Looking Back at Disney's Oldest Movies

Superb animation, obviously, but what about the stories?

I read Neal Gabler’s excellent biography of Walt Disney a while back, and that motivated me to watch or rewatch the earliest Disney movies. So, hop in your time machine of choice, and let’s head back to the ’30s and ’40s …

(I think there should be a spoiler warning statute of limitations after eight decades or so, but if you need one, here it is.)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937): Walt’s labor of love, and a movie with massive cross-generational appeal when it was released. The animation is indeed superb, but I couldn’t get into the story, perhaps because Snow White never really triumphs at all. The last thing she chooses to do is bite into the poison apple. She doesn’t save herself. She never defeats the evil queen. 

There’s really no reason for the queen’s failure. What are the odds that lightning would strike at exactly that wrong spot at exactly that wrong time? Or that seven dwarfs would want to look at a dead girl for several months instead of burying her? Or that Prince Charming would want to kiss a girl who’s been dead for that long? Some evil queens have all the worst luck.

Pinocchio (1940): This movie was far less successful during its initial release, but I found it to be more interesting than its predecessor. It’s incredibly dark at times. That Pleasure Island scene is a horror movie within a children’s movie. All those boys turn into donkeys and never turn back. They clearly know what they’ve become and retain the knowledge of who they were, but it’s too late, and they’re sold to perform slave labor for the rest of their lives. The movie has multiple villains, and none are brought to justice. As Pinocchio gets his happy ending, they’re all still out there, looking for their next victims. All I could think of was the Game of Thrones catchphrase: “The night is dark and full of terrors.”

And let’s not overlook Pinocchio’s death. He dies even more thoroughly than Snow White did. Though he can breathe at the bottom of the ocean, he’s evidently unable to breathe at the top, so he drowns to his death. We see him face-down in the water, dead. He’s eventually reborn better than ever, of course, but he has to literally die to become a real boy.

Earlier, we also see him getting high off a cigar. This movie pulls no punches. The kids of the ’40s were a hardy lot, apparently, and adults clearly didn’t bother hiding the fact that the night is dark and full of terrors.

Fantasia (1940): The perfect movie to have on in the background as you’re doing something else. Though it’s an interesting experiment, it’s no wonder the format never caught on, and it’s no surprise that the best segment is the one with the strongest narrative. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” is excellent. The rest varies.

Dumbo (1941): Dumbo is an even more passive protagonist than Snow White (if you can even call either of them protagonists). Other characters shun and humiliate him, and he just takes it. His mother sticks up for him, and she gets locked up for her efforts. His mouse friend hypnotizes the ringleader into giving him a chance, but Dumbo is too hesitant to properly seize the opportunity given to him. 

Poor Dumbo is trapped in a downward spiral until he accidentally drinks a lot of alcohol and wakes up in a tree, leading to the realization that he can fly. Then, like Spider-Man before Uncle Ben’s murder, Dumbo uses his super-power to pursue fame and fortune. The End.

It’s an odd movie. Pinocchio’s journey had a clear purpose—to teach kids life lessons through metaphor (and perhaps scare them straight). Cigars nearly make a jackass out of Pinocchio. Alcohol leads Dumbo to a breakthrough of self-discovery. The message is supposed to be about believing in yourself, but there had to be a better way to get there.

Also, Disney+ warns that the movie “includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures.” Could they possibly be referring to the roustabouts and crows?

Bambi (1942): This is the first one you could show to today’s children with little concern. A few scenes might scare younger kids, but it’s pretty inoffensive on the whole. It doesn’t even get the Disney+ “outdated cultural depictions” warning.

It’s basically 1940s Lion King, complete with an early take on the Circle of Life. Bambi is the “prince of the forest” who tragically loses a parent at a young age. The movie starts with his birth and ends with his children’s birth. The above image looks like it could be a prototype of Pride Rock. Bambi even makes a couple of other-species friends. However, Thumper and Flower aren’t exactly the comedy duo of Timon and Pumba. There’s no 1940s equivalent of Elton John. And the story is a lot more episodic.

The movie handles the threat of the hunters exceptionally well. We never see them, and that was the right call. Off-screen, they’re like a force of nature, ironically.

And the death of Bambi’s mother deserves its iconic status. That scene is properly set up and masterfully animated.

There is absolutely no reason to remake this movie, especially not as some “lifelike” version. Don’t do it, Disney. (Oh, bother.)

The Three Caballeros (1944): Whereas Bambi shows the cycle of a deer’s life, The Three Caballeros shows the cycle of intoxication. But in this case, I doubt that was deliberate.

We start out nice and sober with a conventional cartoon about a penguin who hates the cold. The film then perks up a bit, and we get a good buzz going with the title song. Shortly later, the buzz becomes amorous. (I never knew Donald Duck was such a ladies’ man. I did not want to know this.)

But then things get weird. By the time a singing woman turns into a flower and Donald Duck turns into an insect who wants to pollinate her, we’re crashing, and we probably won’t remember much beyond the title song.

It was interesting to watch these from the historical perspective. The animation remains impressive, and you have to admire the sheer effort and attention to detail that went into all of these. Walt Disney was definitely at the cutting edge of his field.

As far as how well the stories hold up, that was more of a work in progress. Pinocchio is the best of the bunch in that regard, followed by Bambi, but Disney would need to wait several decades for a pair of talented songwriters who cut their teeth on a singing carnivorous plant.