We’ve now reached a point in cinematic history where the rollout of a movie is just as entertaining as the flick itself. And if there is one controversial film production that could give Don’t Worry Darling, Mulan and It Ends with Us a run for their money, it’s Disney’s live action version of Snow White. At the centre of the extensive backlash is the film’s lead, Rachel Zegler. So buckle up folks–from casting decisions, to CGI dwarfs and underwhelming costumes–we have a lot to get through.

After Snow White and the Huntsman spearheaded by Kristen Stewart and Julia Roberts’ Mirror, Mirror which were both released in 2012, there are two new movies about the classic Grimm Fairytale heading to our screens in 2025. One is a big studio production by Disney and the other one is a small project by the conservative news outlet The Daily Wire. And let’s just say that the excitement for both new instalments has been relatively subdued… But let’s take a closer look at the Disney film everyone is begrudgingly talking about.

Similarly, to the backlash Halle Bailey encountered for being the first Arielle of colour in Disney’s 2023 remake of The Little Mermaid, Zegler faced backlash for, well, not having “skin white as snow.” The young actress is of Colombian descent on her mother’s side, gracing her with a slightly darker complexion. This precludes her from taking on the titular role, according to some trolls online.

Zegler addressed the backlash in a 2022 interview with Variety, stating that she was “trending on Twitter for days, because all of the people were angry.” She went on to emphasise that “Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries” and expressed pride at playing “a Latina princess.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) with pictures of her as a child in princess costumes, she wrote: “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. I really, truly do not want to see it. So I leave you these photos! I hope every child knows they can be a princess no matter what.”

These encouraging words by Zegler speak to the need and power of representation. However, they also revealed that the production has been on a rocky footing, starting with the casting decisions.

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.

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 pic.twitter.com/AU5PjJutK5

— rachel zegler (she/her/hers) (@rachelzegler) July 15, 2023

Rachel Zegler stirred up quite a lot of controversy for critiquing the original source material with a brutal analysis: according to the actor, the classic tale is old-fashioned, problematic, and based on damaging and borderline violent tropes.

“The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so,” Zegler said during a brief red carpet interview. “There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird! So we didn’t do that this time.”

She went on to add: “We have a different approach to what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie. All of Andrew’s scenes could get cut, who knows? It’s Hollywood, baby!”

However, one half of the fairytale’s fandom alongside conservative news outlets (aka The Daily Mail) slammed Rachel Zegler for trashing the beloved story.

“Disney cast an actress who hates Snow White to play Snow White,” one user captioned their video.

The other half argued that the supposedly modern take Zegler was pitching sounded a lot like a fake-feminist, girl-boss version. So the start of the promotion didn’t exactly hype people up…

@thecommentssectiondw

How dare a woman fall in love?!!🙅🏻‍♀️ #snowwhite #disney #rachelzegler

♬ original sound - thecommentssectiondw

@tenorbuds

Disney really casted Rachel Zegler as Snow White... when she hates Snow White. #disney #snowwhite #disneymovie #fyp #disneyprincess #rachelzegler #disneyliveaction #childhood #snowwhiteandthesevendwarfs

♬ Oh No - Kreepa

It all started when Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage branded Disney’s remake as a “backward story of seven dwarfs living in a cave together,” stating that he “was a little taken aback when [Disney] were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you are still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

This promptly motivated Disney to drop “and the seven dwarfs” from the movie’s title and refer to Snow White’s mates as companions there onwards to signify cultural sensitivity about the portrayal of people with dwarfism and affection for the characters in the story.

Soon after Dinklage’s comments, Disney issued a statement to Good Morning America, saying, “To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community.”

However, Disney’s attempt to correct its casting choice has sparked further backlash from some fans. In fact, it decided to cast only one actor with dwarfism, with the other six companions played by non-dwarf actors of varying ethnicities and genders. But were fans happy with that? Nope! They bemoaned that Disney took away six roles for actors with dwarfism in a tale that excludes them explicitly, even if problematically so.

In fact, dwarfism advocate and actress Katrina Kemp described the casting as “a missed opportunity to make a movie with seven little people where they actually have intended characters. There will have been people who gladly would have taken those roles.”

Disney then decided to make the characters CGI (computer-generated imagery), which didn’t go over well either. Zach Roloff, star of the reality show Little People, Big World, slammed Disney’s decision as a form of erasure of a disability community. Yikes.

People feel quite underwhelmed by the Disney movie, to phrase it lightly. Critics called the acting stiff, noting that it was giving “can’t,” disparaged the costumes, slammed the seven companions as artificial and creepy, and argued that the visual and aesthetic choices felt unreal in the worst sense of the word.

@frankie.from.earth

Replying to @Lover boy yeah i feel like something so close yet just a little different enough is inevitably gonna look wrong to people #greenscreen #cinderella #snowwhite #dress #costume #costumer #cosplay #cinderella2015 #disney #princess #movie #movietok #film #filmtok #nostalgia #fyp #foryou

♬ original sound - frankie⁷🍃🌼🪲🦆

“It feels like they are experts in making no one happy,” reads one of the comments on a TikTok video.

Still, early pictures and the trailer for the new Disney adaptation are racking up millions of views. So maybe all the criticism just shows how invested people already are…