Leadership instead of love, rebellion instead of submission, Disney will be revisiting the classic tale of Disney’s “Snow White” (1937) and turning it into another part of their live action remake series. The original film is arguably what launched Disney into its reign over animation. The whimsical nature of the story, hand-drawn animations and messages of positivity and kindness helped “Snow White” become the beloved fairytale it is across generations. Nearly a century later, Disney plans to revisit the masterpiece that started it all. The much-anticipated movie was planned to be released in October of 2023, but it was pushed back due to public criticism and casting controversies of not adhering to the original beloved film. The film is now set to release on March 21st of this year.
Disney casted the “Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” rising star Rachel Zegler for the lead role of Snow White and the “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot for the supporting role of her evil stepmother. These casting decisions have evoked mixed reactions from the avid fans of Disney that have loved “Snow White” since the beginning.
Furthermore, it does not help that Zegler has expressed controversial claims about the original 1937 “Snow White,” calling it ‘dated’ and saying that the prince ‘literally stalks’ the princess.
“I feel like since she is Snow White, she should at least respect the original intellectual property,” Lambert senior Beige Bae said.
Another controversy plaguing the film was Disney’s decision to avoid casting actors with dwarfism, instead make the seven dwarfs completely with computer generated imagery (CGI). Disney feared that they would perpetuate negative stereotypes about people with dwarfism by representing them in derogatory roles of simple-minded servants, miners and cleaners.
“It feels like a weird choice just to use CGI for real people,” Lambert senior Vivian Ho said.
Despite Disney’s worries, some people feel that giving actors with dwarfism the role would have been a huge opportunity for more inclusion, as they usually have a hard time in the industry due to discrimination.
Despite all the backlash and controversy, Disney decided to go ahead and still release the movie. With a budget of $209 million dollars, fans are expecting something great, something that will do justice to the original movie that started it all. In just about four days, the audience will be able to judge if this movie will add an effective modern twist on the story and keep “Snow White” a beloved fairytale for more generations to come, or if it will really be the first step in Disney’s downfall.
