"It all started," Walt Disney was fond of saying, "with a mouse." But although that was true for the Disney Animation Studios as a profitable entity, the Disney corporation we know today—the multi-billion dollar behemoth with a global, pervasive reach—really started with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937.
The first animated feature released in the United States, the film was an absolute gamble in a market that had, until that point, dismissed animation as the province of 6-8 minute shorts. LEGO's latest build, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' Cottage (available at LEGO Store), is a tribute to that piece of cinematic history, which rewrote the rulebook on what animation was and could be.
Visually, the build looks buoyant and fluffy, in the manner that Disney film scenery always looks buoyant and fluffy. The same can be said for many aspects of the build, which has the perfect amount of practiced dishevelment to communicate whimsy. The wooden planks are slightly askew. The windows shutters are just a bit off-kilter. The trees are a little too tall, the scenery a bit too ornate. It's a fairy tale come to life.
You build the LEGO Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' Cottage in 14 stages. First is the wishing well, covered with flowers. Then you build one half of the cottage, starting with the foyer and the dining room. Against the wall from the table is a fireplace with a cauldron of stew. If you push a button hidden on the side of the cottage, it lights up orange, which gives the room a warm, familiar glow. A broom leans against the corner near the door.
It feels a bit obvious to point out, but I appreciated how the designers made everything big enough for seven Minifigure dwarves. There are seven plates and seven goblets on the table, and seven chairs, one for each place setting.
This should not be taken for granted. The LEGO Disney 'Up' House, for example, had Carl's chair but did not have Ellie's chair, even though the side-by-side visual of the chairs—one occupied, one empty—was a major aesthetic motif throughout the entire film. But the build also had a low piece count—598—which necessitated some hard cuts. The Snow White Cottage, on the other hand, is composed of 2228 pieces, which gave the LEGO designers free reign to create something true to its source material.
Laid above the dining room is a wooden plank, meant to represent an attic crawl space. And on that plank are a series of chests and boxes. When you open them up, there are diamonds and jewels inside them. Only the LEGO builder who put the set together would know about this hiding place, and in a way, it feels like you're being let in on a secret, which you can decide to reveal (or not reveal) to anyone else. This attic crawlspace does not show up in the original movie, although as far as I'm concerned, the LEGO set makes it canon.
Then you build the second half of the house, which has two complete floors. On the first floor is the living room and kitchen. The living room has a piano with wood-carved details and an open floor space, where Snow White danced with Dopey and Sneezy. The kitchen has a hand pump sink, a prep table, and a keg with a tap. On the table is a gooseberry pie with "Grumpy" written in cursive. The second floor is the bedroom, which has seven beds, each of which has a unique footboard with each Dwarf's name.
Then you build the walls higher, to set up the straw-thatched roof. By far the most tedious part of the build, the roof is composed of hundreds of small yellow pieces, which combine, en masse, to create the illusion of interwoven straw. There is no way to shortcut a process like this; the best thing that can be said is that it looks as labor intensive as it is—no bystander will look at the end result and think to him or herself, "Well that looks easy."
All the roof pieces snap into place with the exception of one, which leans against the side of the house on a tiny ledge. You can remove this piece to gain access to the upper floor.
Then you make your way outside, where you build extra outdoor elements to flesh out the scene—big, spindly trees, upright pines, and a work area where Doc can inspect diamonds for imperfections. In the movie, Snow White is surrounded and attended to by scores of animals. The LEGO designers incorporated squirrels and rabbits into the build, as well as a bluebird who's nested near the doorway. Lastly, you build the glass coffin, adorned with flowers and trees, where Snow White lies in eternal rest before her Prince kisses her.
The set has 10 Minifigures: Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, Dopey, Snow White, The Prince, and the Wicked Queen in disguise (who also comes with a basket and a poison apple). All the Minifigures have reversible faces. Sneezy, for example, has a pre- and post-sneeze expression, while Snow White has a happy face and a serene sleeping face.
Once I completed the set, I had so much fun staging the film's iconic moments with these Minifigures. I had the Wicked Queen meet Snow White outside the house. I had the Prince and Snow White hold hands by the Wishing Well. I had the Dwarfs march in "Heigh-Ho" formation, with Doc leading and Dopey bringing up the rear. I even had Doc hold a lantern to light the way.
My favorite staging was of the Snow White death scene, in which the dwarfs form a semicircle around the coffin to pay their respects. There is something both sad and hilarious about using LEGO Minifigures to recreate one of the saddest moments in Disney history. But the accuracy and attention to detail—on both the Minifigures and the coffin—make it work.
In 1981, Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas (both of whom worked on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) published The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. The definitive bible for aspiring animators, the book puts forth 12 guiding principles of animation. The LEGO designers clearly read this book, or were familiar with its takeaways, when designing this latest set—a lovingly crafted replica of the Dwarfs' cottage. It does not move, but it is bursting with life. Every detail tells. Every sharp edge is rounded off to create the most welcoming bungalow that a Disney Princess could ask for.
The LEGO Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' Cottage, Set #43242, retails for $219.99, and it is composed of 2228 pieces. It is available now at The Disney Store and the LEGO Store.
For more, check out the best LEGO Ninjago sets and the best Marvel LEGO sets.
