Snow White Sure Looks Good for Her Age

Full disclosure: I'm not precisely sure how old Snow White is. She's either 197, if you count her as born in 1812 when the Brothers Grimm published their version of her story. Or she's 72, if you count her as born in 1937 when Disney first released her feature movie. Or she's untold hundreds of years old, if you consider her origins in stories that date back to the Middle Ages.

In any case, those plump rosy cheeks and bouncy black curls certainly make her forever young and endlessly fascinating for the adoring-all-things-princess set.

I was fortunate enough to be offered a combo-pack of the newly-re-released Disney Snow White Diamond Edition, with all sorts of extra features. It is an incredible restoration job. The colors are intense, and the whole movie seems to glow from within. Watching it, I couldn't help but find myself constantly reminded of the astonishing skill and patience it took to make a feature-length cartoon at a moment in time when every single one of the roughly 1.5 million frames had to be hand-drawn and painted.

I love that the combo pack comes with both a traditional DVD and a Blu-ray disk. We don't have a blu-ray player yet, but I would imagine that at some point we will, so it is particularly nice to know that buying this set means that whatever technology you have, you can still watch the movie.

Daughter and I sat down to watch, and I have to say that there is a lot about this movie that is dark and terrifying. It is pretty clear that Disney, in focusing on a feature-length film, was thinking about appealing to an adult audience at least as much as a child one. The attention to detail is tremendous, while the Queen's death wish for Snow White is pretty graphic. Even so, my three-year-old was not as afraid as I would have thought. She watched, wide-eyed and entranced, as Snow White enchanted the forest animals with her singing. She danced when Snow White and the Dwarfs danced. She clapped with delight when the prince rescued her.

There are many additional features to this combo pack that I think will provide hours of entertainment for other days. In addition to watching the movie, there are Disney family play games, a sing-along, and some fascinating back story of the production of the movie.

Of course, I, in my geek-dom, wanted more, so I did a little digging around and found a reposting of this article from Popular Science Magazine, originally published in January 1938.


After a giant scan of the first page of the article, this site transcribes the whole thing, which provides a detailed and completely fascinating discussion of the process of making what was the very first feature-length cartoon ever produced. If you are a lover of the original movie, or if you vaguely recall it and want a reminder, definitely check out the lushly resorted Diamond Edition of Snow White. And if you are a person fascinated with technologies past, a constant asker of "How did they do that?" don't miss the Popular Science article. Either way, it's a wonderful dose of an old classic that is only looking better with time.

Get Your Grove On, Little One

Earlier this winter, the Swingset Mamas sent me a sample of their "Swing, Dance, and Sing" DVD, one Nick Jr. rated in its "best for preschoolers" gift category. I previously mentioned it in my holiday gift guide, but I thought I'd like to give it a more in-depth discussion now that we've watched it multiple times. Two sweet-voiced women with a passel of adorable kids have put together this DVD, which comes with a bonus CD with a sampler of just a few of their songs. The short, colorful videos for each song feature these Mamas in an incredible range of styles -- from zydeco to 60s mod to ballad -- singing about everything under the sun.

Everything that's good for you, that is.

More than just wholesome, this DVD is packed with useful lessons. There are songs about wearing sunscreen and eating your vegetables and reading books and tidying up and many other useful preschool habits. Interspersed among the lessons are sillier songs -- one which is a series of knock-knock jokes, for example.

I appreciated the gentle and widely varying music, the easy-to-understand lyrics, and their attempts to capture children's interest with lots of color, choreographed dance moves for kids to follow, and an overall very upbeat tone.

Frankly, though, I think this DVD is a little boring for adults. The songs are very simple, musically, and the quantity of teaching moments they manage to pack into each 3 minute melody is a little redundant for a grownup who is past the "it's fun to tidy up!" stage. On the other hand, I know I am not the intended audience for this DVD. And it did keep my nearly five and two-and-a-half year olds completely engrossed. Furthermore, compared to the children's bands I've heard that make me want to remove my own ears rather than be forced to continue listening any longer, the Swingset Mamas are a most welcome addition to the repertoire in our car CD changer.

The only complaint I have that is related to the intended viewers of this DVD is that most of the songs have a pace that is a little too slow to really get kids up and moving. Although my children found themselves singing along and waving their arms in imitation of the children on TV, their participation was more passive than I had hoped.

The mamas themselves are energetic and cheerful, and I love that they've included a bunch of singing, dancing, and bopping with kids on the DVD. I will definitely play this again (we've already watched it several times), and I will love it if the conversation we had about the song "Eat the Rainbow," for example, actually helps my kids eat more foods of every color. But I might turn to other more heavy-hitting dance tunes next time I need them to burn off a little steam.

If you are looking for simple, engaging music that isn't saccharine for your preschoolers, I would absolutely recommend the Swingset Mamas.