Starring Irene Cara, Malcom McDowell, Michael Horton, and Ed Asner
Directed by John Howley
Music and lyrics by various
Today, Filmation is best-known for their action-oriented Saturday morning and syndicated shows like He-Man: Masters of the Universe and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, but they did make animated films in the 70's and 80's. Most went straight to video or TV, but a few did get into the theaters. This was intended to be the second in a series of follow-ups to popular Disney films after their Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, but the studio shut down before it could go any further with these plans. How well does this follow-up to Snow White look now? To find out, we begin at the evil queen's castle, where her animal minions are enjoying a wild celebration...
The Story: That celebration doesn't last for very long. The castle is taken over by Lord Maliss (McDowell), the evil queen's brother, who wants to avenge his sister and destroy Snow White. He's able to kidnap the Prince (Horton), but Snow White (Irene Cara) is able to flee through the woods to the Dwarfs' cottage. Their home has been taken over by their cousins the Dwarfelles, seven female dwarfs who control nature. Thunderella, the youngest (Tracey Ullman), has been having trouble with her weather powers. Mother Nature (Phyllis Diller) doesn't appreciate her mistakes or the others using their magic to bicker and send them along with Snow White to the Land of Doom to rescue the Prince. On the way, they encounter a mysterious Shadow Man in rags who will do anything to protect Snow White. The Dwarfelles think he's working with Maliss, but Snow White can't help thinking he seems familiar...
The Animation: Better than their TV shows, but still nowhere near the quality Disney had started to put out by 1993. The Dwarfellas are appropriately defined and cute (even when their characters aren't), but Snow White and the Prince look more than a little lifeless. Maliss is more appropriately frightening, especially in his dragon form. Some of the action sequences in the second half, like the flood, come off a little better.
The Song and Dance: This is less a sequel to the Disney Snow White and more "Snow White as interpreted by the makers of He-Man." As such, it has a few interesting ideas and characters. McDowell happily chews all the scenery he can as the genuinely menacing Lord Maliss. The relationship between Snow White and the Shadow Man is sweet and even touching, especially if you figure out who he really is well before Snow White does. The Dwarfelles have a couple of funny bits, especially when they're attacking the castle towards the end. I also appreciate that Snow White actually tries to stop Maliss a few times and comes off as a bit tougher than she usually does in most adaptations of her story.
Favorite Number: Scowl tells the other critters in the Evil Queen's castle how he's "The Baddest" in one of the goofiest early rap numbers I've ever heard. The Dwarfellas and Snow White play a game to guess what Mother Nature's "creations" are actually supposed to be in "Mother Nature's Song." Cara gets to sing a decent early 90's power ballad, "Love Is the Reason," over the credits.
What I Don't Like: There's some wonderful ideas here. I just wish they did more with them. The movie needs to be at least 20 minutes longer. Most of the Dwarfellas barely register beyond a few gags, and why did they have powers? They barely used them, other than at the beginning to quarrel and in the end when Thunderella used hers. Mother Nature only appears in her one song and briefly in the finale and doesn't really do much, either. And what were with the totally worthless bat and owl characters? Scowl (Asner) and Batso's (Frank Welker) side plot with them wanting to be bad has nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the film and, other than Scowl's ridiculous rap number that comes from nowhere, is basically padding.
The Big Finale: There's enough that I like here for me to consider this a guilty pleasure...but if you're not into Filmation's style or weird 80's-early 90's animated movies, you probably won't find much to enjoy here.
Home Media: I'm afraid your best bet is YouTube or doing what I did and looking for the VHS. Not only is the DVD out of print and very expensive, but they cut out a lot of the violence, making the movie even more confusing than it already is.
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