Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) **Overall Synopsis**

Ah, the very first animated movie ever made! What better way to start off the world on full-length animated movies, than with an innocent fairy tale? Produced by Walt Disney--a genius at work--the film introduced a whole new form of entertainment to the world that brightened up the end of the depressing 30s. While in the character design of Snow White herself we see a hairstyle taken right out of the 20s, at the same time we can also relate to the childhood innocence that is the very being of this first Disney princess! But, before we get into specifics with characters, let's take a look at the general plot.
So, plot-wise, we start off with the centuries-old fairy tale of beautiful princess Snow White, forced to work harshly because of the jealousy of her evil stepmother, the Queen. The Queen of course has an eerie Magic Mirror,

which daily tells her the name of the "fairest one of all". The movie is brilliant in explaining this simple aspect the way it was intended: simply and without any complicated back-story involving Snow White's real mother or father. She has a stepmother; she's being mistreated; that's it and that's all children should understand out of it. Any unnecessary back-story might've confused the younger ones altogether.
We see the Queen's reaction at finding out that the stepdaughter she's worked so hard to keep hidden is actually the fairest one of all, and then the scene reverts to Snow White working innocently in the courtyard. She meets a Prince--who has no mentioned name--and they fall in love, which only further provides proof to the Queen that Snow White is a "danger" to her.
The jealous Queen commands her royal huntsman to kill Snow White, however he is unable to do it due to Snow White's innocence. He tells the girl to flee, which she does into a forest of seeming nightmares.

Now, I don't know what Disney had in mind when making such a creepy forest, but I can guarantee that it gave plenty of children nightmares. Personally, I never found it as scary as the Old Hag, but we'll get to that later.
The movie has perfect timing, and uses it to drastically change the tone from something scary, lonely, and helpless, to something calm, friendly, and happy when Snow White makes new animal friends. The images you get of her being surrounding by innocent--and cutely designed--animals just emphasize more on how much of a "good guy" she is and how she's the victim throughout the movie--both points that need to be emphasized. Some people--I'm not sure who--might not see the point in bringing the animals to the picture, but they do have their uses as they lead Snow White to the Dwarf's cottage, and then help her clean it up afterwards.
And to introduce our lovable seven characters--on which the movie is also focused--what better way than through the song "Heigh Ho" and a cheerful representation of their workplace in the mines?

The dwarfs: Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sneezy, Bashful, Sleepy, and Dopey, are all lovable characters whose names represent their personalities, but only to a limited amount. Of course they find Snow White in their house and are surprised--but not before getting frightened and bringing more than a few laughs to the screen--however they all--give or take Grumpy--agree to let her stay after hearing her story and smelling her delicious soup.
A hilarious scene follows when Snow White sends the dwarfs to wash up for dinner--for the first time "recently"--during which time Grumpy continuously refuses to be accepting.
The bigger horror finally comes when we're taken back to the eerie palace where once again the Queen asks her Magic Mirror the question, only to find out that she's been tricked by the huntsman and find out that Snow White is still alive. Outraged, she hurries down to a secret laboratory of potions and there transforms herself into a fearsome and ugly old hag.

She then finds a spell for a poison apple and, contented, she gives a wicked smile before fading out.
We hear cheerful music come from the dwarfs' house in the next scene, and we see that almost in commemoration of Snow White's visit to them, they throw a party and simply enjoy themselves together. After yet several more laughs, they settle down and Snow White sings to them the story of her love for the Prince. Bedtime comes and we see the last of them for the day.
The next scene yet again revolves around the Queen, now an old hag, as she poisons the apple and then makes her way out of the palace in a cautious way so that no one can see her or find out what she intends to do. A creepy and shiver-worthy scene, it shows us the real gruesomeness of what is on her mind.
One again--as a clever break between the creepiness--we cut to the cheerful dwarfs' cottage where Snow White bids them all farewell as they go to work. They all advise her to beware of strangers, but we all know too well how cunning and crafty the wicked Queen is. Snow White is baking for the dwarfs when the Queen appears, an evil look on her face so as to scare Snow White.

It does not take her long to coax Snow White into taking a bite of the apple, meanwhile the animals have realized what is happening and have brought the dwarfs back to the cottage. But it is too late as the evil deed is done, yet luckily fate punishes the evil Queen, and her fate I will leave as a surprise for those who haven't watched the movie yet.
A tear-jerking scene follows, and then finally the ending we've all been waiting for. Singing a song of love, the Prince comes into the forest, and seeing Snow White dead is reduced to tears, but not before he plants a simple kiss--love's first kiss--on her lips.

As the story goes, Snow White awakens and the dwarfs happily celebrate. She is then taken away by the Prince, and then Disney ends the movie in a perfectly fairy-tale-like way with a castle in the clouds.
What makes Snow White a great movie is just in how Disney presents it. It's funny, it's epic, it's childish, it's even scary at times, and it's romantic with Snow White and the Prince. All in all, here are its overall movie stats in my opinion:

Snow White Movie Stats

Animation: 9/10; even though it was old animation, there's just a quality about it that no one can deny
Story-line: 10/10; it lacks nothing and has perfect breaks inbetween the scenes
Timing: 9/10; not too long, not too short, just enjoyable
Characters: 8.5/10; character analysis-es and relationship links below
Soundtrack & Details: 8.5/10 not all of the songs ("With A Smile and A Song") are as memorable as others ("One Song"), but they are catchy and the details are quite good

Overall Total (/10): 9
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Further Movie Information Links

Snow White Character Analysis
Seven Dwarfs Characters Analysis
The Evil Queen Character Analysis