Fairytale: Story of the Seven Dwarves (UK Rating: 12A)
Having two names is a distinct disadvantage for a film. The Seventh Dwarf, which currently has a very limited distribution in the UK, comes out on DVD on Monday, 16th March, but under another name: Fairytale: Story of the Seven Dwarves. Despite the naming confusion, Lights, Camera, Action! delves in to find out if it is worth paying attention to.
The film should not be confused with 7 Dwarfs (2004) – complete with spelling mistake – or 7 Dwarves: The Forest is Not Enough (2006), although it is part of the same German series. The first two were live action, but this third part is an animation. According to fans, the dwarves in this one bear more than a passing resemblance to the actors playing the same characters in the first two. Not that an English speaking audience is likely to spot the connection in this dubbed version.
Essentially, the story is the familiar Sleeping Beauty one. Evil witch Dellamorta places a curse on the baby Princess Rose: she will prick her finger and fall into a deep sleep, along with the rest of the royal court. Only true love’s kiss will awaken her. Rose’s true love is the kitchen boy Jack and she’s given him a locket to prove it, but when the curse takes hold, Dellamorta kidnaps Jack and it falls to the Seven Dwarves to rescue him and get him to the princess so that the magic can work.
Hang on! The Seven Dwarves? Aren’t they in Snow White? Strictly speaking, yes, but this is a mash-up of several fairytales and a bit of Tolkein thrown in for good measure. No wonder there’s more than half a dozen people on the writing credits. These dwarves are a very sub-Disney lot, despite having similar characters to their counterparts from the Mouse House. Their names are different, some of them are almost as tall as the humans in the story, and they also have a song to sing when they march along and “Hi-Ho” it most certainly isn’t.
They are symptomatic of the overall film. It’s a Disney wannabe without the budget or talent, so the result is a very poor imitation. The animation is flat and uninspired and the songs mundane, mimicking the style of Paul Williams (composer of the soundtrack to Alan Parker’s Bugsy Malone). The film also aspires to Disney’s live action output, specifically Maleficent, but Dellamorta is no Angelina Jolie. It also leans very heavily towards Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy as well. Dellamorta’s castle looks like the residence of Smaug and, indeed, there is a dragon living there – a smaller one who is her slave and can’t breathe fire. He can smell a dwarf at 50 paces and his name’s Bernie. Geddit?
It’s difficult to work out what age group Fairytale: Story of the Seven Dwarves is aimed at. Clearly it’s for kids and for the younger ones – certainly those that aren’t clued up about fairytales, anyway. There’s a running theme that seems to be aimed at those of about five: it’s all about accidents happening when the youngest dwarf can’t tie up his shoelaces. If that’s its audience, then they will probably be happy enough, as the film is colourful and reasonably easy to follow. That said, Dellamorta might be a bit scary for them, and parents might raise an eyebrow as there is reference to a “love machine” in the closing song.
