It's an animated showdown at the video store this month, with a "beauty" (Snow White) versus a "beast" (Shrek). Animation's first feature-length blockbuster is going head to head with 2001's biggest animated hit. Both are superior examples of what DVD technology can provide -- whether you are a techno-junkie, animation historian, devoted fan or just-plain love movies.

The First Lady
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs was, as anyone reading this Website should already know, Walt Disney's first animated feature film. Released in 1937, it was the Titanic of its day; a huge gamble that became a mega-blockbuster and beloved classic. Though a little primitive by later standards, the film was a major accomplishment in the art of animation, as well as a landmark in motion picture storytelling.

This DVD release gave the studio a reason to, yet again, restore the film to pristine perfection. The picture and sound here are a revelation. The soundtrack is crystal clear and the visuals are very bright and clean. Maybe too bright and clean. Looking at the movie on DVD makes it hard to believe this film was produced in 1937. There is no film grain and the colors are bright, sharp and vivid. (Compare them to the numerous theatrical trailers contained in the bonus materials.)

Can a restoration be too good? I have not done a side by side comparison to the previous laser disc or VHS versions, but if I had one observation to note, it would be that some of the lit scenes here seem a tad too bright. When the Dwarfs first come across Snow White, they are searching around their cottage with a small candle lantern. The light emitted feels like a halogen bulb -- 500 watts of brightness -- illuminating every nook and cranny.

"Clean" is the other big word coming to mind while watching this DVD. If this is what today's digital technology can do for a 1937 cartoon, then bring on Silly Symphonies, Happy Harmonies and Merrie Melodies! "Old" Hollywood cartoons need not look and feel like ancient relics -- and this disc proves it.

As for the bonus materials -- this is a film buff's idea of heaven. While there is a fair amount of extra material here for families and kids (a Barbra Streisand video, sing-along sections and a Dopey video game -- and I use the word "dopey" here as an adjective), the archive material for the serious film fan is priceless. I cannot think of a thing they've left out. There are deleted sequences and animation art presented here I've never seen or heard of before.