Disney releases the first image of Rachel Zegler as Snow White with the CGI seven dwarves in the live-action remake after the actor received backlash.
Summary
- Disney’s live-action Snow White is facing controversy over its portrayal of the dwarf characters, originally replacing them with “magical creatures” but receiving criticism for lack of representation of actors with dwarfism.
- The new image reveals that the dwarves in Snow White are now CGI characters, which further diminishes the opportunity for casting actors with dwarfism.
- Disney seems to be responding to audience feedback and attempting to address the controversy, but the movie’s delay suggests that it still has time to make changes and reinvent itself.
A new image for Disney’s live-action Snow White shows the first look at the titular princess with the dwarves. The upcoming Disney live-action remake is a reinterpretation of their 1937 animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Snow White is directed by Marc Webb and stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot.
Now, Disney has released the first image for the Snow White remake. The first look shows Zegler’s titular princess surrounded by seven dwarves. The dwarf characters are rendered in CGI and stand and sit around the princess. Check out the image below:
Live-Action Snow White Remake’s Dwarves Controversy Explained
Despite the anticipation, the remake has faced several Snow White controversies, including the representation of dwarves and Zegler’s comments about the classic. Rather than borrowing from the original animated movie’s title Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, the upcoming Disney live-action movie deemphasized the dwarf characters by lopping off this second part of the title. Then, it was revealed the seven dwarfs would be replaced by seven “magical creatures” in the Snow White remake. This change was made in consideration of harmful stereotypes about those with dwarfism that those characters were thought to perpetuate.
The change to “magical creatures” backfired on Disney. Instead of embracing the supposedly more politically correct change, Disney was criticized for its failure to give actors with dwarfism the opportunity to take on the dwarf roles in Snow White. The seven magical creatures appeared to only feature one actor with dwarfism. This meant that Disney, to be more sensitive, effectively nixed six potential opportunities for casting inclusion of the very group that has been so historically misrepresented on screen.
With this most recent Snow White image, Disney has seemingly pivoted away from the magical creatures. While the Snow White casting damage has already been done, as a CGI dwarf is not an inclusive step in the way that casting an actor with dwarfism would be, it seems Disney is trying to listen to critical responses. With the recent news of Snow White’s delay from March 22, 2024, to March 21, 2025, the live-action remake still has many months to reinvent itself.
Source: Disney
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