Once upon a time, a long long time ago, Snow White was first published in German by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 in their collection Grimms’ Fairy Tales. The original German title was Sneewittchen, which is now spelled Schneewittchen.
While the original Snow White was first released in 1812, it made international success, when Walt Disney adapted the story, and named it Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, about a century later.
The fairy tale features such elements as the magic mirror, the poisoned apple, the glass coffin, and the characters of evil and the lovable.
These are the ones that made Snow White the Snow White, and that the theme of the story made it a fairy tale worth telling for generations to come.
But then comes the musical fantasy Snow White, with the planned release in 2025.
Snow White, produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Marc Platt Productions, is a live-action remake of Disney's 1937 animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The original film was itself based on the 1812 fairy tale Snow White by the Brothers Grimm.
And this is where everything goes wrong, at least in the eyes of millions people on the internet.
First of, the 2025 adaptation of the animated classic, Snow Write casts Rachel Zegler, an actress with a Colombian and Polish descent.
This decision faced backlash from some who felt the character should be portrayed by a white actress, given the original description of Snow White having "skin as white as snow."
Second, Zegler’s comments about updating the story to be more progressive have also stirred debate. She mentioned that the new version focuses less on the love story and more on Snow White’s personal journey, which some fans of the original did not appreciate
This happened when Zegler expressed her disapproval of the original film, the Prince, and even Snow White's character.
"It's no longer 1937," she said in an interview.
"She's not going to be saved by the prince. She's not going to be dreaming about true love. She's dreaming about becoming a leader she knows she can be, and the leader her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair and true."
In response to her comments, many criticized her for making Snow White "more feminist," while others accused her of misinterpreting feminism, suggesting that she was promoting the girlboss archetype or disparaging women who embrace traditional feminine roles without aspirations for power or leadership. Ashten Stein, a brand strategist, remarked that
Zegler's statements shows that she lacked media training for effectively marketing the film.
Third, is the depiction of the Seven Dwarfs, in which Disney opted to reimagine the seven dwarfs as "magical creatures" using CGI instead of casting actors with dwarfism has been criticized by the dwarfism community.
And fourth, there have been reported tensions between Zegler and her co-star Gal Gadot over their differing views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding another layer of controversy to the film.
In another interview, she further explained that the cartoon in 1937 had a big focus on Snow White's love story, which the she considered the prince as "a guy who literally stalks her."
"Weird, weird. So we didn't do that this time."
Disney remakes, especially those that feature princesses, are live-actions targeted toward Millennials who grew up during the 'Disney Renaissance' period that lasted from 1989 to 1999.
In 2024, a lot of these people have children and that Disney expects them to take along their children to the movies, or stream them online, and have a good time.
Disney expects these people to feel nostalgic, in which they can share these experience to the younger audience.
But the idea to make Snow White more modern is what many people think Disney got it wrong.
While the younger audience may not as emotionally invested as their parents, a remake is expected to share a lot of the original.
Disney casts Zegler, in order to make changes it thinks is necessary to gain the attention of those younger audience.
It makes the Seven Dwarfs CGI characters in order to not offend people with dwarfism.
But as a result of these, the 2025 adaptation seemingly erases everything the classic has to offer.
Soon after Disney dropped the trailer, people began commenting on this lowly anticipated future flop.
It didn't take long until the trailer on YouTube becomes one of the most down-voted videos on the platform.
Criticisms not only came from Millennials alike, and Disney classics, but also from David Hand, whose father of the same name co-directed the original animated film.
Hand criticized the remake, describing it as "insulting" and suggesting that his father and Walt Disney would be "turning in their graves".
The animated series South Park has even took a jab at Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White in one of its episodes, where it mocks the controversies surrounding the casting of Rachel Zegler as Snow White and the broader issues of diversity and representation in Hollywood.
In typical South Park fashion, the episode satirizes the idea of "pandering" to audiences with inclusive casting choices, suggesting that such decisions are made more for appearances than genuine representation. This has sparked discussions among fans about the balance between inclusivity and staying true to original character portrayals.
Due to several analysts, Disney needs Snow White to gross more than $300 million just to break even.
With extremely negative reviews, as many people on the internet hope to make the film a flop, Disney is fighting an uphill battle, at least until Snow White is supposed to be finally released.