I am going to compare two very popular films; Shrek and Snow White. I am going to show both the difference and the similarities between the two films by comparing the genre, the language, and the use of animation and the characters.

‘Shrek and ‘Snow White’

For this essay I am going to compare two very popular films; ‘Shrek and ‘Snow White’. I am going to show both the difference and the similarities between the two films by comparing the genre, the language, and the use of animation and the characters.

I am firstly going to analyze ‘Snow White’. This classic story was the first ever animation film. The story was produced by Disney during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. The film is said to have lifted people’s spirits in this very sad era. It was a chance for them to forget about the things they where going through- deaths, job losses, money worries and low food supplies. A lot of people of this time were living in misery. So this story of people living ‘happily ever after’ was a big hit.

‘Snow White’ written by the Bothers Grimm is a fairytale which has set the traditional rules for what future fairytales should be like. This is obvious because nowadays most fairytales have a beautiful, leading lady, a charming prince, an evil person and a happy ending. This story is about an innocent princess who is cared for by her evil stepmother. The step mother is the bad person is this story.

In the beginning of Snow White there is a story book that the audience can read on the screen. There is also a slow piece of classical music is the background and the pages turn slowly. This is the first difference between the two films. The Disney logo in Shrek has Shrek-like ears on it whereas the one in Snow White is very traditional. The opening scene in Shrek is computer animated. The story is read out in a thick Scottish accent by the actor Mike Myers who is actually the voice of Shrek. But in Snow White the story is read out in Received pronunciation because in those days a Scottish accent would not be seen as acceptable. This again underlines the difference between the two audiences.

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Another difference in the audience is that nowadays the general public is a lot lazier. In the era that Snow White was produced the audience would have found it easy to read the book on the screen. However now we expect the story to be told to us without having to read anything. This is proven by Shrek reading out the story. Shrek doesn’t finish his story because he rips out the page and says “What a load of rubbish!” This is when we realize that this is not going to follow the normal story book rules. When he rips out the page, loud, modern music blasts and we get our first glimpse of Shrek. He bursts out of the toilet which is a lot different to any of the other fairy tale creatures we are used to. We see him carrying out his daily routines and we are shocked by his appearance. He is an ugly green ogre but we see that he has a friendly smile and so we immediately warm to him. We see him using bug slime as toothpaste and passing wind in his bath. To see a character in a film passing wind or being disgusting would not have been acceptable in the 1930’s and so this contrasts with Snow White. Shrek couldn’t be any further away from what a fairytale hero is supposed to be like.

‘Shrek’ was written by William Steig and was produced by Disney is 2001. It broke all of the normal fairy tale rules. The usual ‘leading lady’ is actually an ugly ogre and the other characters consist of a talking donkey and a short, misshapen lord. The film also contains well known fairytale creatures such as Pinocchio and the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. But the characters are over exaggerated as stereo types which adds a lot more humor to the film.

Although the princess in Shrek is alike to Snow White in her beauty she has many differences. For one Princess Fiona has long ginger hair and freckled skin. Snow White would be described as an ‘English rose’ due to her jet black hair, pale skin and red lips. Another difference is that Snow White is a very quiet, traditional woman from the 1930’s whereas Fiona is a tomboy. She has an attitude and she likes to fight her own battles like when she single handedly fights Robin Hood and his Men. This once again is due to the time the films are set and the different audiences who watch these films. Fiona is a good role model for girls today in some respects. She is independent and she stands her ground which shows how she feels. Back in the 1930’s woman were basically told how to live and expected to be very shy and modest. Fiona is a lot bolder than Snow White. Snow White is sweet and graceful and Fiona is tougher and like girls today is more straightforward and funny.

The music in the two films is also very different. In Shrek the music is very upbeat and modern whereas in Snow White it is very slow and classical. This again suits the audience and times. This also keeps the tone of the films in order. Snow White has to be kept sweet and innocent for family viewing whereas there are a lot of jokes in Shrek. Shrek appeals a lot more to an audience of today.

Another vital difference that probably isn’t noticed is the camera angles. The use of different angles shows the different ways in which we look at the characters. This is very effective. For example in the scene that donkey meets Shrek, Shrek doesn’t take a liking to him and he gets very angry because donkey insists on following him around. When Shrek stands up to donkey we get a low angle shot. In this shot the camera looks up to the subject, making it seem more threatening because it is bigger. This makes Shrek look very intimidating. By contrast a high angle camera shot is also used on Lord Farquaad who is made to look small and unimportant. In Snow White, the evil stepmother is made to look tall and dominating. These angles make the audience feel more connected to the characters in the story when we are seeing things from their perspective. The characters are almost brought to life because of the use of special effects. The audience probably does not realize the importance of the camera angles but they actually make the film a visual success.

Shrek takes a lot of parts out of other fairytales and parodies them. This is one of the main things that make the film so funny. For example the scene where Fiona is fighting in the woods is mimics ‘The Matrix’. Snow White has a few funny parts but it is nowhere near as hilarious as Shrek. All of Shreks characters are very funny not just in the things they say but in there appearance. For example Lord Farquad is so funny because of his small size. He looks like a ‘Jack’ on a pack of cards. On the other hand Snow Whites only humorous character is ‘Dopey’ who is funny because of his clumsiness and misunderstandings. But the humor is kept to a minimum in Snow White.

Despite all these differences there are a few of similarities. Even though there is a 70 year old age gap both films contain a princess, even though they are very different, a hero, an evil person and a happy ending.

In my opinion Shrek is the better of the two films. The use of technology and funny gimmicks fit in very well with this genre of films today. I also really like Snow White though. I think it is very important because without it we would not have the animations which have followed in its footsteps.

By Danekka Widdows