The Care for Tradition Reflected in the Snow White Remake Backlash

A trailer for a new live-action Snow White remake is “finally” here. So far, this seems to be the first Disney movie making history for all the wrong reasons. The unforgiving backlash that began more than a year before its release will undoubtedly be something the box office won't forget.

By Oleksiy Shuman from Pixabay

The first wave of criticism came with the announcement of the cast. The actress Rachel Zegler, who is of Colombian and Polish descent, was cast as Snow White, alongside Israeli actress Gal Gadot in the role of the Evil Queen. This casting choice was met with criticism for not respecting the original work of Walt Disney and the Brothers Grimm's tale from 1812, where the character of Snow White was described as being “as white as snow.” Those who dared to criticize this glaringly obvious politically overcorrected move, casting a Latina in the role, however, were labelled as racist.

Unfortunately for Disney, the critics were not so easily silenced this time, as they were during the release of the Little Mermaid (2023) remake. As it turned out, it wasn't Zegler's skin colour, but her attitude that caused the most trouble. Unlike actress Halle Bailey, a racially diverse American actress who portrayed Ariel, Zegler did not appear to show much respect for the original storyline. In one of her (many) infamous interviews, she called the original movie adaptation outdated and accused the Prince of being a stalker, claiming it was “weird”. She also praised the new 2024 film's ending for focusing more on Snow White's leadership qualities than on her romantic interests.

This unfortunate strategy to promote Snow White as a feminist “girl boss” backfired spectacularly. What was meant to be empowerment quickly became a mockery, as her interviews turned into memes that spread like wildfire across the internet. Many YouTube film critics and commentators have called for a boycott of the new release in defence of the original 1937 movie, a symbol, and cornerstone of Walt Disney Pictures.

There seems to be less and less hope for the new $300m-plus Snow White, as anyone can guess this will be a massive box-office flop. But why? How has the reputation of the seemingly invincible Disney continued to fall lower and lower with each new release?

There are many factors at play, but I will deconstruct it from the perspective of preserving tradition.

As previously mentioned, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a story that was published over 100 years before its first movie adaptation. The literary legacy of the Brothers Grimm spread far beyond its native German borders, and most children across Europe and North America could name at least one of their tales. However, the original versions were often unsuitable for young audiences. Disney softened the bloody, gory, and murderous plots to make them more appropriate for children. The difference between changing the story then and now is that producers today seem to care only about checking inclusivity boxes to make a profit, not about the legacy or moral of the story. And any regular viewer can sense this.

Let's start with the character of Snow White, who was labelled as “the fairest of them all” and thus became a role model for generations of girls. She was humble, helpful, kind-hearted, and beautiful inside and out. This was precisely why the Queen could never compare to her, she was only concerned with appearances. The lesson was that inner beauty shines through, and no matter how pretty someone is, if that's all they have, it will only get them so far.

Leaks of the new Snow White suggest a very different story. In the 1937 adaptation, Snow White enters the dwarfs' house after being kicked out of the castle and wonders who could live in such small beds and eat from such small plates. Then, with the help of her animal friends, she begins cleaning and tidying the house as an act of service to whoever might live there. The new Snow White, however, does not share this selfless mindset with her predecessor. Instead, she gives cleaning commands to the dwarfs, who have just returned from the mines. She doesn't touch any of the cleaning equipment herself, all in an effort to avoid reinforcing gender stereotypes.

What critics are trying to point out is that diversity and equality, to be believable, don't come from race-swapping popular characters or changing the plot entirely. Disney doesn't seem to understand that audiences don't want to see their beloved heroes and heroines turned into different people with new goals and traits. The Little Mermaid was not necessarily a hit, but it did not receive as much critical backlash because the actress was grateful for the role, and the story remained faithful to its origins. Rewriting the classics to fit today's ideological perspectives is seen as lazy, greedy, and disrespectful among the audience.

Many argue that if Disney wants to tell a modern story, they should simply create a new one. The argument that the audience doesn't want a biracial heroine, and therefore their critics are racist, is entirely misplaced. Some of Disney's most beloved tales of all time feature racially diverse heroines, including Jasmine from Aladdin (1992), Pocahontas (1995), Mulan (1998), and Moana (2016), to name a few.

Beyond race, the two Frozen movies (2013 and 2019) are among the five highest-grossing animated films of all time. The main plot focuses on the love between two sisters, each finding their inner strength in the face of danger. While there is a romantic subplot, it is not the central narrative. This is just one of many examples that prove audiences are open to new takes, but they demand quality and integrity.

Rachel Zegler might be right that it is no longer 1937, and the world has indeed changed. However, dismissing someone's hard work—work that was revolutionary for its time—simply because it doesn't align with current socio-political views is not the way. No matter how many inclusivity policies Disney integrates today, rewriting history will not lead to glory, but as we can already see, rather to a downfall.