A lot has been said against the “Disney-fication” of fairy tales, and for the most part I agree.
However.
Check out the introductory sequence of Snow White, which was released in 1937. It’s dark, dramatic, and exquisitely animated. It leaves The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast in the dirt. The evil queen is genuinely disturbing and, well, evil. The peacock throne is a nice touch.
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I love it… she wishes for a man, and BAM he appears!!
And then she runs away:)
I just realized that this is a rehash of motifs from the “Psyche and Eros” myth. The queen is Venus, jealous of Psyche’s beauty. Instead of Eros refusing to carry out his mother’s orders, it’s the woodsman. The box in which her heart is to go is reminiscent of Persephone’s beauty box, and the motif of falling asleep (which occurs when Psyche does open the box) is repeated here in the eating of the apple.