Snow White (1987) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The huntsman could not go through with killing an innocent young girl. When a goat messenger revealed the Queen's true intent to murder Snow White, the huntsman's resolve falters completely, and he allows her to escape into the forest instead.

• huntsman
• amnon meskin
• queen's orders
• mercy
• forest escape

When the huntsman took Snow White into the forest to carry out the Queen's orders, a goat acted as a messenger and revealed the Queen's murderous intent. This revelation caused the huntsman to spare her, and Snow White used the opportunity to flee deeper into the wilderness.

• goat
• escape
• huntsman
• queen's plot
• forest

After learning Snow White survived, the Queen made three distinct attempts because each previous method failed. First, she disguised herself as a gypsy and used a laced bodice, but the dwarves returned in time to cut it. Next, she posed as a Japanese geisha with a poisoned comb, which the dwarves removed. Finally, she succeeded with a poisoned apple, the only method the dwarves could not prevent.

• evil queen
• diana rigg
• poison
• bodice
• comb
• apple
• disguise

After Snow White fell into her deep sleep from the poisoned apple, the dwarves placed her in a glass coffin because they believed she was merely sleeping, not dead. They hoped a miracle might yet restore her, keeping watch over her in hopes she would awaken.

• glass coffin
• sleep
• death
• dwarves
• hope
• miracle

While the dwarves transported Snow White's coffin to a resting place, a fierce blizzard caused a tree to collapse and jolt the coffin. This sudden movement dislodged the piece of poisoned apple from her throat, allowing her to breathe and revived her.

• blizzard
• coffin
• apple
• awakening
• revival
• jolt

The magic mirror was the source of the Queen's supernatural beauty and longevity. When she shattered it in a fury upon learning Snow White was still the fairest, she lost the magic that had sustained her youth, causing her to age rapidly into an old woman.

• magic mirror
• aging
• beauty
• power
• diana rigg
• queen's doom

On the wedding day, when the Queen asked the mirror who was the fairest, it proclaimed Snow White as the fairest in the land. This final verdict shattered the Queen's remaining hope and triggered her violent destruction of the mirror.

• magic mirror
• fairest
• wedding
• queen's rage
• final verdict

The Queen disguised herself as an old peddler woman, making herself appear trustworthy. Snow White, having lived safely with the dwarves, was innocent enough to accept food from what seemed like a harmless elderly vendor, not realizing it was another assassination attempt.

• queen's disguise
• apple
• peddler
• snow white's trust
• innocence

When word reached the King that Snow White had been eaten by wild animals, his heart broke from grief. His sorrow over losing his daughter, combined with the instability caused by the Queen's schemes and the ensuing war, led to his death.

Foreshadowing: The King was established as a loving father who doted on Snow White from birth, making his grief believable.

• king douglas sheldon
• death
• grief
• war
• kingdom

The Prince was traveling through the forest on a quest for the greatest treasure when he came upon Snow White in the glass coffin. Enchanted by her beauty, he asked for her hand in marriage, and she accepted.

• prince james ian wright
• coffin
• quest
• treasure
• marriage proposal

Despite aging into an old woman after the mirror shattered, the Queen's desperate rage gave her the strength to rush to the church in a final attempt to stop Snow White's wedding. Her blind fury briefly sustained her, but her doom was already sealed.

• queen's death
• church
• rage
• final confrontation

The Evil Queen married King Douglas Sheldon to gain power and position. Her vanity and jealousy only emerged and intensified after she became queen, particularly when the magic mirror revealed that Snow White had surpassed her in beauty.

• evil queen
• motivation
• power
• jealousy
• marriage
• king