Incarnations of "Snow White"

Now that multiple versions of Snow White head toward theatrical release, one of our fine trade papers reports:

... Snow White -- who'll be the star this year of two upcoming movies, Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman-- had her first opening of 2012 with a show of goth-inspired, Disneyesque watercolors by artist Camille Rose Garcia. The exhibit, which debuted at the Michael Kohn Gallery in mid-city Los Angeles, features works that can also be seen in a new illustrated book of the Brothers Grimm fairytale, just published by Harper Design ($14.99). ...

I've got no clear idea why studios are now cranking up new versions of Snow White. The Disney version from 1937 was a blockbuster in its day, breaking box office records and raking in more coin than almost any movie before it. And it's sold millions of DVDs and video-cassetes since.

But Snow White came out 75 years ago, so why all the commercial churn now? I don't get it.

But maybe it's because the studios are comfortable with projects with built-in public awareness, and of course Snow White has that in spades. (Maybe that explains why Disney is doing Maleficent with Angelina Jolie. They've got themselves a pre-sold project.)

And of course there were animated versions of Snow White before Disney. Betty Boop took a run at the fairy tale in 1933. Just as she tackled Cinderella a little while after ... and in glorious Cinecolor, too!