The world of Disney has brought joy to so many fans, providing them with a safe escape from their everyday lives and a chance to immerse themselves into the world of magic, true love and happy endings. However, the only emotion people felt watching the new “Snow White” live-action movie was disappointment and frustration.
Disney has a net worth of over $155 billion. They can easily create new characters, with a new image and a new plot, instead of recycling old ideas that are precious to us and should not be touched. Yes, the original could be considered “extremely dated” with gender politics, as Rachel Zegler, the lead in the movie, stated; however, Zegler also stated how the movie took a stalker approach with the prince and Snow White. While her acting is unquestionably good, her opinion is far from likable. In the original film, Snow White sang a love song about the prince, dreaming about a true love’s kiss and happily ever after. Zegler’s words completely contradicted the original film and trashed Walt Disney’s original production.
After the opening day, Disney had a 66% decline, making it a total flop. I will most likely never see the movie, for I cannot stand knowing all the changes they’ve made, completely destroying Snow’s character. Snow White is supposed to be soft and feminine, maintaining composure and kindness after surviving years of abuse at the hands of her stepmother, an assassination attempt and a chase through the forest. She is not weak at all; I’d argue that Snow White is one of the strongest Disney princesses simply because she never lost her character throughout her hardships.
Sadie Woodard, a freshman at North Forsyth, claimed she hadn’t seen the movie, but from the trailer alone, it “looked terrible.” According to Woodard, the trailer made her laugh, and she saw already that it was going to be terrible. I can agree one hundred percent because the trailer looked so false. It was like a musical, not a tale of triumph over evil and finding true love. And with how good CGI has become over the years, the dwarfs should have looked better. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. I am sad to say they CGI’d dwarfs. The seven dwarfs were CGI’d, taking away opportunities for actors with dwarfism, for acting in those specific roles is how they receive pay to support their families. Disney claimed they chose CGI for the dwarfs to “not offend” anyone, and quite honestly, they are offending people more for not having real actors. They even had a person with dwarfism voice a dwarf, which is even worse!
Kinley Waltman and Kate Jennings, two seniors at North Forsyth, all claimed they wouldn’t see the movie, calling it “terrible” and commenting on how it “looked awful.” People have complained about the CGI, the settings and the stories. Moreover, there were complaints and backlash because of Zegler’s race, which is irrelevant. The race of the actor is not a concern. Because of backlash on Zegler’s race, however, Disney had to change Snow White’s backstory on how she got her name, and personally, they shouldn’t have turned the classic into a live-action remake at all. “Snow White” is Walt Disney’s baby, his original creation, the first Disney Princess to emerge in the world. Her character matched what the social norm was when it came out in 1937, and today’s Disney producers and screenwriters had no right changing the story to a more feminine look for today’s “woke” culture. It wasn’t their creation, so therefore they had no right to completely reroute her character to make her more likable for the next generation.
I can appreciate trying to match today’s audience with a character they can respect and perhaps see themselves in. However, Disney has enough money at their disposal to make new characters who have their own story, instead of recycling old ideas that are precious to us and should not be touched.
Simply put, the new Snow White is a mockery of the original, a mockery of Walt Disney and left viewers disappointed.
