Snow White: The Fairest of Them All (2001)
"Snow White" (original title)

Snow White's mother dies during childbirth, leaving baby Snow and father John for dead on an icy field, who then receives a visit from one of Satan's representatives, granting him three wishes.

Director:

Caroline Thompson

Writers:

Jacob Grimm (story), Wilhelm Grimm (story),

Stars:

Miranda Richardson, Tom Irwin, Vera Farmiga

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Miranda Richardson	...	Queen Elspeth
Tom Irwin	...	John
Vera Farmiga	...	Josephine
Kristin Kreuk	...	Snow White
Clancy Brown	...	The Granter of Wishes
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Wednesday (Yellow)
José Zúñiga	...	Hector (as Jose Zuniga)
Michael J. Anderson	...	Sunday (Violet)
Warwick Davis	...	Saturday (Indigo)
Tyron Leitso	...	Prince Alfred
Michael Gilden	...	Monday (Red)
Mark J. Trombino	...	Tuesday (Orange)
Penny Blake	...	Thursday (Green)
Martin Klebba	...	Friday (Blue)
Campbell Lane	...	Magistrate

Storyline

Born from a drop of blood in a flutter of apple blossoms, and framed in ebony, a young girl named Snow White becomes the blessing of a loving peasant couple, John and Josephine. But with her birth comes a curse and the end of her mother's life. Left alone with an infant daughter, John braves a brutal winter in search of food for his starving angel. Salvation comes unexpectedly when the father's tears melt the frozen tomb of a bewitched creature, the Green-Eyed One. In thanks, the insinuating beast grants John three wishes: nourishment for Snow White, a kingdom in which to raise his family and a queen by his side. But John's cause for celebration is short-lived. For the Green-Eyed One has devious plans for the well-being of his own family. Owing his loathsome spellcasting daughter, Elspeth, a long-awaited wish, he encourages her desires for appointment to the throne. A kingdom to rule is hers for the waiting, the new King John is hers for the belittling and a luscious little ...

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Plot Keywords:

snow white | daughter | fairy tale | wish | childbirth | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Details

Official Sites:

Hallmark Entertainment

Country:

Canada USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 March 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Snow White: The Fairest of Them All

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Babelsberg International Film Produktion, Hallmark Entertainment, Sextant Entertainment Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Thursday: I'm hungry, when's lunch?
Tuesday: We already had lunch.

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Connections

Version of Schneewittchen und das Geheimnis der Zwerge (1992)

User Reviews

A letdown considering the source and the talent - pretty Grimm.

Hallmark Entertainment's seemingly remorseless quest to film every fairy tale ever made meant that they'd eventually get to the Grimm brothers' tale of Snow White and the seven dwarves - except that as told by adapters Caroline Thompson and Julie Hickson only six of them are dwarves, as part of their development of the classic tale. Unfortunately, you know what they say about the road to hell and good intentions.

"Snow White" also works in a few elements of "The Snow Queen" - the shards of Queen Elspeth's mirror flying into people's eyes and causing them to not see her evil for what it is - but also adds some interesting twists to the yarn; her psychosis is for once given some basis (the Queen's insecurity over the hideousness that is her true self is the ultimate cause for her going over the edge when her mirror informs that it is her stepdaughter, not she herself, who is the fairest of them all), and the septet - the days of the week in... um... corporeal form - are also a bit more defined than the norm. Lovely British Columbia scenery and a fine score by Michael Convertino also help; the problem with "Snow White" is, however, Snow White herself.

Other characters here get fleshed out, but Snow White remains a bit too passive for comfort - it's less the fault of Kristin Kreuk's performance than the basic script and character, but there's only so much you can do with a symbol instead of a person. Miranda Richardson has much more scope as the wicked stepmother, and is clearly enjoying herself (although you do wonder why nobody notices the woman is obviously a few sandwiches short of a picnic), but a few less wisecracks would have helped - "It looks like I finally left you breathless!" she cackles post-poisoned apple delivery.

A lot more wonder would also have helped; "Snow White" is sadly short of magic, and doesn't really take as much advantage of its story as it could (except for the sadly truncated attack of the garden gnomes... not as daft as it sounds, trust me). This is particularly sad considering Caroline Thompson did such a good job on "Black Beauty" and as the scripter of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Edward Scissorhands." It is, however, always good to watch Vincent Schiavelli and Michael J. Anderson (the dwarf from "Twin Peaks") - but fairytale completists, Richardson fans and guys in love with the brunette from "Smallville" will get more from this ultimately dull tale than I did.