Fresh controversy over Disney’s Snow White remake as star Rachel Zegler reveals she ‘hated’ the original 1937 cartoon and its ‘stalker’ Prince whose ‘weird’ storyline won’t feature in new movie
- Disney has produced a number of live action remakes of its beloved classics
- All have sparked debate, but Snow White has come under particular criticism
Snow White star Rachel Zegler has stirred fresh controversy after several videos of her trashing the original cartoon version of the movie resurfaced online.
The 22-year-old actress revealed she ‘hated’ Disney’s original 1937 classic and its ‘stalker’ Prince – whose ‘weird’ storyline won’t feature in the new movie – in a series of interviews that have sparked anger on social media.
Disney has produced a number of live action remakes of its beloved classics in recent years, with casting and creative decisions sparking debate and often causing discontent among fans of the originals.
But the backlash against the Snow White film has been particularly pronounced on account of several diversions from the classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
For example, the reboot is titled just Snow White (on account of the studio opting to replace the seven dwarves with ‘magical creatures’ for the live action remake), causing a furore among fans hoping for a reboot closer to the original.
Not impressed: Snow White star Rachel Zegler has stirred fresh controversy after several videos of her trashing the original cartoon version of the movie resurfaced online
Transformation: The 22-year-old actress will play the Disney Princess in the upcoming live action remake
And critics were particularly vocal in 2021 when Disney announced the Latina actress had been chose to play Snow White – despite the story being about a traditionally ‘fair’ German princess described as being whiter than snow.
As a result, Zegler has been the target of a combination of disgraceful racist trolling online and comments questioning Disney’s casting decision – comments that the actress herself has responded to.
She has also drawn criticism through her own comments about the direction of up-coming film, that is set for release in 2024.
During a brief interview on a red carpet with entertainment news outlet Extra TV, the young star was asked how her version of Snow White was going to be different.
‘The original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so. There’s a big focus on her love story with the guy who literally stalks her. Weird, weird,’ she said.
‘So we didn’t do that this time,’ she said.
Extra TV’s reporter tried to answer if that meant the Prince had been totally removed from Disney’s live action remake.
‘We have a different approach to what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we casted a guy in the movie,’ Zegler responded.
‘It’s one of those thing that I think everyone’s going to have their assumptions about what it’s actually going to be, but it’s really not about the love story at all, which is really, really wonderful.’
Whether her character finds love, she said, ‘is anybody’s guess until 2024.’
In a separate interview with Variety, Zegler also said she would not be portraying the beloved character the same way she was in the 1937 cartoon.
Speaking along-side co-star Gal Gadot – who will take on the role of the Evil Queen – Zegler said her Snow White was ‘not going to be saved by the prince’ and is not someone who’s ‘going to be dreaming about true love.’
‘She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave, and true,’ she added.
In a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly, again sitting along-side Gal Gadot, Zegler said the original is ‘extremely dated when it comes to women being in roles of power’, telling the reporter that she had only watched it once.
Her reimagined Snow White would learn to become ‘a fantastic leader’, she said.
Being honest: Zegler said she ‘hated’ the original Snow White film from 1937
While these videos were published online by the various entertainment outlets last year, they have now resurfaced online. With their reemergence, her comments in the videos have stirred up anger from fans of the 1937 classic.
In one video that was posted on TikTok last week and has since been viewed over 9.4 million times, user Angie, who goes by the handle @cosywithangie, criticized Zegler for failing to acknowledge that women have the right to pursue whatever they want.
Angie captioned the post: ‘Just because a woman values something different, does not make her any less valuable. Some women want a career and not marriage.
‘Some women want a marriage or family and not a job. Some women want BOTH. All are to be heard, and seen, and valued.
‘Write stories about ALL women and depict them ALL as valuable and worthy, instead of trying to mold them into one specific image of what you deem worthy. Thank you. #snowwhite #snowwhiteliveaction #snowwhitecontroversy #disney,’ she added.
Angie’s video then showed Zegler’s comments from her Variety interview.
The TikTok user then said: ‘I could literally write a PhD thesis on the pseudo feminism that is criticizing Disney Princesses. Criticizing Disney Princesses is not feminist.
‘Not every woman is a leader, not every woman wants to be a leader, not every woman wants or craves power, and that’s okay.
She continued: ‘It is not anti-feminist to want to fall in love, to want to get married, to want to stay at home, to want to be a homemaker. None of these things make you less valuable as a person or a woman.’
TikTok user @nuttybutter96 shared snippets of Zegler’s interview with Extra TV and questioned why Zegler was being ‘so smug’.
The user captioned her post: ‘If you hate the original this much, why would you want to make the remake. Pls make it make sense…’
‘I don’t think I have ever seen such a condescending, smug Disney Princess ever in my life,’ they admitted in the clip.
‘It’s just every single interview I have seen her do for this movie is just so, so smug and condescending. Is she supposed to be uplifting us as women? Because it sounds f**king terrible and I don’t wanna be included in that part of womanhood.’
In an interview with Variety, Zegler (left) also said she would not be portraying the beloved character the same way she was in the 1937 cartoon
Dynamic duo: Zegler stars alongside Gal Gadot who will take on the role of the Evil Queen
Speaking to BBC News, Brittany Eldridge – commentary editor for the International Journal of Disney Studies, explained that when it comes to live action remakes of old classics, fans are looking for ‘that exact character in the [remake]’.
She said: ‘That’s what they [Disney] did with Cinderella. And so that’s what they’re looking for again because Cinderella was almost a copy-and-paste job.
‘I think it does have a lot to do with the nostalgia and wanting to relive the same experience that you originally lived when you went through it.
‘[But] the whole point of fairy tales is to adapt and evolve and that’s what we’re seeing here with Disney,’ Eldridge added.
Dr Robyn Muir, a media and communications lecturer at Surrey University in the UK, defended Zegler, telling the BBC that not all films need romance plots.
She also said of Zegler’s comments: ‘To just share your opinion on something and to receive such a significant amount of backlash… shows the wider issue of sexism that we still have in Hollywood.’
Dr Muir also criticised the racist comments that the young actress had recieved since being announced as Snow White.
‘I don’t know why people have such an issue with it. People of colour did not see themselves as a Disney princess until Jasmine from Aladdin came out in 1992,’ the expert told the British broadcaster.
Zegler herself has also spoken out against such comments, thanking those who defended her against them.
Extremely appreciative of the love i feel from those defending me online, but please don’t tag me in the nonsensical discourse about my casting,’ she wrote in July.
‘I really, truly do not want to see it. so i leave you w these photos! i hope every child knows they can be a princess no matter what,’ she said, adding pictures of herself as a young girl dressed as various Disney princesses.
Snow White’s Seven… Companions can be seen in these behind-the-scenes pictures after bosses snubbed the original text amid criticism of the out-of-date portrayal of Snow White. The Disney production is live action and will not have seven dwarves playing the roles
The Seven… Friends walk behind the character ‘Jonathan’ as the movie ditches the character of the Prince
The merry band follow behind Snow White as they make their way across the idyllic Berkshire scene – and she serenely strides ahead
Disney faced other backlash around the film after MailOnline revealed that the seven dwarves from the original cartoon have been replaced by ‘magical creatures’ for the upcoming live action remake.
Disney announced that ‘magical creatures’ would replace the seven dwarves to ‘avoid reinforcing stereotypes’ after Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage – who has dwarfism – criticised the ‘f****** backwards story’ last year.
‘I was a little taken aback when they [Disney] were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you’re still telling the story of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs,’ he told Mark Maron’s WTF podcast.
‘It makes no sense to me. You’re progressive in one way and you’re still making that f***ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f*** are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox?
‘I guess I’m not loud enough,’ he said at the time.
Not happy: The brunette angered people with comments she made on the SAG-AFTRA picket line
Her thoughts: Referring to the Disney film, Rachel said she deserves ‘to be paid every hour that it is streamed online’
Earlier this month, Zegler sparked more fury online when she was filmed on the picket amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
Dressed in a black SAG-AFTRA T-shirt and speaking to camera, she referenced the upcoming Disney remake and said: ‘If I’m going to stand there 18 hours in the dress of an iconic Disney princess, I deserve to be paid every hour that it is streamed online.
The snippet of the West Side Story actress was shared by the Twitter account End Wokeness, who went on to call her ‘the most insufferable woman’ they have ‘ever seen’.
Rachel’s comments were made in regard to residual checks TV and film actors are fighting for from streaming platforms – currently at the center of the strikes.
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