Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Diamond Edition DVD Review

Walt Disney’s Beloved Animated Classic as It Has Never Been Seen Before

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition

Own it on Blu-Ray on October 6, 2009
Own the DVD on November 24, 2009
Pricing: Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack: $39.99 SRP
2-Disc DVD: $29.99 SRP
Feature run time: 84 minutes
Rated: G
FastPlay™: FastPlay enabled (DVD only)

Burbank, Calif., August 28, 2009 – Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (WDSHE) proudly marks two groundbreaking milestones with the highly-anticipated October 6 high definition debut of the most acclaimed animated movie ever made. Walt Disney’s original classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which made history in 1937 as the first full-length animated feature, is the premiere entry in a spectacular all-new product line—Disney’s Diamond Collection. And, in an industry first, the historic release will make its bow on Disney Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack (two Blu-ray discs + DVD) a full seven weeks before the Deluxe Two-Disc Classic standard definition DVD becomes available on November 24.

Presented with flawless newly restored picture and 7.1 Digital Theater System Hi-Def Surround Sound, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition promises to set a new standard in home entertainment. The most immersive and highest level viewing experience ever available, it includes unparalleled features, exclusive and updatable high definition content, superior picture and sound, and much more.

Synopsis: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the time-honored story of a beautiful princess whose blossoming beauty disturbs her stepmother the Queen. Each day the Queen asks a mysterious magic mirror the quintessential question: “mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all.” As long as the mirror answers the Queen’s name, all is well. However, when one day the mirror replies with Snow White’s name, the evil Queen begins her quest to kill the young girl, so she may once again be “the fairest of them all.” Snow White’s escape from the evil Queen’s plan leads her deep into the forest and to a small cottage where she meets, in one of the most famous scenes in motion picture history, the Seven Dwarfs. Once “off to work” they go, the wicked Queen persuades Snow White to take a bite of a poisonous apple that places a powerful sleeping curse on the young beauty. Heartbroken, the dwarfs make a glass coffin for their friend, because she is too beautiful to bury. Only when a handsome Prince — who had previously fallen in love with Snow White — finds her and kisses her, does she awaken, “to live happily ever after.”

Perfectly timed for holiday gift giving and available for a limited time only, the historic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Diamond Edition comes with a spectacular assortment of all new bonus features, including:

Blu-ray™ Bonus Features

• Magic Mirror – Using the latest in Blu-ray technology, the iconic magic Mirror guides the audience through the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition features with ease, serving as the host for an incredibly immersive experience. The Mirror will recognize viewing patterns, knows where the audience has left off and will even suggest where to navigate next. This marks the first use of this technology in a Disney Blu-ray release and provides viewers with the control to personally create a customized Snow White experience
• DisneyView – Disney’s pioneering animated feature is brought to the modern era of widescreen high definition viewing by allowing the user to expand their viewing experience beyond the   original aspect ratio of the film. Utilizing Disney Blu-ray technology, acclaimed Disney artist Toby
  Bluth was able to draw beyond the borders of the classic full frame cinema and fill the otherwise dark edges of the screen with beautiful custom imagery, giving audiences a new view of the animated classic favorite.
• About Toby Bluth – Disney artist Toby Bluth tells how the movie inspired him to create the superb DisneyView art.
• Audio Commentary with Walt Disney, hosted by John Canemaker
• “The Princess and the Frog” Sneak Peek

BACKSTAGE DISNEY: DIAMOND EDITION

• Snow White Returns – Newly discovered storyboards suggest a brand new Snow White featurette that never got made. For the first time, current Disney animators show how this short story would have played.
• Mirror, Mirror On The Wall – Through BD-Live, this mirror can find the secret princess inside each viewer, then create for them a personal message from their favorite princess who will call them on the telephone.
• Hyperion Studios – Audiences are digitally transported to 1937 to discover first-hand Hyperion Studios, the original studio Walt Disney himself built where Snow White was conceived and developed. Viewers will virtually walk the halls of this historic landmark, experiencing life at Hyperion Studios in the 1930s. This amazing “Backstage Disney” feature contains newly
  dimensionalized archival photos, never-before-heard animator recordings, archival transcripts and rare footage of Walt himself revealing how Disney’s gifted filmmakers crafted the very first animated feature.
• The One That Started It All – This featurette reveals how Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs forever changed the world of movies and the world at large.

MUSIC & MORE

• “Someday My Prince Will Come” – Music video by Tiffany Thornton

FAMILY PLAY (GAMES & ACTIVITIES)

• What Do You See? – To win this exciting interactive game, players must untangle scrambled images.
• Jewel Jumble – Players put jewels from the Dwarfs’ mine in the proper order to win this game.

DVD Bonus Features

• Audio Commentary with Walt Disney, hosted by John Canemaker
• “The Princess and the Frog” Sneak Peek
• Snow White Returns – Newly discovered storyboards suggest a brand new Snow White featurette that never got made. For the first time, current Disney animators show how this short story would have played.
• The One That Started It All – This featurette reveals how Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs forever changed the world of movies and the world at large.
• “Someday My Prince Will Come” – Music video by Tiffany Thornton
• Dopey’s Wild Mine Ride – An interactive set-top game for the whole family
• Animation Voice Talent
• Disney Through The Decades – A series of video segments with celebrity hosts
• “Heigh-Ho” Karaoke Sing-Along
• Dylan & Cole Sprouse: Blu-ray™ Is Suite!
• Learn How To Take Your Favorite Movies On The Go

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been unavailable in any form, since 2001. The film earned a 1939 honorary Academy Award® for “significant screen innovation which has charmed millions, and pioneered a great new entertainment field.” And now, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Blu-ray
becomes the ultimate home entertainment experience with state-of-the-art picture restoration and a pristine 7.1 Digital Theater System Hi-Def Surround Sound.

About Disney’s New Blu-ray™ Diamond Collection
The new Blu-ray™ Diamond Collection represents The Walt Disney Studio’s most prestigious animated classics. The Blu-ray Diamond Edition Discs will be comprised of 14 of Walt Disney’s most treasured animated classic titles to be released through 2016. These titles represent the highest level of picture and sound, feature groundbreaking, state-of-the-art immersive bonus content, and include unprecedented levels of interactivity, personalization and customization, only made possible by Blu- ray technology.

About Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Celebrated as an entertainment landmark for over 70 years, the first full-length animated film ever made, and still the ‘fairest of them all,” Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ world premiere represented a major milestone for the world of animation, a giant leap forward for The Walt Disney Company. It is one of the most beloved and most watched films in history.

As one of the first films ever to be designated for preservation by the Library of Congress, it has been entertaining moviegoers and critics alike for decades. It is also the first film ever to have a motion picture soundtrack, as well as the first film that uses music to advance the story. To date, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been released theatrically a total of nine times.

Even in somber moments there is subtle humor in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. One on seeing the tiny cottage clean comments, “There’s dirty work afoot” because the whole place is clean. Snow White’s greeting, “How do you do?” is met by, “How do you do what?”

I loved watching our heroine princess again play, sing, and dance with Dopey, Sneezy, Bashful, Sleepy, Happy, Grumpy, and Doc. I remember crying the first time I ever saw it back in the ’40’s. I don’t cry near the ending any more because I know it isn’t what it seems. Yippy! Her sly, evil step-mother is defeated. Snow White isn’t dead; she is live and the fairest in the land. The song, “Someday My Prince Will Come” comes true as she awakens to love’s first kiss.

As an encore, I enjoyed many bonus features never included before. Besides the Disney Play games, there was a peak at Backstage Disney plus classical bonus features like a sing along and information on Disney through the decades.

Here’s the trailer.

Here’s some fun activity sheets for you to download too.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarves Coloring Pages

So tell me. Who’s your favorite character?