Snow White (2025)

[Jake Lipson]

Title: Snow White

Genre: Musical

Director: Marc Webb

Cast: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap, Martin Klebba, Joshmaine Joseph, Gabriela Garcia, Lukus Alexander, Misa Koide

Release: 2025-03-21

Plot: Live-action adaptation of the 1937 Disney animated film 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.

This is the bad idea we get because we continue to pay money for the Disney remakes:

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/marc-webb-disney-snow-white-remake-1203229326/

To be fair, Marc Webb is good at directing musical numbers. If they're going to do this, he's probably as good a choice as anybody they could find and will make something decent. But considering Snow White's status as the film that built the company, this seems even more misguided than usual.

But I paid $15.98 to see the new Aladdin last week and I'm almost definitely going to pay to see the not-that-new Lion King, not because I think we need it but because I feel obligated to see what they've done with my favorite things. So I can't really say "We don't need this" because I'm enabling them to do it, and so are the rest of us.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I have no problem with Disney doing live action remakes as they modernize these film titles.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

We already got a live action Snow White with that Kristen Stewart movie a couple years back. This feels... unnecessary.

 

[Jake Lipson]

We already got a live action Snow White with that Kristen Stewart movie a couple years back.

Yes, but from Disney's perspective, that wasn't theirs. Presumably this one will feature Disney's songs and the characters that are distinctive to their version.

This feels... unnecessary.

Agreed.

 

[MartinP.]

There comes a point when I don't feel the need to see any more versions of Snow White...or Hamlet...or Oliver (Twist) or A Christmas Carol...or The Jungle Book...or Godzilla...or A Star is Born...or King Kong...or Frankenstein...or any number of things.

 

[Alex...]

 

[RobertMG]

And the 1937 Animated film is the real TREASURED CLASSIC!

 

[MartinP.]

...starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot...

Which one is the Prince?

 

[Jake Lipson]

I've got to admit that the casting of Rachel Zegler as Snow White makes me more interested in this project than I was before she was doing it. The Disney remakes have been a mixed bag, but I think she is wonderful.

 

[Edwin-S]

Deep at Disney does the greed run. (In bad imitation of Yoda). Disney execs probably see Palpatine as the hero, not Skywalker.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I've got to admit that the casting of Rachel Ziegler as Snow White makes me more interested in this project than I was before she was doing it. The Disney remakes have been a mixed bag, but I think she is wonderful.

I think she'll give a great performance, and she won't have the vocal weaknesses of some of the live action Disney princesses. She was wonderful as Maria in West Side Story.

I do think it's funny that there has been so much racist hand-wringing about Ariel the mermaid being played by a black actress, and crickets about Snow White, explicitly described in dialog as having "skin white as snow", being played by a Latina actress.

She has a German last name, and I believe her father's side of the family came from Poland, so she almost certainly has ancestral roots to the lands that birthed the tales of the Brothers Grimm. And she has the "hair black as ebony", so we won't be stuck with a bad dye job.

I just find it interesting how selective the outrage of certain deplorable elements of online "fandom" can be.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I do think it's funny that there has been so much racist hand-wringing about Ariel the mermaid being played by a black actress, and crickets about Snow White, explicitly described in dialog as having "skin white as snow", being played by a Latina actress.

I think that is because people are more aware of The Little Mermaid right now. It already has a trailer and is a lot closer to release. Neither Hailee Bailey nor Rachel Zegler deserves to be the target of online harassment, but I would imagine that if it is going to happen to Zegler, it will be closer to the release of her film. The Disney marketing machine hasn't really started on this one yet.

I love Ziegler and I am delighted that she is playing this character. However, I don't think it serves any purpose to ask audiences to pretend that she is white. What I would do is write in another reason for Snow White's character name in this version that does not relate to his skin color. I don't have any suggestions for what the alternative should be, but they should be able to come up with one that makes sense for Zegler to play the role as she is.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I love Ziegler and I am delighted that she is playing this character. However, I don't think it serves any purpose to ask audiences to pretend that she is white. What I would do is write in another reason for Snow White's character name in this version that does not relate to his skin color. I don't have any suggestions for what the alternative should be, but they should be able to come up with one that makes sense and allows Ziegler to play the role as she is.

I was just reading through quotes from the original animated classic, and there are a surprising number of lines that really don't age well.

The original 1812 version of the story, according to one English translation, begins as follows:

Once upon a time in mid winter, when the snowflakes were falling like feathers from heaven, a beautiful queen sat sewing at her window, which had a frame of black ebony wood. As she sewed, she looked up at the snow and pricked her finger with her needle. Three drops of blood fell into the snow. The red on the white looked so beautiful, that she thought, "If only I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as this frame." Soon afterward she had a little daughter that was as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony wood, and therefore they called her Little Snow-White.​

This movie could focus on the white snow falling as she was being born, rather than on the fair complexion inspired by it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

This movie could focus on the white snow falling as she was being born, rather than on the fair complexion inspired by it.

That's it. Easy. Done.

I was just reading through quotes from the original animated classic, and there are a surprising number of lines that really don't age well.

I love the animated film. However, it was released in 1937. It is entirely understandable that viewing it through the lens of 2022 would result in a different response because our culture has evolved a lot over the last 85 years.

 

[TravisR]

I think that is because people are more aware of The Little Mermaid right now. It already has a trailer and is a lot closer to release. Neither Hailee Bailey nor Rachel Ziegler deserves to be the target of online harassment, but I would imagine that if it is going to happen to Ziegler, it will be closer to the release of her film. The Disney marketing machine hasn't really started on this one yet.

Yep. To quote Chris Rock, that train is never late.

 

[Ross Gowland]

It’s been a thing for a few years. Remember the furore when Scarlett Johansson was cast in Ghost in the Shell?

 

[Jake Lipson]

I also find it interesting that Disney is only identifying this movie as Snow White and not by its full original title of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

My understanding is that they wrapped filming a while ago. Rachel Zegler has now moved onto filming The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes for Lionsgate. And yet we haven't heard casting of the dwarfs.

I remember reading something a while back that said Peter Dinklage was upset about the remake of this film, although he isn't involved in it as far as I am aware.

I assume the dwarfs must be in it. Removing them would make this fundamentally different story. But they do seem to be hiding something about how they will be handled.

 

[Ross Gowland]

Perhaps they’re CGI.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Perhaps they’re CGI.

Possible. But we would still have voice actors to be announced if that is the case.

 

[JimmyO]

I also find it interesting that Disney is only identifying this movie as Snow White and not by its full original title of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

My understanding is that they wrapped filming a while ago. Rachel Ziegler has now moved onto filming The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes for Lionsgate. And yet we haven't heard casting of the dwarfs.

I remember reading something a while back that said Peter Dinklage was upset about the remake of this film, although he isn't involved in it as far as I am aware.

I assume the dwarfs must be in it. Removing them would make this fundamentally different story. But they do seem to be hiding something about how they will be handled.

This might be the story you're referring to:

Peter Dinklage Said the Seven Dwarfs Are an Insult, but the Reality Is More Complex

Some actors in the little people community are not thrilled to have the Emmy-winning actor serve as their spokesperson.

www.indiewire.com

It specifically states that Disney decided to go with CGI. Although this might not be the story that you read.