The Couch Critic
The Couch Critic is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critic brings thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critic
The Seven Dwarfs, the Wicked Queen, and the Moral Magic of Disney's First
Walt Disney's groundbreaking 1937 animated masterpiece, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, stands as a cornerstone of cinematic history—but does its simplicity still resonate in our complex modern world? I journey back to where Disney feature animation began to rediscover what made this fairy tale so powerful and enduring.
The film's straightforward moral framework—good versus evil with true love conquering all—creates a perfect vehicle for its timeless message. Watching with fresh eyes revealed surprising elements I'd overlooked: Snow White's status as a princess before meeting her prince, the stepmother relationship with the Evil Queen, and Grumpy's compelling character arc. These discoveries deepened my appreciation for how much storytelling depth Disney achieved in this pioneering work.
My revisit comes with purpose—preparing to watch the controversial live-action remake that has already generated heated debate. While acknowledging the original isn't perfect (earning 4/5 stars for its occasional cheesiness), I question why Disney continues reimagining classics rather than creating new stories. When a narrative already contains profound universal themes about love, jealousy, and redemption, does modernizing it enhance or diminish its magic? Join me as I explore these questions and share a special shoutout to Sam, my fifth-grade student who became a podcast fan and correctly guessed this episode's topic. Listen next Saturday for my thoughts on the new Snow White film and decide for yourself if classics should remain untouched or evolve with the times.
The weekend's here. It's time to unwind. Grab your snacks, leave the week behind. Blockbusters classics, they're all on the way. Let's kick it off with Cinema Saturdays.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, welcome to another Cinema Saturday episode. I'm your host, nathan, of the Couch Critic, and on today's episode I'm going to be reviewing something to mentally prepare myself for what I'm going to be reviewing next Saturday. So last time I gave a hint, I led with a quote and I actually did have somebody reach out via our fan mail. That's right, we have fan mail that you can send us at any time. Just hit that, send us a text link in the show notes and you, just like this person, will get a shout out on a future episode. So what's crazy about this person is that they are actually a student of mine. So I work at an elementary school. I teach theater, and it was testing week this past week and while we were waiting cause we were finished testing the topic of movies came up. And you know me with this podcast, I love talking about movies and these were fifth grade students, and so I started mentioning that I have a podcast and the mother of one of these students messaged me and said hey, my child really wants to listen to your podcast. What's the name of it? So of course, I did a shameless plug and I sent them the couch critic, because that's what this show is called. He actually listened to the episode and sent three pieces of fan mail. Now, one of them was him trying to be tricky and not putting his name. Was him trying to be tricky and not putting his name? And then the other two were that he guessed correctly what I was going to be talking about today, and that is Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, because I'm getting ready to go see the live action Snow White and so I just wanted to watch the original just to get a good taste in my mouth. So, sam, thank you for messaging and interacting with the show. Hopefully this is not the last time that you do this. I'm always excited to tell people about the show, especially students. I think it's cool that they actually listen and they reach out. So again, sam, thank you for guessing correctly that I'm going to be talking about Snow White and the Seven Dwarves today. He also wants me to give a shout out to his top five movies of all time, which one of them is actually, surprisingly, the original Top Gun movie. I thought that was interesting because he's a fifth grader and so, out of all the movies you get to pick with his fifth grade mind, he picked Top Gun, so I thought that was pretty cool. So let's go right into what I'm going to talk about today today, which is again Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
Speaker 2:This movie came out in 1937. This was the first full length cartoon feature film made by Walt Disney himself. He got the idea from seeing a short film of snow white and thought this would make a great cartoon. So before I can talk any more about it, I have to go over the synopsis. Exiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, a princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs stars Adriana Casalotti as Snow White, harry Stockwell as the prince, lucille Laverne as the evil queen and Roy Atwell as Doc, who's like the head of the Seven Dwarfs. So before I can talk about this movie, I have to talk about the live-action film, which I have not seen yet. When this episode drops, I have not seen it yet.
Speaker 2:I can't help but go into the live-action with negative opinions, and that is for a plethora of reasons. Number one is why does Disney feel the need to continue to remake their classic films? Now, the only live action that I've ever thought was pretty good was Cinderella and that was one of the first official. Now they had done Maleficent, I believe before that. But I don't really count that as a live action, even though that is a cartoon character I'm talking about, like strictly cartoon films that were already stories. It's not an original take, it's not from the from the villain's perspective. It's the original story based in a live action way. After all the other remakes they've made, cinderella is still to this day my favorite live-action Disney movie based on a cartoon. The Lion King is not live-action. I don't understand why people consider it a live-action remake. It's basically animation. It's just computer animation. Very impressive what they can do with computers nowadays, but it is not a live action film.
Speaker 2:The lilo and stitch live action remake looks good. It does it looks really good and there are some funny moments. The only thing about that film and yes, I will go see that and review it for the podcast but the only thing about that film and yes, I will go see that and review it for the podcast, but the only thing about that film is that I'm afraid that they will insert too much adult humor and adult language just based off of the trailer. I already know they're going to have some adult language in it and I don't understand why Disney does that either. You're taking these movies that are based on kids films, making them live action, which okay, whatever. You can do whatever you want with your own films, but I don't understand. Who are they gearing this towards when they put adult language in it? There was no adult language in the original film, so I don't understand. So that's my little soapbox about that.
Speaker 2:Let's go back to snow white and the seven dwarves. This is a classic, like I. I've used that word multiple times for multiple films, but this is a cinematic classic movie and that's why it's so puzzling why Disney would put so much money and chance into doing a live action version of it. Is it a perfect film? No, no, it's not a perfect film.
Speaker 2:It feels like a lot of the plot happens very quickly. I guess I had never paid attention to this movie before because I never realized that the evil queen was snow white's stepmother, never realized that, never realized that, Never realized that Snow White was already, I guess, technically, a princess before she met the prince. Never, ever realized it. So that right there makes the story more interesting. It's not just some random girl. She's related through marriage to the evil queen, if anything with the live action Snow White. I would be interested to see how they flesh that out. Why is the evil queen so jealous of Snow White's beauty? Is there a reason there? A reason it kind of reminds me of somewhat of what they did in the cinderella film that the husband was so close with his daughter, which understandably so, that the stepmother became very bitter and that's why she treated cinderella the way she did, and it gave not a justification of it, but it gave a more grounded reasoning behind it of why she would treat her the way she did.
Speaker 2:So I don't know if they're going to do that with snow white, because they already did that with cinderella I already understand some of what they're doing with the live action Snow White to make it more modern and more female empowerment centered and that kind of stuff. Another big thing that people are saying about Snow White and I'm trying not to talk about it too much because, again, about Snow White. And I'm trying not to talk about it too much because, again, I haven't seen it. So I could go see this remake and absolutely be surprised by it and be like, oh my gosh, it was amazing. I don't think I'm going to, but I could. I could go see it and be very pleasantly surprised. I have done that with movies before where I thought one thing and then I go see it. I was, wow. I misjudged that so much and I'm the type of person who doesn't usually listen to critics. I have not watched one video of a review of the live action snow white. I haven't done it because I don't want to go in with someone's preconceived notions of what this film is. And I keep on going back to the live action because the characterization of the seven dwarves in the cartoon were great. Grumpy is such a fun character and it's it's a character that I don't know how much they're going to dive into the character arc of Grumpy. Yes, there is a character arc for Grumpy in the cartoon Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and I think, again, this is something that they could dive into in the live action. They could flesh out all of these characters. They could let every single Seven Dwar dwarf have their time in the spotlight. I don't feel like they're going to do that, though. One of the reasons I feel that way is because they cut and the seven dwarves out of the title. It is strictly just called Snow White. So obviously, with that, they're already sending a message that this movie is strictly just about Snow White. So obviously, with that, they're already sending a message that this movie is strictly just about Snow White and who she is and her character, which is totally fine. I get that, but then you got to go back to what you've heard Rachel Zegler say about the film, what Gal Gadot has even said about the film, and that's what makes you worried of how this movie is going to be, because you look at the cartoon and how simple it was.
Speaker 2:I think that's my favorite thing about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs it's a very simplistic storyline, very simplistic. Love conquers all. True love conquers all. True love conquers all. It's the quintessential morality story and I was watching I did watch a Christian perspective a little bit of how Walt Disney even admitted that faith was a big thing for him. He may not have been super open about it, because the quote that this person used I never heard before and it was all about having a divine inspiration and being raised on that and being raised with faith. Disney has kind of gone away from Walt's original idea for what he wanted to do with entertainment, theme parks, all that stuff, and I did not know this, but apparently that at some point there was supposed to be some type of church in Disneyland, somewhere in the market square or whatever. But anyway, the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is very simplistic Good over evil, true love conquers all, and that's it, and that's all it needed to be. It didn't need to be anything else. It was based on a story.
Speaker 2:Who's also had a very simplistic storyline to it. Why? Why? Yes, you can flesh out some bits of the character a little bit, but you don't have to go and change the entire story to fit a modern mindset. You don't have to do that If you want to do that guess what? It's a little thing called making your own original movie. If you want to do that, make your own original movie with that similar storyline. Don't take something that had a very simplistic, very good moral storyline to it and just change everything about it.
Speaker 2:And again, I'm I'm looking at it based on little things. I've read little ideas here and there, things that I've heard the stars of the movie talk about. So this isn't something that I'm coming up by myself. I don't care. At the end of the day I really don't care either way Because again, I could go see this movie and I could absolutely love it. I don't know, yet by the time this episode drops I have not seen it. So when I review it, then I can fully give a 100% opinion because I've actually seen the film. My opinion right now is based off of star interviews, other things that people have said.
Speaker 2:I haven't watched full out YouTube movie reviews, but I did feel like it would be beneficial to me to watch the original cartoon, cause I hadn't seen it in a while. I hadn't seen it in quite a while. So I didn't know how I felt about it and, like I said earlier, I don't believe it's a perfect film. It's very cheesy, but that's what makes it classic Disney. Classic Disney is cheesy and it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's nostalgic, it's what we wish the world would be like, and I feel like, at the end of the day, that's the purpose of movies is to let us get away from realism. Get away from reality. Don't bog us down with agendas and political correctness and all of this stuff.
Speaker 2:I don't want to go to a movie to be and I say this as a Christian who appreciates good quality Christian films Because obviously they're trying to push a message. So I don't want to say and sound like a hypocrite and say that I don't go to movies to receive a message. Okay, I don't want to say that because, yes, that would make me sound very hypocritical. But when it comes to stories like snow white and stories that are already set in I don't want to say set in stone, but are already out there and people already know the story of snow white and the seven dwarves, they already know the story and it's already a morality film. It's already a morality story.
Speaker 2:Why take that away? Why take that away and put your own mindset in it, your own mindset in it? That's like a Christian going and taking Snow White and totally changing the story to make it fit their Christian beliefs, a bunch of Christians would probably go and see it. But I would be like, why this? The christian message is already there. You don't have to put an overt christian message in there. Good versus evil, true love conquers all. It's already a christian message right there. Boom, already there. What the devil meant for evil, god God used for good. Boom, it's already there. I digress, I'm sorry, I'm going down a rabbit trail.
Speaker 2:All that to say, the cartoon Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is a classic film that does not need to be touched, that does not need to be changed drastically to fit with the times. It does not need to be touched. That does not need to be changed drastically to fit with the times. It does not need any of that. There are some films out there that could do with a little retouching, but this movie is not one of them, in my opinion. Again, it's not a perfect film, but it's Snow White and the seven dwarves people. So I'm gonna give snow white and the seven dwarves, the 1937 cartoon classic, a four out of five, because, yes, it is a little bit overly cheesy at times, so I can't give it a perfect five.
Speaker 2:I know there are people out there listening that are probably like what are you talking about? This movie is perfection. Well then, you can have a podcast and you can share those opinions, but this is my podcast Boom. So thanks again to Sam for guessing correctly. Obviously, I don't need to give you a clue of what I'm going to be talking about next Saturday, but you can listen to me and my friend Katie she's back on the episode this Tuesday as we talk about another, I guess, christmas movie Batman Returns. Thanks for listening to the Couch Critic critic where every movie gets its close-up. So grab a seat.
Speaker 1:Let the credits play. We'll see you next for Cinema Saturdays.
