- The live-action remake of Disney’s Snow White stars Rachel Zegler
- It has been dogged by scandal since its conception
- It is out later this year
Disney’s live action Snow White is one of the latest animated classics to make the jump to real life.
The film, due out on 21 March this year, follows other titles from the House of Mouse that have had similar treatment. Smash-hit remakes include The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast and The Lion King.
Read more: What we know about Disney’s live action Snow White as trailer lands
However, this fairytale adaption, which boasts a screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson, has raised some eyebrows following a number of scandals.
Here is everything that it has kicked off so far in connection to the Marc Webb-helmed film.
The casting of Rachel Zegler as live action Snow White
Many people were irate when they learned the West Side Story star would take on the role.
Upon the casting news, Zegler, who is of Colombian and Polish descent, was the target of racist abuse as her skin isn’t “as white as snow”.
She told Variety about how she was “trending on Twitter for days, because all of the people were angry,” before going on to express how “Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries”.
extremely appreciative of the love i feel from those defending me online, but please don’t tag me in the nonsensical discourse about my casting.
— rachel zegler (she/her/hers) (@rachelzegler) July 15, 2023
i really, truly do not want to see it.
so i leave you w these photos! i hope every child knows they can be a princess no matter what pic.twitter.com/AU5PjJutK5
Zegler went on to share childhood pictures of herself dressed as Snow White on social media while urging people not to involve her in the hate.
“Extremely appreciative of the love I feel from those defending me online, but please don’t tag me in the nonsensical discourse about my casting. I really, truly do not want to see it. So I leave you these photos! I hope every child knows they can be a princess no matter what,” she posted.
Read more: Rachel Zegler addresses Snow White backlash
Her comments about the original Snow White
Zegler is known for her frankness when talking to reporters about projects, like how she opted to do Shazam 2 because she “needed a job”.
Her words have gotten her into trouble with many quarters of the Snow White fandom. For example, when she revealed to Entertainment Tonight that she was “scared” of the original film, “watched it once and never picked it up again.”
Later, she sparked backlash when she hinted the new film would adhere to more modern conceptions of womanhood, telling Variety, “It’s no longer 1937” and the princess “not going to be saved by the prince. And she’s not going to be dreaming about true love. She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.”
While on a panel at the 2022 D23 Expo, Zegler dubbed Prince Charming as “a guy who literally stalks her” after he awakens her from her enchanted slumber with a kiss. Labelling it “weird”, she shared that he doesn’t “do that this time”.
Zegler also quipped that Prince Charming, who is called Jonathan in the film and played by Andrew Burnap, “could get cut”, joking, “Who knows? It’s Hollywood, baby.”
The backlash about the dwarves decision
Another issue that cropped up was when it was revealed that only one actor was cast to play the dwarves.
Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage, who has dwarfism, appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast to dub the fairytale a “backwards story”.
He continued that he “was a little taken aback when [Disney] were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you are still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
Disney responded to this, saying that “to avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community.”
Changing the ending
Unconfirmed reports seem to suggest that Disney changed the ending. Nothing has been confirmed but the rumour mill has been going into overdrive.
The people that save Snow White in this version are called the Bandits. Jonathan, the male love interest who ISN'T a prince is also a Bandit. The Bandits are like Robin Hood, they steal from the Queen to feed the poor pic.twitter.com/wQXZ6Q4zGr
— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH) July 18, 2023
One account on X posted how, instead of a prince and dwarves, Jonathan leads seven bandits in a Robin Hood-style gang.
David Hand, the son of the animated classics, complained about any changes, labelling them “woke new things”.
“They change the stories, they change the thought processes of the characters, they just aren’t the original stories anymore. They’re making up new woke things and I’m just not into any of that,” the ex-Disney designer told The Telegraph.
It’s worth taking this with a pinch of salt as all of it remains unconfirmed.
Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot’s political differences
Again, neither party have addressed this head-on but much has been made about the way Zegler takes a very different view on the Israel-Palestine conflict to the Evil Queen actress Gal Gadot.
Much of Zegler’s social media activity has seen her express her views on the topic, for example, posting “and always remember, free Palestine.”
This stands out in stark contrast to Gadot, who has been incredibly vocal in her support for Israel.
In response, Palestinian groups have called for a boycott of the movie.
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel’s Alia Malak urged people to avoid the film due to the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories.
“By choosing to directly represent genocidal Israel, Gal Gadot’s films are boycottable,” she said in a statement.
