The live action Snow White, directed by Marc Webb and starring Hunger Games actress Rachel Zegler, was released March 21. So far it has faced a lot of backlash and criticism, with a rating of 1.6/10 on IMDb and 40 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. There are many reasons that the film is facing so much backlash, from the controversy of the casting of the dwarfs along with Zegler’s statements on her personal opinions about the gender roles in the original Disney animated film, to the conflict of beliefs between Gal Gadot (the Evil Queen) and Zegler, and the racist backlash faced by the movie.

Zegler was cast as Snow White in June 2021, immediately causing a stir of racist comments. These racist commentators and critics were enraged by the fact that Zegler, of Colombian and Polish descent, had been cast as a traditionally white character, similar to the backlash that Halle Bailey faced during the making of the 2023 live action Little Mermaid. In the original story, Snow White was given her name due to her skin being “as white as snow,” while in this new film, she is given her name because she was born during a snowstorm. 

“The name of the movie is Snow White, okay?!” American commentator Ben Shapiro claimed in a YouTube video. Many people think that this change takes away from the story, and that someone with lighter skin should have been cast in the main role, in order to keep true to the original fairytale. 

“I was a little taken aback by [the fact] they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” actor Peter Dinklage expressed to Marc Maron, American comedian and podcaster. “You’re progressive in one way, but you’re still making that […] backward story of seven dwarves living in the cave. What […] are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I’m not loud enough.” 

Many other little people have conveyed similar sentiments of criticism for Disney’s glaring hypocrisy. The goal of this movie was to take an outdated film and update it for this century’s audience, to make it more progressive and inclusive. The fact that they did cast actresses of Israeli and Colombian descent as the leads, but did not bother to cast actual little people as the dwarfss has caused a huge uproar among that community and the movie world in general. There are not many casting opportunities for little people in the acting world, so the seven dwarfs of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs could have employed seven actors for the considerably well-paid film. In 2012, Universal Pictures released another live-action version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, starring Kristen Stewart. Snow White and the Huntsman, as it was named, also faced backlash around the dwarfs, as producer Rupert Sanders cast people of average height as the dwarfs, instead of casting little people.

Another main controversy about this film is not really about the film itself, but about how star Rachel Zegler spoke about the gender roles in both it and the original film. 

“There’s a big focus [in the original] on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! So we didn’t do that this time,” Zegler said in 2022, adding that the original was “extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power” and “people are making these jokes about ours being the [politically correct] Snow White, where it’s like, yeah, it is—because it needed that.” 

People are criticizing the film for being “politically correct,” meaning that it goes beyond the original intentions of the film to make it more inclusive and relevant. Many critics think that Disney was trying too hard to make the film as “woke” as possible. Much of the original story was changed to make these decisions work for the movie and the message Disney wanted to send. However, the real question was: Were they successful in getting their message out? Many think not — that it came across as forced and did not work out well for Disney.

So why are we even making these Disney princess remakes in 2025? Most end up getting low ratings and face significant backlash. Well, Disney is mainly driven by the financial success of all of the animated versions, thinking that they will get more money from the live-action remakes. And in a way they are right; even though many of the remakes do poorly, people are intrigued enough to pay money to see them. They are also trying to use nostalgia to bring in viewers. Many millennials and people in Gen Z grew up watching the animated movies as kids, so the live action remakes are a source to revisit those feelings of nostalgia and comfort, while still watching something new.

Article by Noa Gitelson