Beauty and the Beast on DVD and I can watch these titles when I like with my family, unfortunately I will have to wait until 2010 for Fantasia to be re-released, which I am doing eagerly, especially as my Region 1 copy on DVD is nowhere near as extensive as subsequent re-releases onto DVD of Disney's classic animated titles. Snow White does not fall into this category, the 2001 release on DVD was both substantial in film quality and extras in Region 1 and Region 4. My previous VHS copy of Snow White is incomparable even to the 2001 DVD release. Now, what about this 2009 release onto Blu-ray, how does that compare?

    The 2009 release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first of the new line of Diamond collection editions, replacing the previous Platinum editions. The film is the only animated feature other than Disney's own Fantasia, released in 1940, and the recent Pixar collaboration, Toy Story that has appeared on the American Film Institute's greatest 100 American films list.

Video

    Firstly, it must be stated that animated features do not benefit from increased visual resolution in the same way that live-action films do. This is especially true for older animated films. Despite this fact, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on Blu-ray is still a great release on Blu-ray for fans and collectors.

    The aspect ratio is 1:33:1 fullscreen. In the menu the viewer has a choice of viewing the film with DisneyView which are alternating paintings from artist Toby Bluth which fill the screen on both the left and right-hand panes on a 16x9 enhanced widescreen television.

    There is no low level noise or film grain evident in this transfer. Some scenes are soft and not as defined as today's animated features. This is to be expected for a film released in 1937.

    Colour has been restored to its natural and vibrant fullness, the cinematography shows distinct contrast.

    There are no film artefacts present on this wonderful Blu-ray presentation of the film.

    Subtitles are in English, Portuguese, Polish, Greek, Arabic, Hungarian, Russian and Ukrainian. They are easy to follow.

    The RSDL change does not interrupt the main feature as the film is presented on the first layer of the Blu-ray disc.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Even though a DTS-HD Master Audio track has been included on this Blu-ray feature, it is not as surround channel intensive as the recent Pinocchio release onto Blu-ray by Disney in March, 2009. Also, why do Disney insist on not including the original mono soundtrack like the similarly release US and UK releases. Unfortunately our Region, Region B for Blu-ray misses out again!

    Audio tracks include an English DTS-HD MA 7.1 track, a Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 track, Polish Dolby Digital 5.1 track, a Greek Dolby Digital 5.1 track, an Arabic Dolby Digital 5.1 track, a Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1 track and a Russian Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.

    Dialogue is clear and audio is synchronised.

    The music by Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline and Paul Smith has made the film famous, after all, who can forget the "Heigh-ho" sequence after viewing it for the first time?

    Surround Channel Usage is mainly limited to the front speakers. The rear speakers maintain a subtle ambiance throughout the film, occasionally they are utilised for scenes with great drama.

    The subwoofer has been used to emphasise the bass tones of the original soundtrack, this is not often however.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Custom Play - DisneyView

Teaser Trailer - The Princess and the Frog (7:45)

Featurette - Snow White Returns (8:44)

Deleted Scenes (10:35)

Music Video

Games

Audio Commentary by Walt Disney with John Canemaker

Featurette - Hyperion Studios Tour

Featurette - The One That Started It All (17:15)

Featurette - Animation Voice talent (6:21)

Featurette - Disney through the Decades (35:55)

Game - Dopey's Wild Mine Ride

Karaoke

More…bonus DVD presentation of the film

    Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been released on Blu-ray in Region A in the United States and Region B in France, Germany, Holland, Spain and the United Kingdom in similar two or three-disc versions.

    The only differences between these releases are minor language and subtitle options. The French, German and US releases also include the film's original mono soundtrack.

    Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on Blu-ray is a stunning, must-have release for fans and collectors. The extras are again extensive, as has become a standard feature of all Disney releases onto the Blu-ray format. The only minor criticism I can offer is the exclusion of the 40 minute behind the scenes making-of documentary narrated by Angela Lansbury (this was the running time on the Region 1 DVD release. I believe the Region 4 version was even shorter!) and the exclusion of the film's original mono soundtrack for Australian Region B collectors. Have you got your copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs yet? If not, get it before the title becomes unavailable in the near future today!

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall