Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a definite game-changer. Despite naysayers claiming it was a financial risk that was doomed to fail, the animation studio’s first feature-length film was a box office smash. It also kicked off Disney’s long history of adapting classic fairy tales for the silver screen, particularly ones that center on princesses. Like many of the studio’s subsequent films, the creative team behind Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made some notable changes to the source material.

Although there has been much speculation about its true origins, the Brothers Grimm short story, “Snow White,” is considered the earliest version of the fairy tale as it is known today. It was first published in Grimms’ Fairy Tales in 1812, and the brothers themselves made a few changes to the story in subsequent editions. Here are eight of the biggest differences between their original fairy tale and Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

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8

Snow White’s Original Villain Wasn’t Her Stepmother

Even the Brothers Grimm Found the Initial Villain Too Dark

As is often the case in fairy tales, Snow White’s stepmother, the Evil Queen, is the main antagonist in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The queen becomes jealous of her stepdaughter’s beauty and forces her to work as a maid in the castle. When the Evil Queen’s magic mirror declares that Snow White’s beauty has surpassed her own, she infamously tries to have the young princess killed.

It might surprise some viewers to learn that this wasn’t always the case in the Grimms’ “Snow White.” While the queen is still the villain, she’s actually Snow White’s birth mother, not her stepmother. It seems the brothers changed this particular detail in later editions of Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Some have theorized that the Grimms may have decided that the idea of a mother doing such terrible things to her own child was too disturbing for a children’s book. Changing it to Snow White’s stepmother gave them a degree of separation.

7

Snow White’s Perilous Adventure Starts Much Earlier

Disney’s Youngest Princess Is Actually Aged Up

The princess’s age is never explicitly stated in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. However, it has been said that the film’s promotional materials explained that Snow White was 14 years old. Walt Disney himself has also been quoted as saying that the film’s star, Adriana Caselotti, sounded like a 14-year-old girl. As such, she is considered the youngest Disney Princess at 14, with many of her fellow princesses being at least a couple of years older.

Interestingly, the princess’s daring adventure begins at a much younger age in the Grimms’ “Snow White.” The story says that Snow White is only seven years old when the magic mirror declares her more beautiful than the queen, who immediately orders the huntsman to kill the princess. Snow White then runs away and is taken in by the dwarfs. While the rest of the fairy tale’s timeline isn’t stated outright, it seems Snow White spends a significantly longer time in her poison apple-induced coma since she’s of marrying age when she awakens.

6

The Evil Queen Has Even More Sinister Plans for Snow White

Disney’s Evil Queen Is Cruel but Doesn’t Cross This Particular Line

In Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Evil Queen orders the huntsman to cut out Snow White’s heart and bring it to her as proof of her death. The huntsman takes the princess to the forest, but he can’t bring himself to kill Snow White and tells her to flee instead. He then tricks the queen by giving her a pig’s heart, but she soon learns the truth from her magic mirror.

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The Grimms’ “Snow White” had the queen order the huntsman to bring her different organs: Snow White’s lungs and liver. Furthermore, the queen explains that she plans to eat her daughter’s organs, though she doesn’t specify why. It wasn’t uncommon for witches and supernaturally gifted characters in other fairy tales to perform similar acts, so some have speculated that this detail hinted at the queen’s mystical background. While Disney’s Evil Queen isn’t cannibalistic, the dwarfs claim that she’s a witch.

5

The Grimms’ Dwarfs Can Take Care of Themselves

Disney’s Dwarfs Need a Maid

The dwarfs’ cottage is such a mess when the princess arrives in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that she believes seven orphaned children must be living there with no adult supervision. She proceeds to clean the house up and cook a meal before falling asleep on their beds. The dwarfs are astonished when they return and agree to let Snow White stay with them once they learn that the Evil Queen is after her.

Conversely, the dwarfs’ cottage is neat and tidy when the princess arrives in the Grimms’ “Snow White.” In a scene reminiscent of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” Snow White eats a bit of food from each of the dwarfs’ plates, drinks a bit of wine from each of their cups, and tests out each of their beds before falling asleep. The dwarfs are appalled to find that someone has been in their house, but they’re quick to forgive the princess.

4

The Evil Queen Tries Other Murder Methods First

How the Queen Repeatedly Fails to Kill Snow White

When the Evil Queen learns that the princess is still alive in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She makes a poisoned apple, disguises herself as an old woman, and goes to Snow White while the dwarfs are away at work. The queen then convinces the princess to eat the apple by saying it’ll grant all her wishes, and Snow White immediately falls into a death-like coma.

It takes the queen a couple more tries to kill the princess in “Snow White.” First, the queen disguises herself as a peddler selling ribbons and offers to relace Snow White’s bodice. She laces it so tight that the princess passes out, but the dwarfs save her by cutting the laces. The queen then returns with a new disguise and gives Snow White a poisoned comb, but the dwarfs save her again by removing the comb from her hair. Finally, the queen makes the poison apple.

3

Snow White Gets to Meet Her Prince Early in the Disney Movie

The Grimms’ Prince Doesn’t Meet Snow White Until After the Apple

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs begins with the princess meeting her prince at the wishing well. They quickly fall in love, but with Snow White being forced to go into hiding, she doesn’t see him again until the end of the movie. After hearing about Snow White’s apparent death, the prince returns to save his love, and they live happily ever after.

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In contrast, the prince doesn’t appear in Grimms’ “Snow White” until after she bites the apple. While traveling, the prince stops at the dwarfs’ cottage for shelter, sees Snow White in her glass casket, and immediately becomes infatuated with her. He convinces the dwarfs to let him take the princess home with him and spends many days just staring at the sleeping girl. The prince also can’t stand being away from her and has his servants carry her casket around wherever he goes, much to their annoyance.

2

Snow White Isn’t Woken Up by True Love’s Kiss

Disney May Have Borrowed From Other Fairy Tales

With the Evil Queen being something of a witch, she uses black magic to create the poison apple in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The spell’s instructions clarify that the apple’s curse can be broken by true love’s first kiss, but the queen thinks the dwarfs will bury Snow White before her prince can come kiss her. Of course, she’s wrong, as the dwarfs can’t bring themselves to bury the princess and the prince comes to save her with a kiss.

True love’s kiss is a common fairy tale trope, but interestingly, there’s no kiss in the Grimms’ “Snow White.” To wake up, Snow White just needs to dislodge the piece of poison apple stuck in her throat. In the story’s first edition, this happens when one of the prince’s servants, who’s tired of carrying the princess’s casket around, opens it and slaps her on the back. Later editions changed this to a servant tripping while carrying the casket, which jostles it enough to dislodge the apple.

1

The Grimms Gave the Evil Queen a Much Darker Fate

Disney’s Evil Queen Gets a Swift End

The Evil Queen meets a dark but fitting end in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After the dwarfs come home to find Snow White seemingly dead, they chase after the disguised queen and corner her on a cliff. She tries to tip a boulder on them, but lightning strikes the ground at her feet, causing the cliff to collapse. The Evil Queen then falls over the side, with the boulder toppling after her.

While the queen still dies in the Grimms’ “Snow White,” her cause of death is even darker than the Disney version. After Snow White is revived, the queen consults her magic mirror and is livid when it says that the prince’s bride-to-be is more beautiful than her. She then goes to the wedding and is shocked to find that the bride is Snow White. As punishment for her murder attempts, the queen is forced to put on burning hot iron shoes and dance until she dies. Later versions softened the villain’s fate, but the original is still seared into many readers’ memories.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Release Date

December 21, 1937

Runtime

83 Minutes

Director

David Hand, Perce Pearce, William Cottrell, Larry Morey, Wilfred Jackson, Ben Sharpsteen

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