Disney's live-action "Snow White" remake is facing massive backlash before its release. From controversial casting choices to criticism of the original film, this video breaks down the reasons why fans are already skeptical about this reimagining of the classic fairy tale.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at all the major reasons why the upcoming
00:09Snow White is being so heavily criticized.
00:17Yet another live-action remake.
00:24Even if you're not following all the drama, chances are you're discouraged from the
00:27film for the sole reason that it's yet another live-action Disney remake.
00:31These have been mildly successful at best, and we'd be hard-pressed to find anyone
00:34who enjoys one of the remakes over the respective originals.
00:38They've always been an inferior product, often of much lesser quality and stinking
00:54of studio greed.
00:55Fortunately, Snow White looks to be no different, and this one has the added baggage of adapting
01:00what is arguably the most legendary film in the animated canon.
01:03This isn't Mulan, and no disrespect to Mulan, this is freaking Snow White we're talking
01:07about here.
01:15The Casting of Rachel Zegler
01:29From day one, the casting of Rachel Zegler has been fiercely criticized.
01:33Some took the criticism in a racial direction, arguing that Snow White should be a Caucasian
01:37woman, not a Latina.
01:38This was made worse when fans realized that Disney was engaging in colorblind casting
01:43as Zegler's runner-up, Renata Vaca, revealed that the casting call was open to all ethnic
01:47groups.
02:01Others just didn't like the casting in general, arguing that Snow White should be played by
02:05a bigger actress and not a relative newcomer.
02:07We'll see how she does, but the behind-the-scenes drama isn't doing her any favors.
02:11More on that in a minute.
02:13The Casting of Gal Gadot
02:23It's not just Snow White that people have a problem with, it's the evil queen as well.
02:27While maybe not as fierce and vocal, the casting of Gal Gadot has also attracted a fair bit
02:31of criticism, and also for various reasons.
02:34Some simply don't find her a very good actress, and this belief is reinforced in the trailer
02:38thanks to some awkward line readings.
02:45It seems like quite a poor performance, even by the cartoonish standards of Disney.
02:49Others find Gadot more traditionally attractive than Rachel Zegler, which creates a problem
02:53with the whole fairest of them all thing.
02:55Whichever way you slice it, many think that the casting in this film could have used some
02:58work.
03:06The Comments from David Hand
03:21It always helps when a remake gets the seal of approval from someone involved in the original,
03:25and it does irreparable damage when it receives criticism.
03:28David Hand was not directly involved in making Snow White, but his father was.
03:32David Hand Sr. was the supervising director of the original film, and his son has been
03:35quite vocal about his disdain for the remake.
03:42The 91-year-old spoke to the Telegraph and didn't mince his words, finding the remake
03:46a bit insulting.
03:47He also claimed that,
03:48There's no respect for what Disney did, and what my dad did.
03:51I think Walt and he would be turning in their graves.
03:53In certain circles, his words only added fuel to the fire.
04:14Criticism of the Original
04:15It's not a good look when people involved in a remake actively criticize the original,
04:25and it's certainly not a good look when they criticize something that is both widely
04:28beloved and enormously influential.
04:31Rachel Zegler has openly criticized the original Snow White in a number of interviews, calling
04:35it outdated and sexist.
04:48Which fair enough.
04:49It is certainly a little old-fashioned, but for many, her comments came across as derogatory.
04:54Critics felt that she shouldn't be publicly bad-mouthing a movie that gave her a job,
04:58while others felt it was offensive to the original film and those who still enjoy it.
05:02Some even found her comments, ironically, anti-feminist.
05:05Talk about anti-marketing.
05:16Deviations from the original story.
05:30Snow White is a beloved film.
05:32It's one of those movies and stories that people know by heart, so it's very disheartening
05:36to hear that Disney will be changing so much of it.
05:38This information once again comes from Zegler, who has alluded to the changes in numerous
05:42interviews.
05:43The exact details aren't known, but she has referenced big alterations to both Snow
05:47White and The Prince, and has hinted at Disney removing their love story.
06:06And judging by the trailers, it seems like Snow White will become a very active agent
06:09in defeating the evil queen.
06:11While this reflects a move towards modern sensibilities, it has also upset many who
06:14just want a simple love story in the vein of the classic fairy tale.
06:30Social Media Drama
06:43Maybe everyone doesn't follow it, but for those who do, the social media drama behind
06:47this film has also generated some negative publicity.
06:50Both Zegler and Gadot have expressed opposing views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
06:54so really, there's no winning here.
06:56People have been upset with Gadot for expressing pro-Israel sentiment, and vice versa with
07:00Zegler and Palestine.
07:02And Zegler came under fire from conservatives and Republicans after calling Donald Trump's
07:06win a deep sickness in this country, and stating,
07:09Many agree with her statements, but many do not, and it's just one more PR blunder
07:17affecting the marketing of her upcoming film.
07:34Lower Production Values
07:41You know, maybe we wouldn't mind these live-action films if some actual effort and thought were
07:45put into them.
07:46Snow White has a mind-blowing budget of $270 million, yet it looks like some cheap fantasy
07:52movie that Netflix would pump out to fill a quota.
07:55Once again, the film has that cheap digital shine to it, making it look like some straight-to-streaming
07:59junk.
08:11The green-screen work once again looks poor, the costuming is pathetic with spirit Halloween
08:16outfits and Snow White's Lord Farquaad hair, and the CGI looks abysmal.
08:20Seriously, what is with those dwarves and those woodland animals?
08:23An astonishing amount of work went into making the 1937 original.
08:26What deserves better than this?
08:36Dwarfism Controversy
08:37The situation with the dwarves has been a mess
08:54from the very beginning.
08:56Disney announced that they were taking a different approach with the seven dwarves following
08:59negative comments from Peter Dinklage.
09:01He appeared on Marc Maron's podcast and called out Disney, criticizing their progressive
09:05approach to the movie while retaining the backward dwarves.
09:08However, his comments received widespread criticism, as did Disney's reimagining of
09:12the characters.
09:27According to a leaked set photo, most of the dwarves were being played by non-dwarf actors
09:31of various ethnicities and genders, with both aspects receiving fierce condemnation.
09:36People didn't like the non-dwarf actors, and people didn't like the overly PC approach.
09:40Basically, Disney was impressing no one, and it was about to get a whole lot worse.
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10:15Horrible CGI Dwarves
10:21So Disney's response to all this criticism was to retain the dwarves, but change them
10:25into wretched CGI creatures.
10:27There's no way around it.
10:28These things look absolutely terrible.
10:31It's obvious that Disney was rushed following all the controversy, because these things
10:34couldn't be more out of place.
10:41The visual effects are entirely unconvincing, and their faces look like those nightmarish
10:45creations from the Polar Express.
10:47And those faces were widely mocked 20 years ago.
10:50In trying to move forward, Disney only slipped backward, and by multiple decades.
10:53We don't know how much screen time these dwarves get, but our stomachs will certainly
10:57be hurting from all the laughing.
11:08Are you looking forward to this movie?
11:10Let us know in the comments below.
11:16Do you agree with our picks?
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