Today is the big release day for Snow White and the Huntsman. While I am curious to see what the overall response and box office take is, I also want to highlight some of the earlier versions of the tale this month. Today, I am keeping it simple. Here are some illustrations for an Icelandic translation of Snow White from 1852. As I look at these and compare them with the film released today, I am reminded of the old ad campaign for Virginia Slims, "You've come a long way, baby." I don't always care for the sentiment (and never the product) but it is rather apropros for Snow White this year. I am not sharing all of the illustrations, by the way, you can see them all at the book's page on Project Gutenberg. Go to MJALLHVÍT.
Someone made the comment on the blog that it was disappointing that Snow White goes from passive to aggressive and violent in the newest iteration, that a balance between being passive or brutal isn't found in these two extremes. At least there are enough Snow Whites around now for us all to pick a favorite and appreciate the various interpretations. As I will share this month, not all of them in the traditional tales are entirely passive either.
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