I Waited 25 Years For LEGO To Release A Disney Set Like Snow White’s & The Seven Dwarfs’ Cottage

In 1999, LEGO and Disney started a relationship that has finally led to something brick fans like me have long wanted with the release of the new Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Cottage set. The set’s release marks a (hopefully) new frontier for the brick giants, with a more obvious play factor than some of the other Disney100 sets released for the company’s milestone anniversary. And there’s no compromise on the detail either: this is both an incredibly clever set and a great collectible.

Previously, other than rare exceptions – including the delightful Wall-E set from 2015 – Disney LEGO was limited to the early DUPLO line, or the LEGO Friends lines, which remain consciously targeted young girls. They’re good, but the minifigures are entirely different, and purist LEGO collectors tend not to value them (as indicated by their paucity in the monetary value charts). But Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Cottage is “normal” LEGO, and will sit alongside all other LEGO collections.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Cottage Build Review

Despite this being a set dedicated to a supposed children’s movie (it’s not, the original Disney Animated Classic movie is terrifying), the build is pleasantly complicated. There are surprisingly few large blocks, and masses of very small ones. The colors are vibrant, the details impressive, and the build is very rewarding. It also builds up to a crescendo in its 14 bags when the roof portion comes up (more of which later), but starts gently with the quaint wishing well mini-build.

The end sequence is also a mini-build – of Snow White’s glass coffin – meaning you can pop the first Disney princess in for some slightly morbid roleplay if you so desire. The coffin has a removable glass lid, and a cleverly recessed bed compartment that means Snow White’s solid dress sits flush into it. 10 of the bags come with minifigure builds, and there’s the usual spare parts included to temporarily cause panic. But that’s always just part of the fun.

There are, admittedly, some very fiddly parts, and some that are prone to fall apart at the slightest touch. The Dwarfs table and chairs are likely to detach if the set is moved too enthusiastically, and I knocked the candle in the Dwarfs bedroom off its stand roughly 40 times while building the second level floors. Space is also at a premium here: the interior is crammed with items and details, and there isn’t a lot of room to move anything around once it’s complete. But that is exactly as it should be: the cottage houses 7 people, and their belongings practically burst out. It’s an appropriate choice.

The roof – constructed from bags 8 and 9 – is easily the most complex build section. There’s even a charming warning in the instruction booklet that suggests chaotic builders who do not sort the relevant yellow shingle pieces will be left Grumpy (with an accompanying portrait of the Dwarf), while those who do sort, will be happy (though, hilariously, they include a portrait of Dopey, unwittingly insulting both sides of the coin). Heed this advice, there are lots of shingle pieces, some of which are near-identical, and the time spent there saves more wasted later.

On the same subject, the roof has a removable section to aid interior play (or inspection), which has no stud connections at all, and instead clips into place. This is an interesting choice, given LEGO’s mantra of connectivity, but it also means that portion of the roof is easily knocked off by accident. But the overall effect is a good one.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Cottage Mini-Figures Breakdown

The LEGO Snow White Cottage contains 10 mini-figures as well as 6 LEGO animal figures. Each Dwarf comes with two expressions – Sneezy is caught in two stages “just about to sneeze” and “mid-sneeze” – and each has a comparatively over-sized accessory. Snow White, Prince Charming, and the Old Hag make up the 10. The latter has a fully plastic cloak, while Snow White and Charming have the added material cloaks that never quite sit right (in Snow White’s case, it’s a heavily starched white collar that sticks up).

The best detail in all the minifigures comes courtesy of Dopey, who is one of the rare LEGO minifigures to actually have ears . They’re attached to his hat (a development first brought in for elves), as with the other examples that break one of the unspoken rules of most minifigures, but it would have been unthinkable to ignore such a defining characteristic. He also has a small red lipstick mark on his forehead, recapturing the moment from the movie when Snow White kisses his bald head.

The only real missing element here is the Evil Queen herself – she is represented by the Old Hag minifigure, which makes sense narratively, but the set isn’t quite complete as a result. Luckily, LEGO released the Evil Queen (complete with her Magic Mirror) as part of the Disney 100 minifigure set, so any collector can fill the gap that way (as I already had unwittingly in advance).

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Cottage Overall Thoughts

The LEGO Seven Dwarfs Cottage is a fantastic and complicated set that lives up to its adult rating and the build time and complexity more than justifies the premium price. What sets it apart from the existing DIsney dioramas that were released as part of the Disney 100 line is the active play factor: it would be a great display model, but it also offers more engagement factor. My 7-year-old son played with the cottage as I built it (the LEGO movie villain was wrong about the sanctity of all completed sets), and even without knowledge of the IP was delighted.

As usual, the attention to detail is exhaustive, from the expressions on the Dwarfs’ faces to the hidden elements up in the rafters, and the hidden diamonds and gems around the place. To give the designers the greatest compliment, it feels a lot like a LEGO Ideas set, immaculately conceived by a fan: which isn’t always the case with licensed IPs. There is the same commitment to the build experience and complexity as the Hocus Pocus Sanderson Sisters’ Cottage [21341].

Long may this new tradition of celebratory Disney Animated Classics LEGO sets continue: there is a massive untapped well of potential here for adult collectors (without the enforced static nature of a diorama approach), and I can’t wait to see which sets come next. A Maleficent in dragon form set from Sleeping Beauty would be an instant essential, for instance.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Cottage Key Specs

Here’s all the key information about the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Cottage (43242) set:

LEGO’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Cottage set is available to buy now.