The Couple

The Princess: Princess Snow White lives with her wicked stepmother, the Queen, who makes her dress in rags and work as a scullery maid. Her parents died long ago, so the Queen is the only family she knows. Though her stepmother is a harsh and cold woman, Snow White has not lost her sweet and gentle nature. She works very hard and sings and dances everyday and talks to her animal friends, dreaming of the day her handsome prince will take her away to his castle. She especially loves the Seven Dwarfs, who kindly take her in to protect her from the Queen.

The Prince: Prince Charming is a prince from a neighboring kingdom who has fallen deeply in love with Snow White. Though not a lot is known about him, he seems to be a kind and sweet guy who would do anything for his princess. From the movie, and also stories of after they are married, we see that Prince Charming shares Snow White's love for animals, and also is very fond of the seven dwarfs.

The Story: While Snow White sings a song about wishing her love will come find her, Prince Charming, upon hearing her beautiful voice, comes into the garden to listen more closely. Snow White suddenly turns around, and, surprised and flustered to see him appear so suddenly, runs into the castle. Prince Charming calls after her, and proclaims his undying love for her. Snow White, touched, boldly kisses a dove and sends it down to the prince. The Queen sees this, and orders the huntsman to kill Snow White. After staying with the dwarfs, Snow White reveals that she is in love with the prince and wishes to ride with him off to his castle. Once Snow White has fallen into her eternal sleep, Prince Charming searches all over the kingdom for his princess. Once he hears of the beautiful maiden who lies asleep in the glass coffin in the woods, he rides to the clearing where she lay, and sings of his love. He gently kisses her, and she awakens, so happy to see her beloved, she holds out her arms for him. He lifts her onto his horse and takes her away to his castle to be married.

The Theory: My sister came up with this not-so-crazy theory one of the last few times we were watching Snow White. (We watch it A LOT.) Anyways, during the part where the Prince sings, "One Song," she suddenly pauses it and goes, "I"VE GOT IT!" Now, stop us if you think we're crazy, but, her theory was: What if Snow White and the Prince had already met, and it wasn't the "so-called love at first sight" that annoys people? Just think about it for a second. Snow White says that she is wishing for the one she loves (present-tense, note the present tense! loves, not will love!) to find her, not necessarily meet her, but find her, like arrange a rendevous with her. Then, the Prince, astride his horse, hears her, and a huge grin covers his face, as he hurriedly jumps over the wall. Now, unlike Prince Philip in Sleeping Beauty, he did not stop in his tracks while riding and cock his head and say, "What is that? That...voice? Let's go see what it is!" Prince Charming didn't seem at all confused or curious. He looked quite excited, indeed, like he had just found his long-lost girlfriend. And then, when he suddenly appears behind her and joins her in her song, she looks slightly surprised and turns and says "Oh!" Then, the Prince does not say, "How do you do?" or "Pleased to meet you." He just says, "Hello, did I frighten you?" Now, when I've startled someone that I know, that's what I usually say. If the Prince were a stranger to Snow White, I think she'd do more than just say, "Oh." Aurora looked positively terrified when she heard Philip singing with her, and was positively flabbergasted when he started talking to her. Sure, Snow White was surprised to see him, but one usually is a bit startled when someone sneaks up on them. One time, I was listening to music and working at my desk, and my sister snuck in the room to turn up the volume on one of her favorite songs. I saw a hand appear out of nowhere, and I screamed bloody murder! And I've known her all my life! ...But I digress. I know Snow White ran into the castle, but she looked embarrassed, not frightened, probably because she didn't want him to see her in her rags. Then, (and this is the real kicker!) He sings to her, "Now that I've found you, (found, not met!) hear what I have to say!" Then, "One love, that has possessed me (note the PAST tense! If he just met her, how could it have possesed him?) One love, only for you!" Now, as my sister has so wisely said, when you're doing the first animated feature, and it is already SUPER long, you don't want to waste time on backstory! On the Snow White DVD, the animators themselves said that they planned on having the Prince be in it a lot more, like a scene where the Queen kidnaps him, but they had trouble drawing him! So, why bother telling the Prince and Snow White's story, when they can leave it up to the audience's imagination? Later in the movie, when Snow White is telling the dwarfs of her Prince, they ask if he stole a kiss. She replies, "He was so romantic, I could not resist." Well, they certainly did not kiss when they were in the garden, so when did they? Hmm? Now, I know that in some stories about Snow White and the Prince, they do say that they had just met, and it was "love at first sight," but, really, who can trust the stories? Does it actually say that in the movie? NO. 'Nuff said.