Disney’s ‘Snow White’ backlash: “It’s Hollywood, baby”

This week, Disney’s live-action remake of their beloved, animated classic Snow White is set to be released in theatres around the world. However, its production and promotion has been anything but a smooth ride – the once all-conquering media conglomerate finds itself still marred by recent changes in its premiership, writers’ strikes, and box office flop after flop.

In the last decade alone, the Disney conveyor belt has churned out live-action remakes or sequels of all their classic favourites: The Jungle Book (2016); Beauty and the Beast (2017); Aladdin (2019); The Lion King (2019); Mulan (2020); and The Little Mermaid (2023). And that’s barely scratching the surface.

Gone were the days of financing original, more compelling projects done on a modest budget

The problem is, these earlier remakes did rather well: The Jungle Book banked around a billion dollars in the box office, while Beauty and the Beast went 300 million dollars better. The brains behind Disney tasted profit – and lots of it – and so gone were the days of financing original, more compelling projects done on a modest budget.

Having exhausted all their own assets, as well as those of Marvel and Lucasfilm, Disney soon turned to Snow White (1937), their ground-breaking, maiden feature-length animation made by Walt Disney himself, to make a quick buck.

I think it’s fair to say though, that a handful of leaked set photos from two years ago illustrated how Disney took quite the departure from the original nineteenth-century German fairytale written by the Brothers Grimm and even their own animated classic.

Gone were the dwarfs, not just from the title of the screenplay but from the screenplay itself. Instead, six of the seven “fantastical beings” in this live-action remake were being portrayed by able-bodied actors and actresses.

Criticism from certain fans who saw Disney as erasing yet another traditionally white role

Still, Rachel Zegler’s casting in the titular role would prove even more troublesome for Disney. Zegler is of mixed descent, particularly of Colombian on her mother’s side, attracting waves of criticism from certain fans who saw Disney as erasing yet another traditionally white role in film.

The Brothers’ original text told of a queen who dreamt of birthing a child, “so weiß wie Schnee” (as white as snow), “so rot wie Blut” (as red as blood), “und so schwarz wie das Holz an dem Rahmen” (and as black as the wood on the window frame). Upon her birth, the daughter looked just as the queen had hoped, hence the name, Snow White. Similarly, in Walt Disney’s animation, she was described as having “skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, [ and ] hair as black as ebony”.

Now, for me, matters like skin colour and sexuality really don’t matter when casting (most) fictional roles. The principal point of acting is that you’re portraying characters who are not yourself. There is no excuse for any racial discrimination faced by Zegler or any others.

Yet Zegler’s casting was soon to cause further issues for Disney’s prospects of avoiding yet another box office dud.

Beginning on the red carpet at the annual Disney Exposition (2023), Zegler did no less than verbally defecate all over Walt Disney’s original: “True love isn’t even in [ Snow White’s ] mind at all” in the remake.

I’m all for female empowerment, but telling young women to forget finding true love is an absolutely awful message.

Soon came Zegler’s now-infamous line of “All of (co-star) Andrew [ Burnap ]’s scenes could be cut. It’s Hollywood, baby.” In another catastrophic interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zegler continued her chastisement: “It’s no longer 1937 [ … ] The cartoon is extremely dated [ towards ] women being in roles of power.” Zegler wasn’t even trying to hide her hatred of the original. At least in the earlier remakes of this decade, their stars paid their respects to the originals even if certain themes, such as female empowerment, were to be championed.

Even a carefully curated interview with fellow Disney actress Halle Bailey on Variety, in which Zegler now strangely expressed her admiration for the original, could not win back the fans.

The initial trailer was eventually released in August last year, and to great humiliation

In late 2023, the film’s release was delayed by nearly a year, while the initial trailer was eventually released in August last year, and to great humiliation.

The now-animated dwarfs (the “fantastical beings” having been sacked off) looked unconvincing at best, especially given they appear on screen next to actual human beings. Now, I understand my input may be uncalled for given I am able-bodied and no filmmaker, but wouldn’t such prized and historic roles as the Seven Dwarfs in a live-action remake provide the perfect opportunity to cast seven up-and-coming actors and actresses with dwarfism?

The trailer also revealed that the beloved ‘Whistle While You Work’ song had also been ‘updated’. In the original, Snow White (a guest in the dwarfs’ home) promises to help with the household chores: “Now you wash the dishes, you tidy up the room, you clean the fireplace, and I’ll use the broom!” Disney seems to have decided they absolutely could not depict a female character in any sort of domestic role in today’s day and age – even in return for the dwarfs’ hospitality. Instead, Zegler forces them to do all the work, in their own home: “He’ll use the broom!”

Predicted to absolutely tank at the box office in its opening weekend

Our story proceeds to last week, when Disney decided to “scale back” the film’s Hollywood premiere, with the film predicted to absolutely tank at the box office in its opening weekend.

And, the thing is, most of this backlash was of their own doing.

Of course, some backlash towards Zegler and her casting as Snow White very much crossed the line. Yet, this was a deliberate decision on the part of Disney to subvert yet another beloved piece of source material.

The ‘damsel in distress’ narrative has long since expired, but so has that in which supposedly flawless ‘strong female characters’ in film today are fixated purely on themselves. All Zegler had to do was promise to do her best and remain respectful to the original.

The original animation celebrated timeless, universal themes of friendship, loyalty, sacrifice, and love – no wonder it has been adored by multiple generations since. Although, something tells me that Disney’s remake won’t be quite so loved.