Snow White

"Someday, my prince will come. " -- Snow White, 1937 In a hotel in Canada hangs this picture, someone's mischievous take on Snow White a few years after happily ever after. She is posed in an anonymous suburban den. Behind her, Prince Charming slouches in a chair, slowly going to seed. Snow has a babe in arms and a few other rug rats scattered about the floor. She faces you with an expression that seems to ask, is this all there is? It is less a comment on marriage than on the notion that marriage is the holy grail of a woman's existence, the finish line of her life's hopes, dreams and goals.

Reviews for "Snow White and the Huntsman," a dark and violent retelling of the fairy tale, are all over the map. This movie follows the recent release of a comic adaptation -- "Mirror, Mirror" with Julia Roberts and Nathan Lane -- and they couldn't be more different. "Snow White and the Huntsman" is driven by special effects, and a vicious queen, played by Charlize Theron. Snow White (Kristen Stewart) is much more feisty too -- far, far from a naive fairy tale character. Sounds like a movie you will love or hate.

Reviews for "Snow White and the Huntsman," a dark and violent retelling of the fairy tale, are all over the map. This movie follows the recent release of a comic adaptation -- "Mirror, Mirror" with Julia Roberts and Nathan Lane -- and they couldn't be more different. "Snow White and the Huntsman" is driven by special effects, and a vicious queen, played by Charlize Theron. Snow White (Kristen Stewart) is much more feisty too -- far, far from a naive fairy tale character. Sounds like a movie you will love or hate.

"Someday, my prince will come. " -- Snow White, 1937 In a hotel in Canada hangs this picture, someone's mischievous take on Snow White a few years after happily ever after. She is posed in an anonymous suburban den. Behind her, Prince Charming slouches in a chair, slowly going to seed. Snow has a babe in arms and a few other rug rats scattered about the floor. She faces you with an expression that seems to ask, is this all there is? It is less a comment on marriage than on the notion that marriage is the holy grail of a woman's existence, the finish line of her life's hopes, dreams and goals.

Long before the Big Mac or the Whopper entered my life, there was the Big'un from the Snow White Drive-In in St. Joseph, Mo.It was my first double-decker hamburger, the burger of my youth.The meat in the Big'un was juicer, its three buns were toastier, and its sauce was saucier than any other hamburger I have eaten.Not only did I eat uncounted numbers of the sandwich, I also cooked a few of them.When I was 17 I got my first and, as it turned out, my only, job in the restaurant industry. I was soda jerk at Snow White.

Editor's note: Two sisters help a grumpy dwarf who repays their kindness by sacrificing them to a bear. Luckily, the bear turns out to be an old friend.When the girls went into the woods to collect kindling, they came upon a clearing where a huge tree had fallen. They noticed a small creature jumping up and down on top of the trunk, and when they came closer, they saw it was a dwarf. The end of his long beard was stuck in a crack of the tree."Why are you just staring at me?" screamed the dwarf.

The relationship between the Christmas season and children grew even closer last weekend when the Children's Theatre of Annapolis presented a cute, charming, funny production of "Snow White Goes West" at the Pascal Theater of Anne Arundel Community College.In this version of the Grimm brothers' tale, Snow White leaves Disney behind and heads to California with her Pappy to cash in on the gold strike of the 1840s.When Mr. White marries the dubious Queenie and dies suddenly, his daughter is left in the clutches of that devious saloonkeeper.

Seven harsh truths about "Snow White":1.) The dwarfs aren't really that great.2.) The prince? A geek.3.) Snow's singing voice gets on your last nerve.4.) Dopey? You'd lock up your kids if he moved into the 'hood.5.) No, they didn't have to re-upholster all 5,000 seats in Radio City Music Hall after the movie had played because of all the "accidents" but . . . isn't it pretty to think so?6.) How overrated is "Some Day My Prince Will Come"?7.) The little bump on the witch's nose was the scariest thing about her and probably cost a generation of grandmothers millions of kisses and hugs.

LOS ANGELES -- Once upon a time, there was a girl named Snow White, two brothers named Grimm and a guy named Walt Disney.Snow was having a bit of trouble with her evil stepmother. The Brothers Grimm picked up on the story. Disney turned it into a Technicolor wonder of animation.Fifty-six years later, the re-release of Disney's popular film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" invites comparisons to the Grimms' 19th-century version of the tale.Disney did not stray too far from the Grimms' rendition, according to one expert.

"Hi-ho! Hi-ho! You ought to see the show." That is the song that drama students at North Carroll High School are singing as they invite the public to their production of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs of the Black Forest."Directed by drama teacher Roberta Rooney, the play gives the students an opportunity to showcase the school's wealth of talent."We picked the play with a play-reading committee because it was fun and it offered more people the opportunity to act," Ms. Rooney said.This version of the children's story involves Queen Bella, played by 17-year-old senior Debbie Fleming, and her desire to be the most beautiful in the land.

This week's featured adaptation is "Mirror, Mirror," the humorous retelling of the Grimm fairy tale about Snow White and the jealous Queen, and reviews are encouraging. Of course, it won't have a chance of beating the debut of "The Hunger Games," which brought in more than $150 million in its opening weekend. But it looks like an entertaining treatment, and the cast has some star power with Julia Roberts and Nathan Lane. Here are excerpts from "Mirror, Mirror" reviews.

Last week, Shrek The Third, another in a series of popular animation films, opened in theaters. What's your favorite fairy-tale movie and why? WHAT YOU SAY My favorite fairy-tale movie? Well, there was Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas ... I could go on and on, but my favorite was The Lion King. The animation was perfect, as were the voice-over characters, but the story line was so poignant which made the entire movie quite unforgettable. Freda Garelick, Baltimore My all-time favorite is, and always will be, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The damsel cast an image of striking beauty: mocha-colored skin, captivating eyes, coiffed hair, posing in a feathery dress and see-through veil. For a character that won't be in an animated movie for another two years, her arrival has been the subject of discussion for years -- long before she was ever drawn. Maddy, a 19-year-old heroine to be featured in the coming film The Frog Princess, will be Disney animation's first black leading lady. That makes her the Sole Sister among a group of cartoon icons that brings out the inner princess in preteen girls worldwide -- characters like Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel and Mulan.

If a dorky looking guy with a bad perm and a "Vote for Pedro" T-shirt shows up at your door Monday night, don't be alarmed. Napoleon Dynamite costumes are among the most popular flying off the shelves as kids young and old get ready for Halloween. We checked with several stores in the area to see what else you can expect on your doorstep this year. Target in White Marsh Men: Napoleon Dynamite Women: Daisy Duke Children: Disney characters (especially Mickey, Minnie, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White)

Robots [Fox] $30 Robots is a visually stunning, computer-animated, family comedy from the creative team of Ice Age. The best of the extras are the original Robots short used to pitch the movie; a decent "making of" featurette; a mini-documentary on the Blue Man Group, who collaborated on the score; an informative look at the creation of each character, including interviews with the voice actors; and laid-back commentary with director Chris Wedge and...

Black history festival Explore the culture and history of Maryland's African- American community at the Maryland Historical Society's Family Festival Sunday. The festival, which highlights the nation's most noted African-Americans from Maryland, is in celebration of Black History Month. The Family Festival runs 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at the Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. Monument St. $7-$8. Advance registration recommended. Call 410-685-3750, ext. 321 or visit www.mdhs.org. Music at Strathmore Grammy-nominated musical groups Trout Fishing in America and Dan Zanes & Friends perform Sunday at the Music Center at Strathmore.

My daddy took my brother, Benjamin, and me to see "Snow White" at the Annapolis Dinner Theater the other day, and we really liked it a lot.When we got there, my brother, who's 4, told the lady, "Your reviewers are here," which was sort of embarrassing.I was really excited when "Prince Charming" took us to our table. I really liked him; he looked so much like a prince.And Shannon came to my table to bring me a drink and she was "Snow White." She really looked like Snow White. She had a red ribbon and red cheeks.

Prague -- A visitor can spend a lot of time on the set of "Snow White in the Black Forest" without seeing a dwarf.No Dopey. No Grumpy. No Happy. No Doc. No little lost birds. No jolly songs. No whistling while you work. In fact, the whole thing looks quite sinister.The mood is dark and brooding; the sets look more like they would fit into "Dracula" or "Frankenstein" than a children's story; and the forest is filled with bats, bears and snarling wolves, not helpful squirrels, deer and mice.

The death of veteran Disney animator Ward Kimball in early July brought the phrase "Nine Old Men" back into the public eye. The Nine, the men who helped make Disney and defined the house style of Mouse House animation, changed animated films forever. And with each one's passing, we remember again just how special these guys were. Walt Disney affectionately dubbed them "Nine Old Men," borrowing from Franklin D. Roosevelt's gripe about the U.S. Supreme Court, "nine old men, all too aged to recognize a new idea."

Storytelling at Hampton Mansion Kids today might curl up with a Harry Potter book, a Goosebumps tale or maybe something from the Arthur series. And parents may lull their younger set to sleep with a Dr. Seuss book or a Curious George story. Times have changed indeed. Back in the day when the Hampton Mansion was occupied - from 1790 to 1948 - children were occupied by hearing stories of Homer, Shakespeare and Dickens. Sunday, visitors to Hampton Mansion will hear a variety of tales that the children who lived in Hampton may have heard.