1,2,3,4.. Oops, I mean.. Sleepy, Grumpy, Doc...

There are many different versions and interpretations of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, however the two most popular are the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale and the Walt Disney version from 1937. While both contain the beautiful Snow White, there are many differences in the story lines.

To begin, the original tale began with Snow White's mother who, while sewing, pricks her finger and three drops of blood fall into the white snow. The Disney version simply begins with "Once upon a time there lived a lovely little princess named Snow White. Her vain and wicked stepmother the Queen feared that some day Snow White's beauty would surpass her own." There is no mention of Snow White's biological mother or father at all. It simply begins with Snow White as the scullery maid, facing all sorts of difficulties. When the magic mirror refers to Snow White in the movie, he says her lips as red as a rose rather than red as blood as told in the Grimm version. These changes make the Disney movie more suitable for children since that was the intended audience at the time.

In the movie, we see the prince in both the beginning and the end of the story. He sings to her and falls in love with her as soon as he sees her. His kiss is the reason she awakes from her death-like sleep in the Disney version. Although the prince is present in the Disney version, he does not find Snow White until she is already "dead" in the glass coffin. Taken aback by her beauty, he asks to take her with him. When the dwarves agree and they begin to carry the coffin, Snow White is jostled and the poisonous apple is dislodged from her throat. This awakening is far less romantic than the Disney version.

In the Grimm version, when the Queen asks the huntsman to kill Snow White, she requests that he bring back her lungs, liver and heart so that she may eat them. In the movie, the Queen simply asks the huntsman to bring her heart back a decorative box. Both times when the huntsman attempts to kill the princess he is unable. Both times he tells her to run into the forest and never come back. Both times the huntsman goes out and slaughters a boar to bring the organs back to the Queen.

Walt Disney was the first to give names to the seven dwarves, making them easy to relate to and more identifiable. In the Grimm version, the dwarves are simply numbered. In the Grimm version of the tale, Snow White comes into an extremely tidy house whereas in the movie, the house is very messy and unclean. She cleans the house with the help of the animals before the dwarves arrive home from work. The Grimm version is more patriarchal because they give Snow White conditions on living with them and require that she keep the house clean, cook for them, make their beds, wash, sew and knit in order for them to provide her with everything she would need. In the Disney version, Snow White offers to do all of these things for the dwarves after she begs them to allow her to stay with them. Of course, in both cases, Snow White and the dwarves agree.

In the Grimm tale, the Queen attempts three times to kill Snow White. Although the first two attempts simply put her in a temporary comatose state, thanks to the help of the dwarves, the third seems more permanent. Initially, disguised as an old woman, the Queen tries a corset and a poisonous comb to kill Snow White. Both of these items are easily removed however and Snow White is revived, each time reminded to be cautious about allowing people into the house. The third time, the Queen fools Snow White into eating the apple by eating off of the non-poisonous half of the apple. Snow White immediately falls as if dead and the Queen feels victorious. In the Disney version, the apple is all red and looks very appealing. Snow White is not tricked and does not have to be coerced to eat the apple. In both cases, the dwarves come home to find Snow White "dead".

In both versions, the dwarves prepare a glass coffin for Snow White and carry her to the top of a hill or mountain. In the Disney version, the prince awakens her with a kiss full of love and the Grimm version entails the piece of apple dislodging for her throat. In either case, Snow White marries the prince since he was the one responsible for saving her life. In the Grimm version, the Queen is invited to the wedding where she is forced to dance in red hot slippers until she falls down dead. In the Disney version, they simply ride off into the sunset, staring at the bright, glistening castle and they live happily ever after. There is no more mention of the Queen or what happens to her.

Both versions of Snow White are similar and have generally the same plot line, however there are minute and significant changes between the two. Most of these changes are so that the movie would be more appealing to children and to make it longer since the story is not that long.

From Average Joe to Rollin' in the Dough..

Cinderella - one of the most commonly read and interpreted "rise stories", tells the tale of a girl, although once royal, who was demeaned to rags. Through magic and marriage, Cinderella was able to transform her life from rags to riches once again. Although many cynics would read this story and say "Well, that could never happen to me because magic doesn't exist and marrying royalty is out of the question," not all rags to riches stories are found in fairy tales such as Cinderella and Aladdin.

Cinderella's rags are transformed into a beautiful, shimmering ball gown.

I believe that anyone can do what they dream of doing through perseverance and networking. In this day and age, it is all about who you know and what you know. It doesn't take magic or even marrying into a rich family to make something of your self. Take Oprah Winfrey for example - born to unwed, teenage parents who split up soon after her birth, Oprah lived with her grandmother in Mississippi with very little. Oprah didn't have much and began rebelling once she went to live with her mother in Milwaukee. Despite rebellious behavior and becoming pregnant at the age of fourteen (although the child died a week into the pregnancy), Oprah's father tried to be more strict with her and force her to utilize the intelligence he knew she was capable of.

Oprah struggled to become the strong, successful woman she is today. She began as a "quiet grocery store worker" and has made a name for herself worldwide as a successful business worker, talk show host, actress, producer and much more. Oprah Winfrey was able to do something extraordinary - discipline and push herself to become what may have seemed impossible at times. Although the story of Oprah Winfrey may seem unparalleled to Cinderella, there are many similarities and much hope for people.

Oprah Winfrey

It may seem as though Cinderella was just handed her new status and while that may seem true, she went through many struggles after her mother died. Cinderella could have been given the world when she was a young girl if her mother hadn't died however, after her father remarried, she was made the household slave. She had to do everything for her stepmother and stepsisters and her own father never stepped in to say a word. He treated the stepdaughters as his own and his own daughter became an outcast in her own home. Cinderella didn't have it easy - neither did Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Winfrey worked her way up the totem pole to become a desirable, respectable American role model. While Cinderella did not become a role model, she was enviable and her servant days were over. After what seemed like a long, never-ending downward spiral, both Cinderella and Oprah hit rock bottom and became what they had always envisioned.

Cinderella's Transformation

Oprah Winfrey has not been the only story of rags to riches and these so called "rise stories" are not only to be found in fairy tales. Anyone is able to achieve what they desire if they just believe. :) Perseverance and discipline is key.

And the Difference is?

The Hansel and Gretel fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm is very different from the MGM film but there are still many of the same motifs and events throughout each of them. In the film, the mother does not intentionally leave the children in the forest. Rather, she gets upset with them for letting the donkey in the house and spilling the cream and sends them out to get berries. Since no berries were to be found in close proximity to their house, they had to deep into the forest and got lost. In the original fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel overhear their stepmother talking about leaving them in the forest and therefore, they know that they will have to find their way back to their house.

Also, in the movie version, it is the mother rather than the stepmother which makes a big difference. After the mother realizes in the movie that the children have gotten lost in the forest and can't find their way home, she feels extremely guilty and begins to cry. In the Grimm version, the stepmother feels no remorse and when they return the first time, she tells her husband that they must leave the children in the forest once more.

When the children reach the witch's house, there are also some differences. In the film, the witch is nice to Hansel and Gretel for a while and even put them to bed with a bed time story whereas in the fairy tale, the witch puts Hansel in the cage as soon as they enter her house. Also, in the Grimm version, Gretel does not have to break the witches eye glass in order for their plan to work. When the children return home in the Grimm version, the stepmother has died and the father is ecstatic to have his children back. In the MGM version, the mother is just as happy as the father when the children return back home safely.

The main point of the story is the same, but there are many subtle and not so subtle differences. I feel as though the directors of the MGM version made these changes so that the movie could be long enough. The Grimm fairy tale is only a short story which would not take much more than 10 or 15 minutes to read so the director had to make many changes to illustrate the story in a different way. I enjoyed both the story and the movie but I have to say that the Grimm version is my favorite, despite the lack of illustration. I did not like how the mother treated her own children in the movie and I feel as though making it the stepmother makes it easier to understand why she is so angry with the children all the time. Overall, we have seen that fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm in comparison to movies by MGM and Disney are often very different.

It's Fairy Tale Time...

We've all pretty much come to accept what a fairy tale is based on what we were read as children. Stories such as Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Rumpelstiltskin, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and others all contain one of the most important fairy tale elements: magic. Unlike a saint's or local legend, fairy tales are embellished and magical rather than miracles, sometimes with religious association. When searching online for the definition of a fairy tale, the most popular result is something along the lines of "a story about fairies or other mythical or magical beings, especially of traditional origin told to children." However, we have learned in class that these stories were not initially told to children and most of them had to be dramatically changed to make them even slightly acceptable for children and families.

I find it hard to define a fairy tale because most of them seem so different to me. Granted, there is repetition of specific numbers, magical beings, curses and so on. However, a fairy tale to me is a simple, inadequately detailed, fictional stories that allow the mind to fill in its own details when necessary. I think this quality is what makes fairy tales so appealing. The fact that they are able to use their own creativity to make the story their own is desirable. In fairy tales, there always seems to be a hero and a villian, a moral and almost always a happy ending. Simple, clear objects such as precious metals and glass are also a recurring theme in fairy tales because they are so unchanging and symbolic. Fairy tales are popular stories from childhood to adulthood and shall continue to be as time goes on.