All right, I've very recently seen my nomination, Snow White, so here's my review from a couple of weeks ago, abridged.
What is a protagonist? literaryterms.net defines it as:
just another word for “main character.” The story circles around this character’s experiences, and the audience is invited to see the world from his or her perspective. Note that the protagonist is not necessarily a “good guy.” Although most of the time the protagonist is some kind of hero, sometimes we see the whole story from the perspective of a villain.
From that definition, which I think is a pretty good one that most authors/artists used when drawing their protagonists, the protagonist of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is in fact the evil queen, whose jealousy and hatred eventually destroys her and all she worked towards. By this standard, which I think Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was intended to be viewed as for adults, this film is an utter masterpiece, not only original and breathtakingly beautiful, but like nothing else Disney ever produced again. It is perhaps Disney's oddest film, the more I think about it. Even with Pinocchio, their second film, Disney had added in the "questioning of existence" part of their animated characters, and ever since, through Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and up until Ralph Breaks the Internet, Disney heroes (notice I don't say protagonist) always have fought against both themselves and some existential force. Snow White, who I think is our hero, does not do this. Instead, she remains the most innocent, gullible, and stupid creation of Disney's. But this isn't necessarily a flaw, because Snow White isn't the character who is presenting the message and themes. It is the evil queen. So, although Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is incredibly dated from the perspective of female and male stereotypes, not-so-funny humor, and animation style, it's freshness penetrates through due to the evil queen's oddly relatable jealousy that dominates the film.
The characters are an interesting and fascinating thing in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Of course there is Snow White, a boring and predictable stereotype of the helpless princess. She charms animals, charms dwarfs, charms the prince, and everything ends happily for her. There does seem to be something almost unfair about how Snow White's naivety gets her to a beautiful life. But I also think there is a ring of truth to that- ignorance is bliss, as the saying goes, and we are often charmed by the innocent or the "stupid" people in our lives, who don't know what's going on but are still kind, and caring, and sweet. But Snow White isn't the film's focus, anyways. In fact, she can almost be seen as an antagonist. The only true goal in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is that of the evil queen, who hopes to become the fairest in the land. By killing Snow White - who the magic mirror has said is fairer then her - she can then be without question the most beautiful. The actions that follow in the film are the rising actions of the queen. As she pursues her goal, she succeeds in killing the innocent Snow White... but overlooks her own power and beauty and accidentally kills herself. So the failure of the evil queen relays the themes and values of the movie, not the successes of Snow White, who has no real goal that we can relate to. As for the dwarfs, they are good facile characters, who propel the plot of both the queen and of Snow White.
The themes and values I think are the most interesting part of all of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. To understand them, we must look at the evil queen as the protagonist once again. By killing Snow White, the evil queen has partially achieved her goal. If the film had ended with that, then perhaps a theme would have been that hatred and jealousy will prevail without consequence in an innocent world. By contrast, the fact that the queen dies changes the theme entirely, and notably without the effect of Snow White. The theme now is that jealousy, greed, and hatred will always come around and bite its owner. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs this is portrayed by a random lightning strike, making her death seem like fate. However, the fact that Snow White's friends are the ones that chased the queen to her fateful rock is more important. The good and the noble of this world, Disney is saying, will always fight back against evil; Thus, jealousy and hatred will be returned in due time. And now for the fascinating part, at least for me; I don't see that in any other Disney film. As stereotypical of a message it is, the final climax for every protagonist in most other Disney films occurs when the protagonist overcomes their conflict, learns to have confidence, or love, or forgive... the fighting evil part always seems to be in the background. They are two totally different messages that Disney gives us, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is one of their only films where this is not questioned - Snow White should go with her prince, the evil queen should die (it is only right), and the dwarfs should take care of her and love her. They can be seen as "fantastical" and "unrealistic," but actually the more I see it relates more to real life than the heroic and questioning characters of the Disney Renaissance and beyond.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is worthy of praise for what it is as a film, not just what it influenced. Besides being the first fully animated movie of all time, it creates a magical atmosphere and themes that I don't see cropped up in any modern Disney movies. It presents a different look at culture, one where our "heroes" don't always question their purpose and one where the protagonist is a villain consumed by utmost jealousy. In the end, Snow White and her prince walk into their glorious palace, and I felt an odd feeling come over. And the truth is, it's because I realized Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs takes place in a world that is alien. Other Disney films have relatable locations or real locations... but nothing like this, a place that seems in the middle of the wilderness, where the animals understand us, where nothing stops a young girl from entering and making herself at home in a cottage, where a prince is always waiting around the corner; it is a beautiful world, but one removed from ours, all except for the evil queen. And perhaps the evil queen isn't so evil... she is the only real "human" in the film anyways, and the character that creates the themes and values of the film. And that is why Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as a film is so relatable, but the world it takes place in is so different. It creates something new, always inventing and connects to me so well.
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Maybe I'm lucky and we just disagree on the film...
