Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) [22/1524]

This review is for "Blanche Neige et les sept nains" (Snow White and the seven dwarfs) from 1937 (22/1524). As many people probably do not know, Disney often redubs their foreign releases more than once, and the reason for this is not entirely clear. Although rumour has it that Lucie Dolene (voice of Snow White) sued Disney in 1993 and won royalty payments for her work. It is known that the other two Disney films that she supplied her voice for were also redubbed, which included "The Jungle Book" and "Beauty and the beast" using different voice actors shortly after the lawsuit. Snow White has had three French dubbings to date, the last being in 2001, and the other two in 1938 and 1962. What makes this laserdisc special is that the 1962 French dub by Lucie Dolene as the voice of Snow White is used. This version has never seen a DVD or a Blu-ray release since the 2001 dub is used exclusively now and the 1962 dub long since retired, which makes this laserdisc truly unique and significant! For almost 40 years this was the version that most French had grown up listening to and the one that remains special to them.

The video quality of this release is what one would hope every laserdisc should strive for....perfection! This is one beautful laserdisc transfer from beginning to end. The colors are saturated with no chroma noise and not a trace of bleeding colors or ghosting anywhere to be found. It is superbly sharp too. The sound is very nice and naturally uses the original music and effects from the original 1937 release. Interestingly enough as the film opens we see that all traces of English have been removed from this release as the credits run in French instead of English, although looking exactly the same as the original English version. Nothing has been changed from the original English release, only the text has been replaced with French in all sequences requiring that, such as the opening story book after the credits, the carved names on each dwarf's bed, the spell book the witch reads from, ect. The cover artwork for this release is quite nice and very different than what was used on the American release. At the end of side two there has also been included a short documentary on the making of Snow White in original English language with French subtitles added.

This release is superd in all respects and really shows off what a PAL laserdisc can, and should, look like!