Hiya!

To the disappointment of no one, Disney has announced they will not be releasing the upcoming live-action version of Snow White during the early part of next year. What is surprising is how far they are delaying the release of the film as Disney a whole year later after its original release date, pushing it sometime in 2025.

There are a lot of factors as to why they opted to move this to a further date. The SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing so they can’t proceed with any necessary reshoots and the like. However, the biggest reason, I believe anyway, why Disney is delaying the live-action Snow White a full year is because of all the controversy surrounding the film. Things like Rachel Zegler, the one who was cast in the titular role, blasting the original animated movie which launched Disney into the movie making juggernaut it is today and how Disney has allegedly “overcorrected” with its casting choices.

I bet Disney is going to throw more money into the live-action Snow White in an attempt to fix all of these perceived problems. However, I do feel, as they would have to inflate the budget in an attempt to salvage the product, this could be a good lesson for Disney regarding its current way of producing their big budget films in the future.

The first lesson Disney should take from all of this would be to stop trying so hard to make live-action remakes of their classic animated films! Most of them simply don’t work! I will admit, initially, I was on-board with them doing this as I remember eagerly anticipating the live-action version of Cinderella way back when. When I did watch the film, I went out thinking it was an okay movie but I really couldn’t figure out why they needed to make it afterwards.

What I mean by that is this version of Cinderella didn’t really give me a reason why I should watch this version instead of the classic animated movie. Sure, it’s cool to see some scenes translated into live-action but, at the end of the day, if I were to choose which Disney Cinderella movie to watch, 8 times out of 10, I’d choose the animated version. For the 2 times I’d watch the live-action, that would just be to see what they did in comparison to the animated cartoon.

The weird thing is, if Disney really wanted to re-tell these stories and release them in theaters, they really don’t need to make live-action versions. They could just re-release the original animated version to the big screen, remastered and all that jazz. In fact, they’ve done this in the past to great success! I can remember when they re-released the original animated Lion King and The Little Mermaid in theaters and they still managed to make Disney boatloads of money!

Yes, they’ve been out on DVD and home media for a while then but people still returned to the cinema to see them in droves! They didn’t need to cast actors, build sets, do a lot of CGI and all that just to retell the same story. Why? Well, the people were already happy with the story they got already!

Of course, you can point to all the minor changes Disney have made to the original tales as old as time when they do the remakes. The problem is these changes don’t really add a whole lot and just serves to make things more confusing or, at worst, even destroy what made the original animated movies iconic in the first place.

The best example of this would be the live-action version of Mulan. I’ve already written about how Disney didn’t really understand why the animated Mulan touched the hearts of a lot of little girls such as myself. Well, that’s because they didn’t really give Mulan a good arc to follow. In the animated movie, Mulan had to dress up like a man in order to take the place of her father when the Chinese government was conscripting “able bodied men” to fight against the Huns. The problem is she wasn’t as strong as the men around her. So, instead of using brawn to get through all the hardships she had to go through, Mulan relied on her smarts and used creative ways to bust through the barriers. This earned her the respect of her peers as well as the Emperor of China, despite “just being a girl.” It’s a good message and something little girls can aspire to.

What does the live-action version of Mulan do with the character? Give her supernatural powers, making her immediately better than the men around her. How is this better than the original message from the animated movie? I guess it’s Disney’s way to trying to teach girls to not hide their “true” strength but it certainly doesn’t come across that way. In fact, it teaches little girls to not work hard and rely on their natural gifts, gifts they might not have, mind you, and nothing else. Never mind trying to better yourself or improve on other things you might not be good at. All you need to do is assert yourself. Blergh!

I also have to hope all of this controversy surrounding the live-action Snow While makes Disney realize they cannot really mess around with the classics too much. This is especially true when trying to force diversity to the cast. I do have to impress I have no issues with this. If a person goes into casting and they prove they’re the best person for the role, I’m all for it. Heck, I’m one of the people who didn’t have a problem with Halle Berry getting the role of Ariel in the live-action The Little Mermaid. I would think I would be the most upset as I’m a huge Little Mermaid fan! However, I knew she had a great singing voice so, as long as she could act well, then I was fine with it.

The issue is when they try casting roles and it becomes more of a checklist. Most of the time, it just doesn’t feel authentic and they just needed to fill the cast with different races. I get they’re trying to be as inclusive as possible to attract more people from all different races to go see their movies. However, when it feels like pandering instead of doing what’s best for the resulting product, which is what they appear to be doing, that’s just bad.

I also have to address all the flak Rachel Zegler has been getting regarding her derision of the original Snow White. A part of me does agree with her! The original Snow White was a product of its time, which did mean Snow White, despite being the titular character, doesn’t actually do anything to save herself. The Evil Queen has the Huntsman kill Snow White but she gets lucky as the Huntsman lets her go. She then stupidly eats an apple from a stranger, which causes her to die. This leads the Seven Dwarves to chase down the Evil Queen to kill her. Then, in the end, Prince Charming brings Snow White to life with a kiss. She doesn’t even find the Seven Dwarves’ cottage to find shelter; it’s the woodland creatures who lead her to it! The only thing she does to save herself is clean the house! That’s it!

For the time, during the ’30s when Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was released, the story of an eternal damsel in distress wouldn’t have raised any eyebrows but that kind of story doesn’t exactly fly in today’s times. It’s like how it was okay for a group of nerds to take pictures of girls in their sorority house and then sell those photos during a fair in Revenge of the Nerds was okay during the ’80s but is not recognized to be super creepy today. So, yeah, Rachel Zegler does have a point when it comes to the story feeling outdated. However, I also don’t think it’s right to simply change the classic Snow White story! I mean, it’s a classic for a reason!

Honestly, if Disney were going to do alter the DNA of the story, like having Snow White save herself and whatnot, then don’t say it’s the “live-action version of the classic animated film you loved as a kid” because it’s not! It’s not the same story because you’ve changed some of the central points of the film. I do think if Disney marketed it as a “revision” of the classic tale, like with what they did with Maleficent, which I didn’t like but I respect because they dared to do something different, then all of the outrage would be diminished a little bit.

So, what should Disney learn from all of the controversy surrounding the live-action Snow White? Well, the biggest thing they should learn from this is that, by trying to appeal to everyone, you create a product which doesn’t appeal to anyone. You can try to make changes to these tales but you alienate the fans who loved the original stories. You can try to cast different races but, at the same time, you’re telling the people who love the original cast that they shouldn’t have loved them because it’s a mistake to cast them in those roles in the first place.

Still, I’m not watching the upcoming “rival” Snow White live-action movie. It can be as true to the story as possible. It still looks like garbage.

Byee!

What do you think about all of the controversy surrounding the live action Disney Snow White? Let me know in the comments section below!