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Snow White is as closely connected to the Disney empire as Mickey Mouse, but Walt was actually inspired to animate the German fairy tale after seeing a live-action version as a teen. Before Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot premiere their own controversy-mired live-action version in March, relive the magic that inspired Uncle Walt on Saturday, Jan. 18, at Clinton Street Theater. There, Seattle harpist Leslie McMichael will play the original score she wrote nearly a decade ago for the 1916 silent film Snow White, backed on viola by her sister, Barbara.
Northwest Film Forum commissioned McMichael’s score nearly a decade ago for Snow White’s centennial celebration. Since its debut at Seattle’s Children’s Film Festival in 2016, McMichael has since toured her score across the country.
The 1916 Snow White is adapted from a 1912 play that itself marks the centennial anniversary of when the Brothers Grimm adapted “Schneeweißchen” for their anthology series. The movie was long considered a lost film, rumored to have been destroyed in a warehouse fire that plagued movies of the era, which were then printed on highly flammable nitrate film stock.
Someday the prints will come, cinephiles prayed for decades. Their dreams were realized after a mostly complete Dutch copy of Snow White was discovered in 1992 and restored from there. McMichael obtained a DVD copy and made copious notes about character motifs over multiple viewings.
“It’s thrilling to play live and pair the visuals of film with my music,” McMichael said in an emailed statement. “With every performance, we get to use our instruments to underscore the expressive acting so typical of the silent era—very fun!”
SEE IT: Snow White at Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 971-808-3331, cstpdx.com. 3 pm Saturday, Jan. 18. $15.