This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Gahnique Bell. Find her on Instagram at @s14rbur81_g4l4xy. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, what movie will bomb in the theaters before Fall?
It’s Snow. Snow White did.
And let’s be honest. We all knew it wasn’t going to last.
Snow White is yet another live-action remake of its beloved 1937 animated counterpart from Disney that no one really asked for. It came out to theaters on March 21st, 2025, and as of right now in the span of 10 days, it has only made 42.2 million dollars. In the Hollywood sense, for a movie that’s really low in fact, it’s the lowest Disney has made compared to the rest of their live-action movies on their opening nights. And that’s saying something.
When will Disney learn?
Seeing how badly Snow White is doing in theaters is now, JUST now, making production companies start to rethink their decision to go the live-action route for their films.
But it is kinda too late now. The Snow White controverary has already set sail.
However, besides the terrible box office opening, there have been other reasons why this movie isn’t doing very well in theaters.
The Rachel Zelger Controversy
So, I actually never heard of Rachel Zegler before until Snow White came out. She is a 23-year-old actress and singer who has been in numerous films like Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes, and Spellbound.
It seems like her acting career has just begun, but unfortunately, it looks like she won’t be in anything for a while due to some controversial takes she had on the animated version of Snow White.
Even before Zelger had even said anything controversial she was already getting bashed on the internet for her being cast for the lead role of Snow White. A lot of people thought she was a terrible choice for the character mainly because her skin wasn’t “as white as snow” and that her personality and looks didn’t match that of Snow White from the animated film.
But even with all of the hate she got, she still decided to add more fuel to the fire by criticizing the animated film that the current project she has a lead role in is based on. In an interview, Zelger states that times are different now and the ideas and views of women in the film are outdated. She claimed that Snow White was “not going to be dreaming about true love she’s dreaming about being the leader she knows she can be.” This might sound good but this goes against the whole idea of Snow White.
Snow White is someone who is young, naïve, innocent, compassionate, and beautiful. She is someone who loves animals and sees the best in everyone. She is the embodiment of pure joy.
Disney and Zelger seem to miss this crucial point when it comes to Snow White’s character. Snow White isn’t meant to be a rebellious leader to take down the Evil Queen. She is not a fighter. If anything she’s a peacemaker. To change the character of snow white completely to someone who isn’t as recognizable doesn’t give the character enough justice. It honestly hurts the character and the company more than producers think.
Snow white is still a very famous and beloved icon and one of the oldest icons of Disney. To have the lead role in playing her in a live-action film and to give the same film criticism without truly understanding the character, what she represented and what she has done for women in media is redundant.
This is where Disney seems to fail the most at. It’s okay to make changes to a live-action version of a film, but don’t change huge parts of the movie to where it seems like a completely different movie.
Gal Gadot Hate
The actress who plays the Evil Queen has been getting some hate as well. Gal Gadot, famously known for playing Wonder Woman, has recently expressed her views on the Israel and Palestine conflict and the immense violence that it’s bringing. Gadot has friends and family in Israel so it’s natural for her to be upset about this, but why are people getting mad at her about it? The anger stems from the fact that Gal Gadot has served in the Israeli military for two years which Gadot claims had given her good training for Hollywood. Many people have seen Gadot’s comments as condescending and that she was against Palestine, but she has recently come out and explained that the war is bad on both sides and that there is tragedy on both sides. Yet, her responses seem to only increase the hate that she has been getting and her social media posts surrounding her views have either been taken down or the comments have been disabled. However, the damage is already done surrounding the film and possibly to her career.
Hi… Ho?
We know these live-action films aren’t really “live action.” The majority of it is just CGI and 9 times out of 10 it’s not that great. Especially in Snow White.
One of the biggest mistakes that Disney has made in this film is the decision to CGI the Seven Dwarves.
There has been an uproar about this because the Seven Dwarves are obviously miners who travel deep into the mines and dog for diamonds and gems, but they’re also people with Dwarfism. You would think this would be a critical piece that is important when making the live-action Snow White film, but no. Disney decided to CGI all of them.
This robs so many potential actors that would have been perfect to play the roles of the dwarves. There are so many actors with Dwarfism who probably be excited to play these characters in the film, but instead, they are robbed of an opportunity (an opportunity that is already not given to them often) to be part of a big project.
Disney claims that their decision to use CGI instead of casting people to play as the seven dwarves is because they wanted to avoid stereotypes that were place in the original film. Though, people had called BS on that claim.
The CGI just doesn’t work. None of the dwarves even look like real people and they look very very questionable. Not only were the dwarves made in CGI, but they were also given superpowers which reinforces the stereotypes of dwarfism.
Like c’mon Disney. C’mon.
Is There Hope For Live Action Remakes?
Maybe. Maybe not. It has been looking good for live-action remakes in the last couple of years, but I don’t think they’re going to stop making them anytime soon. There are already some live-action films coming out in the next few years like Lilo & Stitch and Moana. As long as they keep making money from these films there’s no reason to stop making them. Even when people aren’t showing up in theaters to see it.
Did you like the live-action of Snow White? What are your thoughts on the Snow White controversy? Let us know in the comments.
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