Fairytale research: Snow White

Disney's 1938 saw audiences in the depression-era (in need of uplifting) flock to see the tale of a beautiful young woman who bests a villainous queen and captures the heart of a handsome prince. The film definitely omitted some grisly details, perhaps for the sake of the audience, who would see the film just one year before the outbreak of before world war 2.

In the original 1812 Grimm version of this tale however, the evil Queen is Snow White’s mother, not her stepmother.The film has a roughly similar premise to the original tale, however when The Queen sends the huntsman out to bring back Snow White’s heart, it was never mentioned in the film that she also demanded her liver and lungs, which she then meant to eat.

Another omission was the fact that she was not actually in a deep sleep when the prince finds her at the end of the tale — she’s dead, and he’s the one carting off her dead body to play with. His servant trips, jostles the coffin, and dislodges the poisoned apple from Snow White’s throat.

A final dark twist in the original tale is that the evil Queen is not chased off a cliff by the Dwarves, and is instead invited Snow White’s wedding where she is forced to step into iron shoes that had been cooking on a fire, and then made to dance until she drops down dead.

While Snow White would also be recognized by our audience, the Seven Dwarves would mean we have to include more people in the music video. While this can be done, it may be inconvenient if people cannot film on certain days. It also pulls the focus away from our star, whom we would like to stand out. Our lyrics also refer to 'the trees of loneliness' which suggests that our protagonist should be isolated and alone in the video.