Disney’s heavily criticized live-action remakes have been a huge topic of discussion amongst fans of the original films. This time, with Snow White, audiences have been particularly… grumpy. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the original Disney animated film, was released in 1937 and was focused on Snow White being saved through true love’s kiss by a prince after falling victim to a poisoned apple given to her by the Evil Queen. In the new film, released in 2025, Snow White proves herself a powerful leader against the tyranny of the Evil Queen, who tries to kill her. There isn’t a prince. There is someone named Jonathan, though.
The casting in the film was questionable, with the only strong choice being Zegler. Rachel Zegler is easily the best part of the film. She has a striking stage presence, a powerful voice, and gives intense acting choices. There is just one issue with the casting that many people were not scared to point out. She doesn’t have skin as white as snow. The American actress has roots that trace back to Colombia, giving her a darker skin color than the white skin the titular character is named after. This has created controversy online and has even prompted companies such as The Daily Wire to produce a remake of the original fairy tale with a more accurate representation of the titular character’s ethnicity.
Not only is Zegler being discriminated against because her ethnicity does not match that of the original fairytale, but she has also outwardly spoken against the original film. The actress criticized the character of Snow White in the original film for relying on the prince.
Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen was the worst casting choice in this movie. Not only can she not act, as seen before in previous roles, but she can’t sing. This may not have been as big of an issue if Disney had decided to stay true to the original animated film, where the queen does not sing, but instead, the Evil Queen has a new villain song and a reprise. “All is Fair” is painful to the ears of all who listen, not just because of Gadot’s lack of singing talent but because of the cringeworthy lyrics. The only redeeming quality about Gadot’s Evil Queen is her wardrobe in the film.
The other characters in the film felt extremely lackluster. There is no prince in the film; instead, there is a male lead named Jonathan, played by Andrew Burnap. He is intended to be Snow White’s love interest, but he does not appear that much in the film, and the addition of him to the story feels like a weak idea. The dwarfs were forgettable as not one of them stood out above the rest. It is believed that the film had decided not to feature dwarfs and instead include magical creatures, but due to backlash, this idea was scrapped. Audiences can tell that the idea to include dwarfs was a last-minute decision due to the poor computer animation done on the dwarfs, making them look like big CGI globs.
The film includes four of the eight original songs from the 1937 animated film, “Heigh-Ho,” “Whistle While You Work,” “The Silly Song,” and “Someday My Prince Will Come.” New songs include an I want song for Snow White titled “Waiting on a Wish,” an ensemble opening song titled “Good Things Grow,” a love duet between Snow White and Jonathan titled “A Hand Meets a Hand,” and the infamous villain song for the Evil Queen, “All is Fair.” The new songs feel off when put in the same film as the original songs. There is a clear contrast in style and songwriting between the new and old tracks.
In an attempt to bring a more diverse representation to Hollywood, Disney released its live-action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, simply titled Snow White. The film is forgettable and lacks the heart the original film has. Hopefully, Disney can improve their future live-action remakes by staying true to the source material, something this film proved should be done, and expanding on the story where necessary.
