For my third Listening Party Blog post I decided to take a closer look at the music in both the classic Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the brand new live-action remake Snow White.
The original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in 1937 with Adriana Caselotti as the voice actress. Snow White is known as a very feminine, dainty princess. She is what some would consider a stereotypical woman to be at the time. Her songs in this movie showcase her high-pitched, melodic voice singing drawn out ballads or skipping tunes like “Whistle While You Work”. You can hear the age of this movie through the grainy aspect present in the entire movie, and some audio spikes are evident when she reaches for high notes, especially in “Someday My Prince Will Come”. I imagine this was the best audio recording equipment at the time so they couldn’t normalize the levels easily.
The live-action remake Snow White took a different approach with Snow White’s character. Rachel Zegler, the actress for Snow White, said that the movie does not focus on Snow White’s romance, but rather her emergence as a young leader following her father’s footsteps. This change in character is evident in the new song “Waiting on a Wish” with its slow build-up to the strong belting at the end of the song. Additionally, this version of Snow White’s character is embodied in the triumphant marching rhythms and further belting that occurs in “Snow White Returns” and throughout other pieces. It is evident that an entire new soundtrack had to be created to support this extreme shift in character. Overall, with the advancements of technology, the audio quality has become much more clear and steadier.