Disney’s much hyped live action reimagined version of the classic animated film Snow White finally hits cinemas on Friday (March 21) following months of less than favourable reports of tensions between the stars and extreme “wokeism”. While I can’t speak to any feuds, having recently seen the movie it appears as if the woke allegations were very premature. To ensure balance I also rewatched the 1937 original to make a fair comparision. Although she later did a U-turn leading lady Rachel Zegler was unapologetically vocal in bashing the classic animation during filming.
The 23-year-old was quoted as saying: “It’s no longer 1937… she’s not going to be saved by a prince! And she’s not gonna be dreaming about true love. She’ll be dreaming about becoming a leader she knows she can be. I mean, you know, the original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so. There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird.” Meanwhile set pictures during filming showed photos of the seven dwarves being reimagined as a diverse group with only one little person cast out of the seven. This turned out to be something of a red herring and is part of the reason it is not as woke as they would have you believe.
The seven dwarves are probably the most iconic roles for people with dwarfism. However, rather than cast the septet from the many talented actors who fit the bill director Marc Webb used seven actors – the ones captured on set – to undertake motion capture, while using other actors to voice them. The finished CGI characters are indeed cute. But a similar effect could have surely been attained with clever make up and hiring small people for the roles.
Indeed Webb could have ensured he ticked more woke boxes by perhaps casting a female in one of the roles. Instead he opted to use technology and the result also seems to somewhat defeat the purpose of a “live action” remake. We can accept CGI’d woodland animals but these characters should have been more authentic.
It is also lacking in an area in whch Disney frequently falls down – LGBTQ representation. The House of Mouse has made more efforts to be inclusive in recent years but not here. Despite the thousands of people living in the kingdom it appears homosexuality and same sex attraction does not exist in this world.
And as for Snow White herself… despite Zegler’s earlier remarks she still requires saving by a man. This is not a spoiler – it’s been a feature of the story for centuries. He technically isn’t a prince. Her saviour comes in the form of a thief and bandit who changes his ways after meeting her. So yes there is no prince. And, for a change, a princess ends up with a commoner – which explans why the song “Someday My Prince Will Come” was dropped. “Someday My Bandit Thief Will Come” doesn’t have the same ring to it. However without that “true love’s kiss” the Evil Queen’s spell can’t be broken. Ergo she needs a man.
While Rachel’s Snow White may be a bit feistier than the original princess, even standing her ground when the Queen’s soldiers attack, she still succumbs to the charms of a man – and a rogue at that (who bears a scary resemblance to her dead father). She doesn’t dream of being a leader. She dreams of finding her father who will save the kingdom. A very different thing. It is others who point out that the task must fall to her and, while she does step up for her people, it was by no means part of her original plan.
Watching the original just an hour after seeing the new version I was struck by how both versions of Snow White simper over a man. For all Zegler’s protestations they have a lot of similarities. One big difference is that she doesn’t skivvy for the dwarves but rather has them help out with chores. But that is hardly progressive for 2025.
Also, the whole concept of the Evil Queen being threatened by a younger and “fairer” woman is far from woke. It is an integral part of the traditional story but it is impossible to make a woke movie when the central plot is so reductive to women.
Despite their best “woke” efforts the movie has also been hit with a slew of trigger warnings including:”A woman is deliberately poisoned” and “a girl is surrounded by ominous trees”.
If there is one thing worse than excessive wokeism it is the amount of aspiring wokeism that surrounds this film. Which is a shame as if you strip away all the controversy it is a very sweet and (generally) well thought out family-friendly movie.