Jonathan Pageau, A New Snow White, and Resisting Postmodernism

Few people realize what a revolutionary work Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was. We may know that it was the first full-length animated feature film, and we may even know that many at the time of its release were skeptical that a cartoon could ever maintain viewers’ attention for 83 minutes. Other than that, though, we generally speak about Snow White’s traditional approach to its fairy-tale subject (like that of later Disney hits like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty) as though it was the obvious choice. Snow White came out in 1937; it was always going to be old-fashioned.

In reality, though, Snow White could very easily have been the kind of subversive, deconstructive film that we now associate with works like Shrek. Just a year before the film entered into production, one of Disney’s chief Rivals, Fleischer Studios, released their own version of Snow White, and it looked quite different from the film that Disney would eventually produce. The seven-minute cartoon is available on YouTube, and it is as mesmerizing as it is subversive. The highly sexual Betty Boop is Snow White, and the plot is only quite loosely based on the traditional folk tale. Despite the unfamiliar style, contemporary viewers would easily recognize the kind of deconstructive approach that characterizes much of our contemporary media.

Instead of following Fleisher, Walt Disney made the conscious choice to present the fairy tale in a fairly traditional way, which helped to solidify a healthy respect for and appreciation of fairy tales for decades. Today, we can still learn from Mr. Disney’s wisdom. Media aimed at children tends to fall into one of two categories: first, there is the subversive, and, second, there is the poorly-made. Christians, conservatives, and all those who do not fall into line with the dominant lines of culture should seize this moment and make works of art that are informed by tradition, in the hopes of forming new generations of children.

At least that’s the argument presented by Jonathan Pageau, an Eastern Orthodox iconographer, YouTuber, friend of Jordan Peterson, and the author of the forthcoming picture book, Snow White and the Widow Queen.

An old tale for a new day

Fairy tales and folk stories are, of course, very traditional things. Children have been reared on them since time immemorial, and their story beats can sometimes be traced back thousands of years. In recent decades, however, many fairy tales have come under fire for their supposedly outdated ideas of male heroism and female submissiveness. As a result, many contemporary tellings of these stories alter them radically, often leading not only to shallower and less attractive stories, but to moral meanings that are precisely contrary to their traditional interpretations.

Pageau, however, believes that the old tales still have much to teach children and adults alike. Thus, he has decided to begin an eight-book series of fairy tale picture books. The first four will focus on stories about female protagonists (Snow White, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella), while the other four will be stories with male protagonists (beginning with Jack and the beanstalk).

While these books will not be intentionally subversive, that does not mean they will be slavish reproductions of previous editions. Instead, Pageau is seizing on the “postmodern moment” and connecting the stories in subtle ways. Characters from one story will have roles in the other stories. By doing this, though, he does not aim to deconstruct these fairy tales, but instead to reinforce their beauty and power.

The books will have beautiful illustrations, with Snow White and the Widow Queen’s being done by Heather Pollington, known for her work on films from Disney and Marvel as well as the Harry Potter series and Hellboy II.

The physical book is designed to be a thing of beauty. Hardcover with a cloth bookmark, everything about the object is meant to instill wonder in both children and adults. The art is influenced by secular Western art and architecture as well as both Western and Eastern traditions of iconography. Those intrigued by the artistic side of the work should be sure to watch this conversation between the author and the illustrator.

In order to fund production of the book, Pageau is using the crowdfunding platform KickStarter. For those unfamiliar, Kickstarter is a company that, in their words, “help[s] bring creative projects to life,” by allowing artists to solicit financial contributions for their upcoming projects. Differently sized contributions are given different “rewards.” Snow White and the Widow Queen’s Kickstarter is available for contributions until July 6. However, once the book is released, it will be available for purchase on Pageau’s website, The Symbolic World.

Pageau is well-known in Christian conservative circles for his thoughtful analyses of art and popular culture, and he has previously collaborated on a graphic novel about Saints George and Christopher called God’s Dog: Monster. Let us pray that his imaginative work on fairy tales will help to heal our ailing culture.