“Snow White” movie cover
COURTESY | Amazon
Disney’s live-action “Snow White,” remake is stuffed with modern tropes and devoid of the original charm of the animated film that launched Disney to national acclaim in 1937.
The film got off to a rough start almost three years ago when Rachel Zegler, who plays the title role, denigrated the story of the beloved 1937 version and hinted that the studio should do away with the prince (and any symbols of traditional gender roles in fairy tales, for that matter). Pushback against the studio’s decision to cast people with dwarfism as the dwarves led to recasting. Negative reviews on the first trailer forced lengthy reshoots. Personal political tensions within the cast over the Israel-Palestine conflict tanked the press tour only a few months before its premiere. This week, the movie finally snuck into theaters with a quiet opening, as was expected after such issues in production.
Despite the disasters, there were sprinklings of wonder in the film — but nothing that justifies the movie’s $209 million production budget.
The music is improved from the original, thanks in large part to the voice talent of Zegler. This new take on “Snow White” at least allows for some impressive set pieces. Such practical effects were not possible with the technology of the 1930s. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul collaborated to put out a few originals on this new soundtrack and to spin some of the classics for new audiences.
Snow White’s first number, “Waiting on a Wish” is the most notable original song to come from this movie. It frames the princess as a sympathetic orphan who needs to become the heroine and reclaim her kingdom. The movie abandons that nuance almost immediately, but Zegler does her part. Pasek and Paul’s take on “Heigh-ho,” the song that introduces the dwarves, gives some interesting character development. Of course, the character development stops there, but the musicians did their part.
Now, the positives end. The real problem with this movie was that it wasn’t “Snow White.” Aside from the names of the characters and the title of the film, the movie bears very little resemblance to the animated version as a piece of interpretive art. The production designers leaned into the Grimm Brothers aesthetic for at least the first part of the movie, but that’s where similarities to the story end.
The writers strip the story of its morals by doing away with the simply written characters that the first movie relied on. The Evil Queen isn’t evil. The dwarves aren’t hard working. The Prince has been replaced with a common thief. Even the kingdom is afraid to be a German kingdom, with a population that looks less like a 16th-century provincial village and more like modern Germany.
The movie is supposed to tell the story of a young girl who grows into womanhood. Unfortunately, Disney gives a backward rendition that features a woman who acts more like a girl. Take the first scene with the dwarves as an example. In the Grimm brothers’ fairytale and in the animated Disney classic, Snow White and the dwarves clean the house together, and each one of them learns a little more about maturity from working as a team. But in the live action version, Snow White acts as supervisor for dwarves who do very little cleaning.
Even the ending changes. While the Evil Queen forfeits her kingdom, as a result of her own pride in the animated movie, Snow White becomes a revolutionary who overthrows the kingdom in Disney’s newest rendition. Her tactic? She knows the names of a few guards because she used to work in the queen’s castle as a slave. It’s a silly ending from an artistic perspective. But it’s more offensive inasmuch as it completely disregards the original story.
The movie also fails on some less noteworthy technical grounds. On the whole, the movie looks cheap. Character design especially fails, and viewers would not be at fault for assuming Disney’s costume supplier was Amazon.
Finally, the production team far too often resorts to using CGI. Audiences will not find it hard to spot the scenes they shot practically and the scenes for which they built an enchanted forest on top of a green screen. It is glaringly obvious. The acting quality is a distraction, particularly from Gal Gadot. She looks the part for the Evil Queen but struggles to give a performance that amounts to anything more than “rude.” And her singing leaves much to be desired.
Disney has made a beloved princess fairytale into a failing heroine story that trips constantly over a sluggish plot and is weighed down by needless additions. Snow White trades in magic for a message, and forgets that wonder carries a story a long way.
