You don’t need a magic mirror to know the controversy that has been surrounding and swarming the highly anticipated Snow White (2025), starring the equally controversial Hunger Games and West Side Story star, Rachel Zegler. To the casting, and to the premiere, we are going to be breaking down all the drama-filled moments leading up to the release date that made this film infamous before it had even dropped.
2022:
Pushback from actors and the media regarding the dwarfism issues that are in Snow White. Snow White Begins Filming. Zeglar was not invited to the 2022 Academy Awards (until the last minute). Zeglar gives her opinion on the OG Snow White (there was a lot of backlash – you’ve probably seen the clip).
2023:
Snow White photos were leaked and caused a lot of criticism being that it appeared there was only one actor to play all seven little people, and different opinions on costuming. (Disney said the pics were just for stand-ins but nothing official. Zeglar speaks out about the backlash from Snow White, and the casting around it (a lot of haters, and racists). Disney pushes back the release date by a year due to SAG/AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and WAG (Writers Guild of America) strikes.
2024:
Rumors of Zeglar and Gal Gadot feuding due to political reasons. Zeglar stars in NY in Romeo and Juliet with heartthrob and Heartstopper star, Kit Conner.
2025:
Snow White debuts, and receives horrible critic and audience reviews.
MY REVIEW:
By no means is the Snow White remake the fairest of them all, but it isn’t a bad one. I saw it last Sunday with my sister. It was entertaining enough, and my sister and I were having a grand time laughing at some of the songs and scenes as well as trying to hold back tears at certain parts. Rachel Zegler is so freaking talented, she was honestly the best part of the movie, the acting and singing were definitely there; there’s no denying that. We also agreed that Snow White’s prince would have been better suited for a Tangled remake, which is no doubt probably in the works – knowing Disney.
The problem with Disney remakes is that Disney is obsessed with remaking its history (Albeit a fantastic one), but we don’t want more sequels if it’s past movie two or three in the franchise- prequels are fine. The reason why a lot of these remakes flop at the box office is because they’re missing the originality and, to be honest, some of the magic. Don’t get me wrong, the incredible creative teams that are behind these projects are doing fabulous things, but it’s missing that freshness. We know Disney can do it, take recent films into account: Encanto, Mufasa: The Lion King, Luca to name a few.
So my advice to Disney (not that anyone asking) but stop with the remakes, and focus on finding and creating something new. You don’t have to use the same 12 fairytales; heck you can even take bits and pieces from other storylines – Shakespeare did it all the time and look how great it worked out for him. There are so many other cultural stories, myths and legends that are just as entertaining, heartwarming and heartbreaking as the beautiful classics you’ve given to us already.
Maybe it’s time for Disney to take a bite of something other than that same poisoned (formulaic) apple!