Movie Review: Snow White, poisoned from the start

By: Rachel Meatte

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” According to critics and Disney fans, it’s not “Snow White.” From the start, the film was rocked with controversy starting with the main actress Rachel Zegler who plays a young enchanting Snow White hunted down by her evil Stepmother “The Evil Queen” played by actor Gal Gadot.  

Back in 2021 when it was announced that Zegler was to play the young princess, online users immediately criticized Disney stating that it was a mistake to cast a Latinx woman in a story originally portrayed as a white cartoon. Zegler, who is of Colombian descent, responded to the critics in a now-deleted X post stating, “yes i am snow white no i am not bleaching my skin for the role.” That was just the beginning of a long and treacherous controversy that would plague the film to its release and reviews. 

Disney previously adapted the classic 1937 animation into the 2012 live action “Snow White and the Huntsman” starring actress Kristen Stewart. Previous adaptations like “Cinderella” in 2015 have proved very successful, making over $500 million in the box office. “Mufasa: The Lion King” which made $700 million at the box office became one of the studio’s highest grossing films of 2024. However, adaptations like “Mulan” which made a gross of $69.9 million worldwide despite a $200 million budget show how hit or miss these decisions can be.  

Disney continued despite the controversy and went into pre-production including the animation of the seven dwarves that were an essential part of the original film. Actor Peter Dinklage, who starred in the famous “Game of Thrones” series spoke in a 2022 podcast about the film’s decision to keep the dwarves despite making alterations with “Snow White.”  

“It makes no sense to me. You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that f****** backward story about seven dwarves living in a cave together?” Dinklage, who has a rare form of dwarfism, criticized the film’s interpretation of dwarves who lived in caves and the negative stigmas it reinforced about dwarfism.  

In Disney’s attempt to avoid reinforcing stereotypes, they announced it would change the classical dwarves to magical creatures instead.  

The original 1937 film was based upon a book written by the Brothers Grimm writers who were known for German folklore novels involving often grim subject matter. The original story does include negative stereotypes of dwarves who work in caves and are portrayed as dirty, unintelligent people. 

At this point, the film was years away from its theatrical release but had already stirred the pot of controversy. Zegler got into hot water again when she said during an interview with Extra that the prince in the original film basically stalked Snow White.  

“The original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so. There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird!” Zegler said. People on X criticized Zegler for comparing the prince to a stalker with one user tweeting, “It just gets worse and worse…. The new Snow White says that the Prince was a creepy stalker and suggests that all scenes of the Prince could be cut. She’s a walking PR disaster for Disney.” 

Snow White, “who has skin as white as snow,” comes off as a sweet, innocent, naïve and gentle-hearted princess who lives under her Evil Stepmother who craves beauty and power above all else.  

This is until the romantic prince she’s been waiting for finally sweeps her off her feet and they live happily ever after. The original movie doesn’t exactly scream feminist anthem or progressive ally, but Disney was determined to remake it into a family-friendly film that was inclusive and non-controversial despite the predicament.  

However, Zegler wasn’t the only one adding more poison into the boiling cauldron, her co-star Gal Gadot also contributed.  

On Oct, 7, 2023, Hamas, a terrorist group attacked and killed nearly 1,200 Israelis on a surprise assault against Israel. Activists from all around the globe responded including Gadot who was previously a member of the Israeli Military Defense. 

 “The world cannot sit on the fence when these horrific acts of terror are happening!” Gadot tweeted that same day. Gadot has been a vocal supporter of Israel despite the government’s controversial response to the attack which many consider to be genocidal. 

Zegler tweeted on Aug. 12, “and always remember, free Palestine.” The comment was subsequently bashed by many users criticizing her for using her platform to make a political message during the film’s promotion. 

This was only furthered amped by another tweet she made after the 2024 election writing “May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace.” Conservative users responded with backlash including online commentator and journalist Megyn Kelly who stated, “You’re going to put out a Disney film with Snow White, a beloved American character, with a woman who hates more than half the country, the half that just elected Donald Trump?”? 

Zegler eventually issued an apology stating that her comments came from emotion and that hate has driven people farther apart. However, the film’s release would be the final nail in the coffin of a long-standing drama that became Disney’s lowest selling Princess film ever.  

From bad CGI to terrible storytelling, the film has been hit from critics and fans of the original on the left and right. 

One article titled “Disney’s Costly Snow White Remake Ends in Box Office Failure” slams the film’s casting and writing changes from the original citing that Hollywood doesn’t know who they’re making these films for.  

The article goes on to compare Zegler to actors like Guy Pierce and Mark Ruffalo who have been openly vocal supporters of Palestinians. Mark Ruffalo co-starred in the Academy Award-winning film “Poor Things” in 2023 and Guy Pierce starred in “The Shrouds” this year have not received as strong of a response as Zegler.  

The film currently sits at a 1.6/10 on IMDB and a whopping 40% on Rotten Tomatoes by critics and fans. The film clearly missed the mark in more ways than just political commentary from Zegler or Gadot. Instead of Snow White being swept off her feet by a Prince, she becomes a leader destined to tell her own story. In the new version, instead of expanding the Stepmother’s backstory, she remains a lifeless, one-dimensional villain who you see coming from a mile away.  

The film chooses to make liberal changes to the story such as an independent Snow White who chooses to fall in love with a prince on her own terms. Yet nothing else is added to push her out of a young innocent flower who needs help. 

The film ends up being nothing more than a third attempt at a remake of a failed feminist iconic princess. The heavy use of CGI and changes made to the dwarves were also heavily scrutinized by critics for not keeping what was deemed important.  

Is there no original content left in filmmaking? The new “Snow White” film presses down further on the narrative that Hollywood is out of good ideas and relies only on secured paychecks from sequels. Film series like Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean or the Marvel Francise already have strong fanbases who will pay money to watch films in theatres. 

Studios pour money into films they know will earn big at the box office as opposed to funding new and innovative stories due to investment risks. While Disney films have tanked in the past, there are far more successful films that imply they can continue to milk more money from these franchises. 

However, general fatigue of Hollywood remakes has become rampant with studios like Disney or Marvel. The public is beginning to turn on the once beloved Disney remakes like “Cinderella” or “Beauty and the Beast” which collectively earned a staggering $1.2 billion at the box office. “Snow White” was a third attempt at the beloved classic film and already has impacted Disney films in the making. While politics helped seal the blow, the lackluster writing mixed with sub-par CGI delivered a guaranteed failure for fans everywhere.  

If you would like to view “Snow White,” you can watch it in a theatre near you.