From Pig to Prince

On the whole, Disney’s 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves closely adheres to Grimm Brother’s classic version of the tale, although slight revisions are added here and there to render the film more idiosyncratically “Disney.” With the character of the Prince, however, we most see Disney depart from the Grimms’ original plotline. In the character of the Prince, Disney faced the biggest challenge: the Prince of the fairy tale tradition is, to put it bluntly, a necrophiliac, a lecherous pig who views women as little more than museum artifacts. Clearly, such a character would prove problematic in a film geared toward impressionable young children, so a series of adjustments were in order.

As it goes in the Grimms’ version of the tale, a Prince is strolling through the woods one day when he stumbles upon a lifeless Snow White, resting inertly in a glass coffin. Infatuated by her beauty, finding her extremely aesthetically pleasing, the Prince desires to take the coffin under his possession. He announces immediately—as though bartering for a piece of livestock—“Let me have the coffin. I will give you whatever you want for it.” Keep in mind that the Prince has never before laid on Snow White. It is not Snow White the human he desires, but rather Snow White the object, the handsome ornament that will make a fine centerpiece for his living room. It is noteworthy that the Prince says “let me have the coffin” rather than “let me have her.” Clearly, the Prince fails to even consider the fact of Snow White’s humanity. Seemingly unnerved by the fact that he has just purchased a dead woman, the Prince exhibits no sorrow for her tragic condition and is instead giddy at the prospect of his fine purchase, his “toy,” if you will. Snow White is eventually resuscitated, but it is not the result of a romantic kiss—instead, the apple is accidentally dislodged from her throat, to the quiet dismay of the Prince, we might imagine, whose pretty, passive plaything has been suddenly transformed into a living, breathing woman.

Now, we turn to the Disney film. Disney swept in and inserted an element of indelible romance into the Snow White story. At the very beginning, he attempts to establish some sort of romantic attachment between Snow White and the Prince—to be sure, it is the cursory “love at first sight” romance of the Disney variety, but a sense of romance and intimacy nonetheless. Thus, when the Prince later finds Snow White unconscious, feelings of strong, overwhelming love compel him to revive her, and so, with a tender kiss, he breathes the life back into his beloved. Unlike the Prince of the fairy tale tradition, Disney’s Prince exhibits horror at seeing Snow White dead, a horror that obliterates his ability to simply sit back and admire her beauty. In this way, Disney effectively transforms the persona of the Prince from a salacious pig into a romantic, courageous hero.