Walt Disney Studios has made a trademark out of reconfiguring their classic films into new blockbuster live-action remakes these past couple years. Though not all of Disney’s takes on older stories to escape critic’s backlash, Disney’s pushed out some pretty good adaptations over the years. Cinderella (2015) Maleficent (2014) and Beauty and the Beast (2017) all have their appeal over a widespread audience. Whether it be visuals or celebrity cameos, creating sequels and adaptations cater to our nostalgia while also giving us something new and exciting to look forward to in the process. The recent release of Disney’s live-action remake of their very own Snow White (1937), starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot both catered to our nostalgia and gave us something new in what I think was the least graceful way possible.
On April 15, 2025 I came into AMC theaters with high hopes regarding the film. I’d been hearing a lot of backlash surrounding the movie for Rachel Zegler’s “mis-casting” and the disastrous PR events following the announcement. I planned on giving Zegler the benefit of the doubt since I really enjoyed her performance as Maria in Stephens Spielberg’s A West Side Story which had only been released a couple years before. I had high hopes despite the poor reviews due to my impartialness to remakes and love for Zegler. I left the AMC only to give the film a disappointed two star review on Letterboxd to complement the scoring average left by thousands of other viewers.
Snow White was not a movie that should’ve been re-made. Not that I hold the 1930s film as particularly sacred to me, but Snow White exists alone as Disney’s first full feature length, a simple story with an uncomplicated plot, chalk full of outdated themes. Disney’s changed a lot since the 1930s, building their brand off of the importance of inclusivity and kindness. That seemed to be their main angle with the 2025 adaptation, focused on spinning a damsel in distress’s story into one of a heroine. This might have worked out great if the 1937 film’s plot wasn’t completely dependent on traditional gender stereotypes. Snow White, a delicate young maiden locked away into servitude, stumbling her way through the film, is not an easy character to adapt into inspiration for young girls, and in fact the film does this horribly. Snow White is more or less ripped from her original plot, and given the most chaotic and disjointed remake I’ve ever seen. The writing reads as performative and tacky, the tone of the original movie completely lost in the Descendants style pop music that invades every other scene. There is no flow between new characters and ideas and classic trademarks of the original movie. I found myself forgetting which movie I went to see until a recognizable element jumped out to surprise me every once and awhile. Disregarding the vain attempts to transform the problematic film, I thought this movie didn’t have the production quality to fall back on like most Disney blockbusters do. Clear quality gaps from scene to scene, unnecessary characters and hollow songs to fill the time quota made me uncomfortably aware of the 1 hour 49 minute cash grab I was watching.
Existing characters were horribly misconstrued from the original story. Most problematically were Snow White’s “seven dwarfs,” which instead of being ableist stereotypes were turned into mythical CGI beings, referenced to have lifespans of hundreds of years. Though they are now technically magic rather than human, they still portray the same bumbling, comedic, stereotypes from the original. Quigg, a new character played by Game of Thrones’ George Appleby is featured in the movie as the only REAL little person shown on screen, presumably added after the controversy the film faced online regarding their neglect to the already problematic “seven dwarfs”. The casting of a little person to block ableism claims doesn’t erase Disney’s work adapting a movie explicitly criticized for being dehumanizing and offensive towards people with dwarfism. If anything, it feels like Disney’s clever play to suppress critics upset with the misguided subject. Snow White’s seven magic ageless friends did not leave me tickled or charmed after leaving the theater, and where usually I can laugh at the stupidity of a bad movie, I instead felt unnerved by Disney’s thoughtless portrayal of little people.
Another character failing to capture my affection was Gal Gadot’s portrayal as the iconic “evil queen”. Forgettable at best and unwatchable at worst, Gadot’s performance as Snow White’s villainous stepmother was a jumbling mix of bizarre line delivery and a clear lack of enthusiasm. A strong performance from a villain like the evil queen could have easily saved at least the entertainment value of the film, but instead Gadot’s lackluster performance dragged Snow White even further into the dirt, leaving a negligent stain on an already poorly made movie. Rachel Zegler, heavily criticized by netizens since Snow White was open to the press, was in my opinion the film’s saving grace. Zegler managed to stay charming despite the unfortunate backlash, maintaining a pretty solid performance throughout the film. Though her character’s new rebellious rewrite and full-belt anthems didn’t quite portray my perfect vision of Snow White, Zegler still screams princess under all of the poor writing and unflattering costumes, giving heart to the film where it had been previously depleted.
