Snow White (TV film)
Encyclopedia
Snow White, released in the U.S. as Snow White: The Fairest of Them All, was a television
film, made in 2001, and based on the Snow White
storyline. It was made by Hallmark Entertainment and directed by Caroline Thompson
. It deviates in several places from the original Brothers Grimm
story and adds significant new characters and subplots. It also includes story elements from Hans Christian Andersen
's The Snow Queen
. While often hailed as a much darker version of the original Grimm fairy tale, it includes some playful, humorous elements, and is not necessarily more faithful to the original than other popular film adaptations.
) becomes the blessing of a loving peasant couple, John (Tom Irwin
) and Josephine (Vera Farmiga
). But with her birth comes the end of her mother's life. Left alone with an infant daughter, John braves a brutal winter in search for food for his starving child. Salvation comes unexpectedly when the father's tears melt the frozen tomb of a bewitched djinn, the Granter of Wishes (Clancy Brown
). In thanks, the insinuating being grants John three wishes: nourishment for Snow White, a kingdom in which to raise his daughter and a queen by his side, (originally he wanted his wife back, his "queen", but the Green-Eyed Granter of Wishes cannot raise the dead, but he can give him a queen, followed shortly by His idea to give John a kingdom.) But John's cause for celebration is short lived.
At the same time, seven dwarves are in the forest, looking for their friends, the gnome
s. Deciding to look for them by splitting up, the leader, Sunday, finds them all petrified in an old crone
's garden, in trying to free them, he ends up petrified himself. Meanwhile, the Granter of Wishes has devious plans for the well being of his own family. Owing his loathsome spell-casting sister, Elspeth (Miranda Richardson
), a long awaited wish, he encourages her desires for appointment to the throne, using a magical mirror he transforms her from an old crone into a young beautiful woman. Knowing that John will not accept another woman to replace his much loved wife willingly, the Granter of Wishes orders Elspeth to shatter the mirror. The mirror's pieces fall from the sky over the palace gardens where John is showing the infant Snow White some beautiful red roses that smell like her mother. A fragment of the mirror gets stuck in John's left eye while another is embedded in his heart, a large fragment of the mirror is left behind which Elspeth keeps to harness her magical powers. The two fragments of mirror bewitch John when he sees Elspeth causing him to fall in love with her, subsequently, ignoring Snow White.
Sixteen years later, Snow White grows in grace and beauty, at this time Prince Alfred is visiting their kingdom when he sees Snow White he falls in love with her. He spends most of his visit trying to gain her affection and attention. She, however, pushes him away every time. Throughout the sixteen years Elspeth has become more and more vain, determined to be the most beautiful creature there is. Keeping her last fragment of magic mirror in a private room full of other magical mirrors, she daily asks them who the fairest of them all is. In answer the fairest one's image leans out of the mirrors to reply in their voice. This greatly entertains Elspeth as it has always been her own image who answers her,'You are, you are. You are the fairest of them all.'
Elspeth grows tired of John and desires a new younger husband, the mirror fragment in John's eye falls out and his feelings towards Elspeth weaken. Without the mirror fragments in his eye and heart John realizes that he has neglected Snow White and stands by the red roses inhaling deeply, hinting that he remembers his great love for Snow White's mother, Josephine. Catching the mirror fragment from John's eye, and having taken out the fragment in John's heart, Elspeth sets out to place them both into Prince Alfred however the heart fragment is shattered accidentally by the Prince who is distracted by Snow White finally showing some affection to him. The eye fragment instead falls into the eye of a servant called Hector, furious Elspeth returns to her mirror room. Timidly she asks who is fairest, to which Snow White's image leans out of the mirror and replies in Snow White's voice,'Not you, not you, not you. I am, I am, I am the fairest of them all'. The Queen falls to the floor in a fit of panic, anger and rage. Hector comes to her and offers himself to do whatever she asks in a state of mad longing.
The Prince searches for Snow White and finds her walking in the gardens and declares his love for her, telling her that she is beautiful. Snow White pushes his feelings away saying that being beautiful has nothing to do with love and that the outer appearance of a person cannot tell what that person is like on the inside, such as being kind, gentle and caring. However she does try to answers his feelings with a kiss.
Hector arrives with orders from Elspeth to kill Snow White and bring back her heart, with the lie that he is going to the rabbit traps to kill a rabbit for Elspeth's breakfast, Hector lures Snow White (intent on freeing the rabbits), away from the Prince. While Snow White kneels to free the rabbits, Hector raises his knife but her innocence stops him from killing Snow White, and in shedding a tear, the fragment of mirror in his eye is lost forever. Realizing that he cannot take her life Hector warns Snow White of Elspeth's jealously and she runs terrified into the forest. Hector kills a nearby boar and cuts its heart out telling Elspeth that it is the heart of Snow White, in delight Elspeth cooks the heart and eats it for breakfast and even tries to coax John to eat some too, but he is too distraught over the disappearance of his beloved daughter, and searches the grounds.
Prince Alfred is alone searching for Snow White, Elspeth finds him and tries to seduce him, but he runs away and she transforms him into a bear in a fit of rage. But while doing so, her magic mirror's light reflects onto Sunday (who, along with the gnomes, have bene put in the palace as garden decorations), and half of him is returned to normal, while the other half remains petrified. He flees to find his family, (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday)
Upon searching for Snow White, John, looking in Elspeth's mirror room, ends up trapped behind a mirror; Elspeth refuses to free him. In asking her mirrors who is the fairest of them all, Elspeth finds out that she was tricked. In a fit of rage and hatred, she kills Hector. Using the mirror, she flies to the forest where she previously saw Snow White, and drops a beautiful silk
en sash in her path. Snow White sees, and tries it on. The sash then wraps itself tightly around Snow White's waist, and causes her to pass out from suffocation
. Sunday finds her and cuts the sash, causing Snow White to wake up with several deep, wheezing breaths. Snow White sees Sunday, and faints again from shock. And when she wakes up again, she is in the house of the seven dwarves. After a while she agrees to stay, but wants to get back to her home to find her father, free her prince, and stop the Queen. The dwarves agree to do so, but refuse to let her go with them.
Finding out she failed to kill Snow White, Elspeth tricks Snow White into eating a poisoned apple
, Elspeth magically disguises herself in a way that resembles Snow White's deceased mother, Josephine, and eventually makes her fall asleep. Back at the palace, the mirror now says that Josephine is the fairest of them all, smug and confident that that will not be the same answer when she is back to her beautiful self, Elspeth transforms herself, but instead of her beautiful young body, she has become once again the ugly old hag she used to be before her brother turned her into a queen. The Granter of Wishes returns and she hopes that he will make her beautiful again, but he says that because of what her vanity led her to do she cannot have her beauty restored again. He also explains that Snow White only was a threat because Elspeth saw her as such, and the dangers of envy. In a tantrum, Elspeth destroys her magic mirror, the source of her magic powers, by throwing it at her brother, who dodges the blow. By destroying her source of magic, all of her spells undo themselves, (including restoring Sunday and the gnomes, transforming Prince Alfred back to normal, freeing King John from the magic mirrors and reviving Snow White.) Eventually the angry gnomes find Elspeth while she threatened to destroy them if they don't leave her alone, but she is powerless and helpless and they eventually kill her by strangling her.
Eventually the Prince finds Snow White and wakes her up with a kiss, (after he was turned back into a man) and the dwarves, upon realizing it was the end of this story, decide to move onto Sleeping Beauty
. And they all live happily ever after.
and the Middle East
in 2001, but did not debut in the United States
until 2002, when it was broadcast as part of ABC
's The Wonderful World of Disney.
, and the UK
, where it has been broadcast on Channel 4
every Christmas
. It was translated into French for the French speaking parts of Canada.
s were released. On 25 March 2007 a free DVD of the film was released in the British newspaper The Sunday Express.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
film, made in 2001, and based on the Snow White
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
storyline. It was made by Hallmark Entertainment and directed by Caroline Thompson
Caroline Thompson
Caroline Thompson is an American novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer. She wrote the screenplays for Tim Burton's films Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Corpse Bride...
. It deviates in several places from the original Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
story and adds significant new characters and subplots. It also includes story elements from Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
's The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen is a fairy tale by author Hans Christian Andersen . The tale was first published in 1845, and centers on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by a little boy and girl, Kai and Gerda....
. While often hailed as a much darker version of the original Grimm fairy tale, it includes some playful, humorous elements, and is not necessarily more faithful to the original than other popular film adaptations.
Plot
Once Upon a Time a young girl was born from a drop of blood in a flutter of apple blossoms, framed in ebony. The young girl named Snow White (Kristin KreukKristin Kreuk
Kristin Laura Kreuk is a Canadian actress and producer, known for her portrayal of Lana Lang in the American television series Smallville. She was also a regular cast member on the Canadian teen drama Edgemont, and has starred in movies such as Eurotrip and Street Fighter: The Legend of...
) becomes the blessing of a loving peasant couple, John (Tom Irwin
Tom Irwin
Thomas Irwin may refer to:* Tom Irwin * Tommy Irwin, baseball player* Thomas Irwin, U.S. representative* Thomas Irwin , Canadian member of the House of Commons in 1957-1958-See also:*Tommy Irvin, U.S. official in Georgia...
) and Josephine (Vera Farmiga
Vera Farmiga
Vera Ann Farmiga is an American actress and director. Farmiga made her film debut in the 1998 drama thriller Return to Paradise. This was followed by supporting roles in the 2000 romantic film Autumn in New York and the 2001 television series UC: Undercover...
). But with her birth comes the end of her mother's life. Left alone with an infant daughter, John braves a brutal winter in search for food for his starving child. Salvation comes unexpectedly when the father's tears melt the frozen tomb of a bewitched djinn, the Granter of Wishes (Clancy Brown
Clancy Brown
Clarence J. "Clancy" Brown III is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles in live action as The Kurgan in the cult classic film Highlander, Byron Hadley in the award-winning The Shawshank Redemption, Brother Justin Crowe in HBO's critically acclaimed Carnivàle, and Career...
). In thanks, the insinuating being grants John three wishes: nourishment for Snow White, a kingdom in which to raise his daughter and a queen by his side, (originally he wanted his wife back, his "queen", but the Green-Eyed Granter of Wishes cannot raise the dead, but he can give him a queen, followed shortly by His idea to give John a kingdom.) But John's cause for celebration is short lived.
At the same time, seven dwarves are in the forest, looking for their friends, the gnome
Gnome
A gnome is a diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature...
s. Deciding to look for them by splitting up, the leader, Sunday, finds them all petrified in an old crone
Crone
The crone is a stock character in folklore and fairy tale, an old woman who is usually disagreeable, malicious, or sinister in manner, often with magical or supernatural associations that can make her either helpful or obstructing. She is marginalized by her exclusion from the reproductive cycle,...
's garden, in trying to free them, he ends up petrified himself. Meanwhile, the Granter of Wishes has devious plans for the well being of his own family. Owing his loathsome spell-casting sister, Elspeth (Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
), a long awaited wish, he encourages her desires for appointment to the throne, using a magical mirror he transforms her from an old crone into a young beautiful woman. Knowing that John will not accept another woman to replace his much loved wife willingly, the Granter of Wishes orders Elspeth to shatter the mirror. The mirror's pieces fall from the sky over the palace gardens where John is showing the infant Snow White some beautiful red roses that smell like her mother. A fragment of the mirror gets stuck in John's left eye while another is embedded in his heart, a large fragment of the mirror is left behind which Elspeth keeps to harness her magical powers. The two fragments of mirror bewitch John when he sees Elspeth causing him to fall in love with her, subsequently, ignoring Snow White.
Sixteen years later, Snow White grows in grace and beauty, at this time Prince Alfred is visiting their kingdom when he sees Snow White he falls in love with her. He spends most of his visit trying to gain her affection and attention. She, however, pushes him away every time. Throughout the sixteen years Elspeth has become more and more vain, determined to be the most beautiful creature there is. Keeping her last fragment of magic mirror in a private room full of other magical mirrors, she daily asks them who the fairest of them all is. In answer the fairest one's image leans out of the mirrors to reply in their voice. This greatly entertains Elspeth as it has always been her own image who answers her,'You are, you are. You are the fairest of them all.'
Elspeth grows tired of John and desires a new younger husband, the mirror fragment in John's eye falls out and his feelings towards Elspeth weaken. Without the mirror fragments in his eye and heart John realizes that he has neglected Snow White and stands by the red roses inhaling deeply, hinting that he remembers his great love for Snow White's mother, Josephine. Catching the mirror fragment from John's eye, and having taken out the fragment in John's heart, Elspeth sets out to place them both into Prince Alfred however the heart fragment is shattered accidentally by the Prince who is distracted by Snow White finally showing some affection to him. The eye fragment instead falls into the eye of a servant called Hector, furious Elspeth returns to her mirror room. Timidly she asks who is fairest, to which Snow White's image leans out of the mirror and replies in Snow White's voice,'Not you, not you, not you. I am, I am, I am the fairest of them all'. The Queen falls to the floor in a fit of panic, anger and rage. Hector comes to her and offers himself to do whatever she asks in a state of mad longing.
The Prince searches for Snow White and finds her walking in the gardens and declares his love for her, telling her that she is beautiful. Snow White pushes his feelings away saying that being beautiful has nothing to do with love and that the outer appearance of a person cannot tell what that person is like on the inside, such as being kind, gentle and caring. However she does try to answers his feelings with a kiss.
Hector arrives with orders from Elspeth to kill Snow White and bring back her heart, with the lie that he is going to the rabbit traps to kill a rabbit for Elspeth's breakfast, Hector lures Snow White (intent on freeing the rabbits), away from the Prince. While Snow White kneels to free the rabbits, Hector raises his knife but her innocence stops him from killing Snow White, and in shedding a tear, the fragment of mirror in his eye is lost forever. Realizing that he cannot take her life Hector warns Snow White of Elspeth's jealously and she runs terrified into the forest. Hector kills a nearby boar and cuts its heart out telling Elspeth that it is the heart of Snow White, in delight Elspeth cooks the heart and eats it for breakfast and even tries to coax John to eat some too, but he is too distraught over the disappearance of his beloved daughter, and searches the grounds.
Prince Alfred is alone searching for Snow White, Elspeth finds him and tries to seduce him, but he runs away and she transforms him into a bear in a fit of rage. But while doing so, her magic mirror's light reflects onto Sunday (who, along with the gnomes, have bene put in the palace as garden decorations), and half of him is returned to normal, while the other half remains petrified. He flees to find his family, (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday)
Upon searching for Snow White, John, looking in Elspeth's mirror room, ends up trapped behind a mirror; Elspeth refuses to free him. In asking her mirrors who is the fairest of them all, Elspeth finds out that she was tricked. In a fit of rage and hatred, she kills Hector. Using the mirror, she flies to the forest where she previously saw Snow White, and drops a beautiful silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
en sash in her path. Snow White sees, and tries it on. The sash then wraps itself tightly around Snow White's waist, and causes her to pass out from suffocation
Suffocation
Suffocation is the process of Asphyxia.Suffocation may also refer to:* Suffocation , an American death metal band* "Suffocation", a song on Morbid Angel's debut album, Altars of Madness...
. Sunday finds her and cuts the sash, causing Snow White to wake up with several deep, wheezing breaths. Snow White sees Sunday, and faints again from shock. And when she wakes up again, she is in the house of the seven dwarves. After a while she agrees to stay, but wants to get back to her home to find her father, free her prince, and stop the Queen. The dwarves agree to do so, but refuse to let her go with them.
Finding out she failed to kill Snow White, Elspeth tricks Snow White into eating a poisoned apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
, Elspeth magically disguises herself in a way that resembles Snow White's deceased mother, Josephine, and eventually makes her fall asleep. Back at the palace, the mirror now says that Josephine is the fairest of them all, smug and confident that that will not be the same answer when she is back to her beautiful self, Elspeth transforms herself, but instead of her beautiful young body, she has become once again the ugly old hag she used to be before her brother turned her into a queen. The Granter of Wishes returns and she hopes that he will make her beautiful again, but he says that because of what her vanity led her to do she cannot have her beauty restored again. He also explains that Snow White only was a threat because Elspeth saw her as such, and the dangers of envy. In a tantrum, Elspeth destroys her magic mirror, the source of her magic powers, by throwing it at her brother, who dodges the blow. By destroying her source of magic, all of her spells undo themselves, (including restoring Sunday and the gnomes, transforming Prince Alfred back to normal, freeing King John from the magic mirrors and reviving Snow White.) Eventually the angry gnomes find Elspeth while she threatened to destroy them if they don't leave her alone, but she is powerless and helpless and they eventually kill her by strangling her.
Eventually the Prince finds Snow White and wakes her up with a kiss, (after he was turned back into a man) and the dwarves, upon realizing it was the end of this story, decide to move onto Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
. And they all live happily ever after.
Production
Some of the characters required a great deal of prosthetic and makeup, including the goblin/genie-like Granter of Wishes, his witch-like sister, and a dwarf who is partially transformed into a garden statue. The filmmakers took advantage of computer-generated imagery to portray other fantasy elements. The Queen's magical hand mirror, when seen flying across various landscapes in search of Snow White, is computer-generated, as are several creatures and other props seen very briefly in the film.Release
The film was released theatrically in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
in 2001, but did not debut in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
until 2002, when it was broadcast as part of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's The Wonderful World of Disney.
Cast
- Miranda RichardsonMiranda RichardsonMiranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
as Queen Elspeth - Kristin KreukKristin KreukKristin Laura Kreuk is a Canadian actress and producer, known for her portrayal of Lana Lang in the American television series Smallville. She was also a regular cast member on the Canadian teen drama Edgemont, and has starred in movies such as Eurotrip and Street Fighter: The Legend of...
as Snow White - Karin KonovalKarin KonovalKarin Konoval is a professional American film and television actress. She has been in several major films, and has appeared as major roles and guest stars for many television shows, including The X-Files episode Home and Tin Man. She recently appeared in an episode on season 4 of Supernatural...
as Elspeth's Old Crone form - Tom IrwinTom IrwinThomas Irwin may refer to:* Tom Irwin * Tommy Irwin, baseball player* Thomas Irwin, U.S. representative* Thomas Irwin , Canadian member of the House of Commons in 1957-1958-See also:*Tommy Irvin, U.S. official in Georgia...
as King John - Vera FarmigaVera FarmigaVera Ann Farmiga is an American actress and director. Farmiga made her film debut in the 1998 drama thriller Return to Paradise. This was followed by supporting roles in the 2000 romantic film Autumn in New York and the 2001 television series UC: Undercover...
as Josephine - Tyron LeitsoTyron Leitso- Life and career :Leitso was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He entered the acting industry when he worked as an extra on several Vancouver-based television productions, including The X Files and Millennium. Leitso's first speaking role was for an episode in 1998 in the series...
as Prince Alfred - Clancy BrownClancy BrownClarence J. "Clancy" Brown III is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles in live action as The Kurgan in the cult classic film Highlander, Byron Hadley in the award-winning The Shawshank Redemption, Brother Justin Crowe in HBO's critically acclaimed Carnivàle, and Career...
as the Granter of Wishes - Michael GildenMichael GildenMichael Jeffrey Gilden was an American actor with dwarfism . He lived and worked in Los Angeles....
as Monday - Mark J. Trombino as Tuesday
- Vincent SchiavelliVincent SchiavelliVincent Andrew Schiavelli was an American character actor noted for his work on stage, screen, and television often described as "the man with the sad eyes." He was notable for his numerous and often critically acclaimed cameo appearances.-Early life:Schiavelli was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a...
as Wednesday - Penny Blake as Thursday
- Martin KlebbaMartin KlebbaMartin Klebba is an American actor and stunt performer. Klebba has a form of dwarfism called acromicric dysplasia; he is 4'1" tall.-Early life:Klebba was born and grew up in Troy, Michigan, graduating from Athens High School.-Film:...
as Friday - Warwick DavisWarwick DavisWarwick Ashley Davis is an English actor. He is most notable for playing the title characters in Willow and the Leprechaun film series, as well as for his roles in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and the Harry Potter movies. Davis currently stars in the sitcom Life's Too Short, written...
as Saturday - Michael J. AndersonMichael J. AndersonMichael J. Anderson is an American actor known for his roles as the Man from Another Place in David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks, the epilogue and prologue film of the series, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and Samson Leonhart on the HBO series Carnivàle...
as Sunday
Countries broadcast
The film was broadcast in Canada, the U.S.United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where it has been broadcast on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
every Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
. It was translated into French for the French speaking parts of Canada.
DVD release
Both Region 1 and Region 2 DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s were released. On 25 March 2007 a free DVD of the film was released in the British newspaper The Sunday Express.