The Fairest One of All

 

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

– The evil queen (Snow White) –

 

Introduction

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I am sitting here writing my first article for my blog. Before starting off, I asked myself how I would be able to choose the first book that I would officialy review, but I quickly arrived at an answer:

Snow White…. the first feature-length Disney movie, the first Disney movie I saw at the cinema and the first book that I posted on my Instagram account. So actually choosing wasn’t that hard after all. I do have more than one book about Disney’s first princess, but the one I am going to present you is kind of my favourite. It perfectly combines art and text.

The Fairest One of All – The Making of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (J.B. Kaufman, 2012) is a huge and heavy coffee table book published in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the movie’s premiere by The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. It was written and put together by film and Disney historian J.B. Kaufman, who also wrote some other amazing Disney related books and who is known for his in-depth research and knowledge about the Disney universe. It was published in 2012 on the occasion of the Snow White exhibition at the Walt Disney Family Museum. This book is not to be confused with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – The Creation of a Classic (J.B. Kaufman, 2012), which was published a long The Fairest One of All but is smaller and has less background information.

The Fairest One of All covers more than 300 pages and represents the most profound research ever done on the legendary movie. Snow White was the first big Disney movie and also the first feature-length animation movie of all time. It represents not only a milestone for The Walt Disney Company, but also for pop culture and the history of film. So does this beautiful book! It really contains so much information, inside stories, background knowledge and history on the making of the movie and beyond.

Oh, and of course there is also a decent amount of art in it!

So, let’s have a look at the content of The Fairest One of All…

Chapter 1

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The first part of the book (which means the first 30  pages) is dedicated to the roots of the fairy tale Snow White, the Seven Dwarfs and their history way before Walt Disney thought about doing a film on it. Kaufman elaborates the role the Brothers Grimm (actually not the creators of the story) played in the “promotion” of Snow White, but also explains how the fairy tale was interpreted and passed on through different cultures and mediums (its theatrical interpretation for example). As a history enthusiast I found this part of the book very fascinating and interesting.

 

 

Chapter 2

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Well, as a true Disney fan, part two of this book might be what you are really looking for: it’s all about the art and the making of Walt Disney’s first big movie hit. And when I say all, I mean it: this books narrates the whole history of Disney’s Snow White: from the idea of doing the film, over the first sketches until the day the film was first screened.

The author makes us discover everything about the design of every single character of the movie (we’ve got 2 pages on each dwarf for example), the production (music, camera and so on), the structure of the plot and the film’s introduction to the audience.

There is even quite some rare concept art that didn’t make its way into the movie, which shows us how much work and creativity the Disney artists put into the design of every character or detail in the background.

With its 200 pages (so basically the better part of the book), this chapter is full of details and background information about every scene, so we really couldn’t ask for more I guess.

Like I already mentioned, the book is really big, therefore it showcases the artwork perfectly. We even get some pictures on double pages!

Chapter 3

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The last big chapter  – about 50 pages – is dedicated to the years that followed the release of the movie, especially its influence on animation and its international success: merchandise, TV, the second release of the movie, how it was transformed into an attraction at Disneyland…
In this last part of the book you will not “only” discover even more rare artwork (movie posters, concept art for merchandise…) but also a lot of other pictures and photos. The book shows for example Walt Disney winning the special “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”-Oscar. (see below).

Until the movie was released, nobody would have thought that you could make money with an animated movie. Well, Snow White proved them all wrong. Snow White paved the way for a whole new movie genre: aninmation movies.

Résumé

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In my opinion, The Fairest One of All is not just a regular “the art of” book. It really is so much more, since it’s not only about the art of Snow White – don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of art in this book – but also about the original fairy tale, the interpretation of it by Walt Disney and the influence this movie had on the film industry, art, animation and pop culture.

So this opus really is more like a novel that you could have at your fingertips every evening (believe me, there is so much in-depth text, it will take you more than an afternoon to skim trough it). One can tell that the author, J.B. Kaufman, put a looot of time in this book – so I guess it is well worth a little bit of our time, whether you are interested in animation, you are a Snow White fan or just love the Disney universe.

What I also appreciate about this book is its topnotch quality: the hardcover binding is tight and very robust. The paper used is very thick, yet soft – it really feels good to touch (At this point I have to confess that the way paper feels and looks is very important to me! You could have the most beautiful piece of art work, but on cheap, thin paper it would loose all of its magic.) Also the layout of the book, as well as its elaborate graphic design is just stunning.

Last but not least, I am totally in love with the cover of the book! The vintage vibe of the art work (it is a movie poster actually) combined with those beautiful golden letters… just perfect. Put it on a coffee table and I can guarantee you that every person entering the room will inevitably gravitate towards this beauty! After all, we are talking about The Fairest One of All.

 

 

Where to get it?

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Title: The Fairest One of All – The Making of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Author: J.B. Kaufman
Year: 2012

You can get the book on Amazon, but also at your local book store (they’d have to order it first I guess). Depending on the shop / the website, it is normally about 50-60 € ( the same in $). You could also make a good bargain by looking for a good second hand copy. That might seem a lot but the price is actually absolutely reasonable for such a gem. By using one of the links below (klicking on the respective picture), you help me to keep The Disney Bookshop going.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review – let me know, what you think about it. What is it you like/dislike about the book? What other books on Snow White do you have?