A live-action remake of the Disney classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs It has been consistently panned by critics before the release of the movie 2025, causing a lot of controversy.
It’s a simple truth: it’s practically impossible to please everyone. No matter how well-intentioned a show or movie comes across, there will always be those who choose resentment or even anger as their response.
For more than a decade, Walt Disney Studios has gone to the well again and again, developing live-action entertainment from some of its classics such as The Lion King And The Lady and the Tramp.
These films have been met with mixed reviews, but the general consensus is that many fans have not taken kindly to the new age versions.
Why so much controversy surrounding Rachel Zegler’s Snow White?
During the 2024 D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, a cavalcade of Disney luminaries and talent took the stage at the studio’s showcase panel to showcase the latest animation and live-action projects.
One film that fell into the latter category received a teaser trailer in anticipation of a March 2025 release date. That movie was Snow Whitelive-action remake of Disney’s first animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Unfortunately, it’s not all sunshine and roses for the adaptation, as controversy and anger have piled on the production in recent months.
The discussion started when Rachel Zegler was chosen as the title character.
Zegler is of Colombian descent, which was seized upon by certain groups as a betrayal of Snow White’s native status. “skin white as snow.” This line also appears in the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale, which only fueled the flames of discontent.
Then the comics leaked. These images captured in 2022 by paparazzi lurking near the set Snow Whitefeatured Zegler in costume surrounded by a colorful assortment of other individuals of all shapes and sizes intended to be the Seven Dwarfs.
The backlash was as immediate as it was intense. The denizens of the internet criticized the diversity of the dwarves, as well as the fact that the little people didn’t portray them as an unnecessary attempt at political correctness.
Disney was quick to officially dismiss the cartoons originally published by The Daily Mail as fakes, even though the outlet maintained they were genuine.
The studio later confirmed that to The Hollywood Reporter Snow White took a “a different approach” Seven dwarfs to avoid “reinforcing stereotypes:”
“Avoid reinforcing the stereotypes of the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have consulted with members of the dwarf community… We look forward to sharing more as the film moves into production after a long development period.”
It was certainly a departure from the source material, but culture and attitudes have changed in the nearly 90 years since the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs decorated movie theaters. Disney clearly felt it was within its rights to make these changes.
But the conversation around Snow White didn’t stop there.
Rachel Zegler was interviewed by Variety in September 2022, where she described Snow White’s primary motivation in the remake as not the search for true love, but the journey “Become the leader he knows he can be”
“I just mean it’s not 1937 anymore. We definitely wrote ‘Snow White’ which… The prince isn’t going to save her and she’s not going to dream of true love, she’s going to be the leader that she knows she can be and that her late his father told him he could be if he were fearless, just, brave and true.”
A dramatically updated take for sure. But in 1937 Snow White has been done, women did not exercise the same power or have the same privileges as they do today. The changes to Snow White’s story were apparently made to better reflect modern values.
Also, young children who watch these movies tend to cling to these characters as idols and role models. The creative team behind it Snow White probably didn’t see fit to portray a character whose emotional arc revolves around finding love, opting instead for something more personally empowering.
This perspective was shared by Zegler, who commented to Extra TV that his character’s story is not spinning “a love story with a man who literally stalks her”
“The original comic was published in 1937, and apparently so. It focuses heavily on her love story with a man who is literally stalking her. Strange. So we didn’t do that this time.”
Still, the crowd’s cry of dissatisfaction was loud and repeated. These included remarks from David Hand, the son of the facility’s supervising director Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs from -37. Hand believes that Walt Disney himself would “strongly disagree” directed by a live-action film:
“It’s a completely different concept and I totally disagree with it, and I know my dad and Walt would strongly disagree as well.”
A bold assumption about the opinions of a man who has been dead since the 60s aside, Hand also quickly titled the film with a notorious buzzword favored by…certain segments of the American population: “I woke up.”
“Their ideas are so radical now. They’re changing the stories, they’re changing the thought process of the characters, … they’re coming up with new woke things, and I’m just not into that. I find it a little insulting, frankly, (what) they’ve been able to do with some of these classic movies… No respect for what Disney did and what my dad did… I think Walt and him would be turning in their graves.
Hand’s loyalty to his father and Walt Disney is understandable in context, but it’s also important to remember that Disney was a pretty open-minded and incredibly creative guy. If he were alive today, it’s clear that he could accept a new one Snow White as some may choose to believe.
Speaking to Vanity Fair in October 2022, Rachel Zegler continued to advocate for modernization Snow White:
“People make these jokes about us being the PC ‘Snow White,’ where it’s like, yes, it is—because it needed it. It’s an 85-year-old comic, and our version is a refreshing story about a young woman who has to do something other than “One day a prince will come.”
Snow White 2025 movie trailer Talkback
To get back on topic Snow WhiteThe YouTube upload of the trailer video that premiered during D23 was repeatedly and aggressively bombarded. YouTube removed its dislike counter a while ago, but downvotes can still be revealed with a Chrome browser extension.
The Snow White Uploaded to Walt Disney Studios’ official channel last Saturday night (August 10) (about 24 hours after the original upload), the trailer has 193,000 dislikes and 47,000 likes.
Oddly enough, the cast of different heights, bodies and ethnicities that represented the dwarves in the leaked 2022 comics are nowhere to be found in any of the teasers. Instead, the Seven Dwarfs look pretty animation-accurate.
It seems that Disney opted for a more authentic approach to the iconic characters for the 1937 film, perhaps in response to public opposition. Still, the aversions persist.
Whatever the case, no matter how loud the naysayers scream Snow Whiteafter all, this is a movie made strictly with young children in mind.
Children are an impressionable bunch, and maybe, just maybe, their spongy brains are better evidenced by characters whose portrayals aren’t rooted in the societal norms of a bygone era and are instead presented more sensitively with modern ideals.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs hits theaters everywhere on March 21, 2025.
Read more about other upcoming Disney movies:
Zootopia 2: D23 reveals first look at new and returning characters
Moana 2: D23 trailer officially released, new poster and news (watch)
Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu Movie Trailer Description: Zeb Returns, AT-ATs & More (D23)
