A new live-action version by Disney, starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot.
Many of the characters in Snow White have been seen in other movies and tv shows too, and have almost become stock characters for other fairy tale stories: the damsel-in-distress, the evil step-mother, the charming prince, and a magic mirror have all been used in countless Disney and non-Disney stories. In the original Snow White, the Evil Queen uses the Magic Mirror to ask “Who is the fairest in all the land?”, and when the answer changes to Snow White, the Evil Queen uses the mirror to track down Snow White, so she can use her poison apples on her. A character in itself, the Magic Mirror is crucial for the Evil Queen to enact her plans to eradicate Snow White before being the first Disney villain to be killed off.
A new theory (via Disney's best Princess movie and explores the possibility of a narrative that needs exploring.
Who Is The Magic Mirror?
The Magic Mirror in Snow White has disputed origins and versions of the story massively differ, although its purpose largely remains the same. From adaptations of the original Snow White fairy tale, the Magic Mirror has been a person, animal, or moon, and it has been understood to be the voice of Snow White’s father comparing his wife and daughter’s beauty. In Disney’s Snow White, the Magic Mirror is a spirit trapped in a mirror and is referred to as the Slave in the Magic Mirror. Snow White using an imprisoned spirit suggests that the Magic Mirror has its own consciousness, and although it is trapped in the Evil Queen’s mirror, it is still aware of the world and its actions.
Is The Magic Mirror Evil?
The Magic Mirror may not be explicitly evil in itself, but it is certainly a catalyst for the Queen’s evil actions. The origin of the spirit trapped inside the mirror is not known, so it cannot be judged on any previous actions or even for the reason it is imprisoned in the mirror. It could be that evil actions caused its entrapment as a punishment, or that the Evil Queen trapped it herself for her own gain, but that is just speculative and cannot be known for sure. Based on Disney’s Snow White story, the Magic Mirror does not create the plans for the Evil Queen but simply tells her information, what the Evil Queen chooses to do based on that information is not the fault of the Magic Mirror.
On the other hand, the Magic Mirror never holds back information despite knowing it will endanger Snow White’s life. The Magic Mirror fuels the Evil Queen’s vanity and jealousy and when the Evil Queen presumes Snow White is dead, the Magic Mirror shows the Queen Snow White’s location with the Seven Dwarfs. The Magic Mirror’s information causes evil, whether it be against Snow White, as a bigger plan to get rid of the Evil Queen knowing her own jealousy would be her demise, or just to cause chaos. This would imply that the Magic Mirror does have evil intentions and the Evil Queen, who has been replicated in Tangled, may not be the root cause of the attack on Snow White.
The Evil Magic Mirror Theory Explained
The theory about the Magic Mirror being evil explains how, firstly, the Magic Mirror does not look like a good guy and although this may be a broad assumption, Disney illustrate their villains in similar ways, often using green to show someone is evil which is the color of the smoke the Magic Mirror’s face appears with. The theory also points out the Magic Mirror does not look like an inanimate object which emphasizes the fact it is an imprisoned spirit. The Evil Magic Mirror theory points out all the original Evil Queen’s actions are caused by the Magic Mirror, it fuels her vanity and jealousy and lets her act out all her plans while remaining in the safety of the castle which the theory refers to as a perfect master plan.
The theory also mentions the Magic Mirror in the only Princess movie for thirteen years, and implies the Queen may not have been pushed to her plans without the Magic Mirror’s influence on her.
Would The Evil Queen Have Become Good Without The Magic Mirror?
It is unknown how long the Evil Queen has been in possession of the Magic Mirror; old versions of the story say the King gifted it to her, but this is not shown in Disney’s version. Due to her vanity, jealousy, and actions towards Snow White, it is safe to assume that the Evil Queen has always been evil, and not having the Magic Mirror probably would not have changed that. The Magic Mirror never told the Evil Queen to get rid of Snow White or that she needed to be fairest in the land, it was her own vanity that pushed her towards that.
However, without the Magic Mirror’s influence, the Queen may not have been driven to commit the evil acts that she did. Her vanity drove her to get rid of the fairest Snow White, but the Magic Mirror massively fueled this vanity and was an enabler in the Evil Queen finding Snow White which she would have been unable to do without the Magic Mirror. Not having the Magic Mirror would not have made the Evil Queen good, but its presence definitely made her much more evil in Snow White.
