*Warning: Spoilers Ahead!*
Despite having enough controversy to poison an entire orchard of apples, Disney’s newest live-action project Snow White was not as disappointing as I expected. While I can’t say it’s one of my all-time favorites, or even that it made it on my rewatch list, I found myself enjoying the obvious creative energy and time put into the new film, which hit theatres on Friday, March 21.
Storyline: 9/10
To prepare for my trip to the theater, I rewatched the original 1937 Snow White, and I’m glad I did. I was able to compare the two, and appreciate how hard Disney worked to preserve the most iconic scenes from the original film and build off of them, instead of changing the baseline for the movie altogether to fit their needs, as I’ve seen them do in the past.
Let’s start off with what Disney preserved well from the original. My all-time favorite scene is when Snow White is cleaning the cabin and sings Whistle While You Work. While Disney did make a subtle change, having the dwarves do the cleaning while Snow White supervised, I loved it just as much as the original and think it was an appropriate change to make to modernize the film while maintaining the authenticity of the original story.
I appreciated that Disney kept the dwarves working as miners, and even added to their iconic Heigh-Ho scene. The other main storyline points, including the potions the Evil Queen brews, the poisoned apple, Snow White in her sleeping death, and even the animals running to find the dwarves in the mine were phenomenal. After some things said on the press tour, I was unsure of how Snow White’s kiss would be handled, but I was glad it was still her “prince” who awoke her. On this note, the prince, having a more developed character as part of the bandit troupe (more on this later), had much more screen time than in the original, which made it easier to bond with his character.
Whereas the original film cuts off shortly after the infamous kiss, the live-action brings Snow White back to the kingdom to get justice not only for her but for her father, which I found to be another well-developed and thought-out addition. While this entirely changes the Evil Queen’s death, this is one point I have to give in the live-action’s favor. I mean, who doesn’t love a little revenge in their Disney princess?
While they maintained many aspects of the original, Disney certainly took creative liberties in this film. This being said, the minor plotline changes made weren’t the ones I missed. While Snow White does not bake gooseberry pies, there is a reference to her and her father baking apple pies and bringing them to the kingdom in her youth, which in my opinion, feels more appropriate considering the rest of the storyline anyway. The scene of the dwarves bathing was also cut – another change that in my opinion, was made to accomplish a rebrand of these characters. The screen time is replaced with other shenanigans and a very moving one-on-one moment between Snow White and Dopey.
My favorite plot line change of the entire movie was Dopey finding his voice. My jaw dropped in the theatre, and it was one of those classic Disney magic moments. Dopey, already a fan-favorite, earned my heart over and over again. I also thought this change was a clever way to continue to develop the dwarves past their traditional babbling personalities used as comedic relief in the original and give them a more meaningful purpose in this revamped version. At the end of the film, it’s revealed that Dopey has been the narrator of the story all along, in a truly heart-melting moment.
Characters: 7.5/10
The biggest standout with the characters to me was the changes made with the dwarves. While I still believe that using live actors would have added an extra level to the film that CGI is unable to, Disney swapped out bumbling physical comedy in favor of more developed characters. I think most of the emotional progress of the storyline lives with the dwarves, so I appreciated that there was additional thought put into evolving them.
Onto the bandits. When I first heard about this addition to the cast after a leaked set photo, I wasn’t sure how to feel. After watching the film, I have no complaints. I think this was one of the many ways Disney flushed out this storyline and supported the other changes they chose to make. Snow White’s love interest lives in one of the bandits, and I think this change was mutually beneficial for both characters. I think this choice modernized the story, without it taking too many liberties that invalidated the original plotline.
At a fundamental level, the Evil Queen was who I expected, and the modernized Snow White gave the character that touch of an edge so many of us hope to see in reimagined Disney. The acting from the leading ladies at times could put a bit of a cringe on my face (in the way Disney uniquely does) but I was able to slide past it in favor of the better parts of both characters.
Music: 5/10
To be honest, the songs featured in the film didn’t wow me. I thought there was so much potential in this area that went unworked and unused. Considering the film’s other controversies and issues, I think this was an area that slipped through the cracks. This being said Rachel Zegler’s voice is gorgeous, so no complaints there. However, I didn’t feel that Gal Gadot’s voice was able to match the level of talent set forth by Zegler, or necessarily for the movie altogether. My favorites in the film were the already-iconic Whistle While You Work, and Heigh-Ho. Overall though, I don’t think you’ll catch me listening to this album the same way I would for the live-action Aladdin, or the original Princess and the Frog and Tangled.
Costuming/Set: 7/10
The one place I have no complaints about this movie is its costuming. While Zegler’s dress was controversial, I truly didn’t mind it. I kind of liked the newly invigorated color. I thought it kept all of the necessary elements of the original dress and didn’t find it to be too distracting. What I did have an issue with, however, was Zegler’s hair. Despite many CGI fixes, her hair still mimicked Lord Farquad in the final cut. I feel that if the wig was a tad longer or had a different cut, a lot of issues would have been fixed. The best costume in the film, by far, goes to the Evil Queen. Not only was Gadot decked out in multi-colored jewels, but her multiple capes and unique crown were truly a redeeming element for the character and the movie as a whole. She looked regal, majestic, and terrifying, and her outfit represented all of the best characteristics of the Evil Queen in physical form.
As for the set, I thought the forest and the dwarves’ cottage were well done. I also found the monotone kingdom outside of the castle to be well-designed. While I found some of the CGI used for the forest scenes to be overbearing, overall it did a good job of balancing the line between magic and realism. The only set piece I noticed myself missing, both during the film and after the fact, was the glass coffin. This set piece is so iconic and would have been so easy to remake. While I can imagine some deeper reasons behind possibly making this decision, I found myself missing it regardless.
Overall, I’d say the newest live-action addition to the Disney archives is worth a watch for the princess lover that lives in each of us – just maybe wait until it comes out on demand.