In June 19381, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in China and quickly became very popular. But due to certain circumstances2, the release was limited. If you were not one of the rich people in Shanghai, the movie was probably out of reach for you.
To make the story available to more people, it was turned into a picture book. The artist, Shen Manyun, didn’t just copy the movie, he also made changes to better suit local tastes. He added elements from Chinese opera and other fairy tales, creating the weirdest version of Snow White I’ve ever seen. Let’s take a look.
Clearly, the book is heavily influenced by the movie.
The story is set in imperial China. (This is the Queen.)
The Queen died during childbirth. (This is the King holding baby Snow White.)
This is the evil stepmother. I’ve omitted a 50-page subplot about her backstory. In short, she is the daughter of an evil chancellor. A man fell in love with her, but she turned him down, which drove him crazy. His parents first tried to arrange a marriage for her and later tried to kidnap her. When both plans failed, her father, the chancellor, married her into the palace. This is a mix of common tropes in Chinese opera.
The stepmother becomes the new Queen.
“Magic mirror, who is the fairest of them all?”
“My Queen, you are the fairest.”
Until 10 years later…
“You are fair, but Snow White is the fairest.”
Snow “I totally look like ancient Chinese” White.
The Evil Queen angrily summons Snow White and accuses her of not working. (Do princesses need to work?) Then, she orders Snow White to do all kinds of hard work, like carrying water and chopping firewood.
One day, while Snow White was collecting firewood in the mountains, a wolf chased her and she fell off a cliff.
The prince saves her.
The Evil Queen then throws Snow White into a dry well, another common trope in Chinese opera.
*Gestures wildly at everything* magic happens and Snow White escapes.
The Evil Queen sends a general to kill Snow White. The general lets her go, kills a deer, and gives its heart to the Evil Queen.
Unfortunately, the Evil Queen is clever and sees through the trick. She has the general killed and sends another general to kill Snow White.
While running away, Snow White finds a carpet in the wild and decides to sleep on it.
The second general arrives with the imperial army. Suddenly, the carpet flies into the air. This is like a whole new world to me.
It turns out the magic carpet belongs to the Good Witch of the… ahem, I mean the magician, Lady White Jade.
Lady White Jade uses lightning spells to scare away the imperial army.
A Disney-esque scene: the trees turn into monsters to scare off the second general. Unfortunately, the editor didn’t get it and calls them “beast masks.”
Ha ha ha!
The dwarfs’ house has a western-style interior.
Snow White cooked a meal, ate it, and went to bed.
The dwarfs are miners.
I imagine the artist’s thought process went something like this when designing the seven dwarfs: “We need some foreign characters since the dwarfs aren’t Chinese. How about Laurel and Hardy? That works. Who else? Let’s add Mickey Mouse. Hmm, I can’t think of any more. Does Piggy from Journey to the West count? And let’s use characters from other Chinese picture books because whatever. And finally… I know! Santa Claus!”
“Princess, please live here from now on, and we will protect you.”
Next, there’s a subplot where the dwarfs wear giant masks to play a prank on Snow White. The masks look like… the dwarfs from the original movie.
The dwarfs put on their masks and dance with Snow White. After the dance, the princess reminds them not to forget their work. Because the Chinese value the virtue of hard work.
In another subplot, Hardy turns to stone after being hit by a volcanic rock. He is later saved by deus ex maChina Lady White Jade.
The artist then uses a whole page to explain that this is “scientific magic.”
A third subplot shows Piggy being attacked by a giant eagle and thrown onto a rock in the middle of the sea.
In a fourth subplot, Snow White and the dwarfs take a boat to rescue Piggy. The boat capsizes, leaving everyone stranded on a rock.
Then Lady White Jade appears, parts the sea, and helps them escape. Hallelujah.
Meanwhile, the Evil Queen learns from the magic mirror that Snow White is still alive and living in the dwarfs’ house in the forest.
The Evil Queen drinks a potion she made with chemistry and turns into an old woman.
She tricks Snow White into wearing a poisoned hairband created using chemical methods.
When Snow White puts it on, she faints. The dwarfs return, remove the hairband, and save her.
Next, the Evil Queen drinks a second potion and becomes an even uglier old woman.
She offers Snow White a poisoned comb, causing her to faint again.
Until Lady White Jade *yawn* revives her.
Another subplot has the Evil Queen holding a conference to prove she is the most beautiful. She invites kings from around the world and asks the magic mirror who’s the fairest… you know how it went.
Then, the Evil Queen orders Mad Scientist, a chemist, to kill Snow White. (The artist must really dislike chemistry.)
Mad Scientist uses a knife.
Long-winded monologues, as usual, end badly.
The prince stabs Mad Scientist to death.
After hearing about Mad Scientist’s death, the Evil Queen takes matters into her own hands. She drinks a third, stronger potion and turns into an even uglier old woman.
She then offers Snow White a poisoned apple. Snow White eats the apple and falls into a coma. The moral is: just say no to unsolicited offers.
The dwarfs return and chase the Evil Queen with baseball bats.
They drive her to a cliff, where a lightning strike causes her to fall to her death.
The dwarfs place Snow White in a glass coffin.
Meanwhile, the prince is somewhere else picking apples.
The director, I mean Lady White Jade appears and tells him to kiss Snow White to bring her back.
“The kiss of love cures the poison of the apple.” Ah, classic.
You might think the story is over, but there’s one more subplot. The evil chancellor gets a girl to pretend to be Snow White, but his plan fails.
Finally, Snow White ascends the throne and marries the prince. Lady White Jade, of course, uses magic to build a palace for her.
The end. What do you think of this version of Snow White?