I'm about to commit blasphemy. Are you ready for it? Here we go... I've always thought that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was kind of boring. I know, I know. It's "one of the greatest animated movies of all time," it's "the one that started it all," it's a classic among classics that everyone universally is supposed to love.

Well, I don't really. I think it's kind of slow, I think Snow White's voice is a little high-pitched and annoying, and it's just generally not one of my favorite Disney films. I appreciate the fact that it was a special achievement for animated films and how it served as a template for many of the Disney classics that followed, and I admit it's enjoyable to watch with my kids. So don't think that I hate this movie, I just don't love it and as an adult find it kind of boring. With that confession of blasphemy out of the way, regardless of how you may feel about this movie, it's out on DVD again and it truly does look better than ever.

I love how Disney keeps coming up with "new editions" of their movies. They are probably one of the most clever companies around when it comes to double-dips. This edition is a "Diamond Edition," which answered my question of how they would ever outdo the previous "Platinum Edition." It is worth noting that this time Snow White is more than just another re-release, they've actually done some work on this movie. It's now available in HD and the DVD comes packed with a Blu-ray copy of the film (another brilliant movie on Disney's part to not only continue doing double packs, but to have some of those double packs be DVDs with Blu-ray instead of just Blu-rays with DVDs). In order for this movie to look its absolute best in glorious high-definition, Disney invested the time and money to restore the original print. The result is a film that looks far richer and more vibrant. It no longer has that "washed out" look that I always associated with Snow White. The colors are bright and vivid, the animation looks sharp and clean; truly, this movie looks better than it ever has.

As for the extras, this edition once again errs more on the side of interactive mini-games than actual archive material. There are some interesting tidbits included here, most notably some deleted scenes that might have led to a possible sequel that was never made but apparently was at least an idea for a time. There's also a nice look at how this movie influenced not just animation, but the entire movie industry when it was released to stunned audiences who had never anything like Snow White. You also get a good preview of Disney's next hand-drawn, animated film The Princess and the Frog. You'll see the first several minutes of the film, some of it still in its rough animation form. It's a nice little preview and got me interested in seeing more of how this new fairy tale will unfold. All in all it's not a bad collection of extras, but I'm one of those greedy people who would always like a little more.

Continue: 1 2