After reimagining its animated classics from The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast to Dumbo and The Lion King (twice!), Disney is going right back to the beginning with its latest live-action remake.
However, the road to Snow White’s release is one that’s been marked with controversy from the word go.
With less than a week to go until the new film – featuring Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as her wicked stepmother – hits cinemas, here’s a timeline of what has made the release such a tumultuous one…
Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot’s comments about the original Snow White film were not so well-received by fans
Rachel first faced criticism in 2022 when she made an appearance at the Disney fan event D23 and spoke in a way some felt was disparaging about the original film.
She told Extra: “The original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so. 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?”
Rachel also said the new film is “not really about the love story at all, which is really wonderful, and whether or not she finds love is anybody’s guess until [release day]”.
During the same event, Gal Gadot told Variety that the new Snow White was “not going to be saved by the prince”, to which Rachel agreed: “She’s not going to be dreaming about true love, she’s going to be dreaming about becoming the leader that she can be, and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave and true.
“And so, it’s just a really incredible story for young people everywhere to see themselves in.”
Two years later, Rachel admitted that it made her “sad” that her comments about the original Disney classic were misconstrued.
“I believe that women can do anything. But I also believe that they can do everything,” she told Variety. “I would never want to box someone in and say, ‘If you want love, then you can’t work.’ Or ‘If you want to work, then you can’t have a family.’ It’s not true. It’s never been true.”
Rachel added: “It can be very upsetting when things get taken out of context or jokes don’t land.”
The new Snow White film will not feature Some Day My Prince Will Come, a song performed by the title character in the 1937 original.
Instead, a recently-released preview clip sees Rachel singing a new track written specially for the remake, titled Waiting On A Wish.
Rachel subsequently faced pushback from racist critics over her casting in the role of Snow White
The Golden Globe nominee was quick to respond to the criticism from those unhappy at a Latina performer being cast as a character who, in the original Disney animation, was described as having skin as “white as snow”.
Back in 2022, Rachel told Variety: “When it was announced, it was a huge thing that was trending on Twitter for days, because all of the people were angry.
“Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be a possibility for me. You don’t normally see Snow Whites that are of Latin descent. Even though Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries.
“Blanca Nieves [Snow White’s name in Spanish] is a huge icon, whether you’re talking about the Disney cartoon or just different iterations and the Grimm fairy tale and all the stories that come with it. But you don’t particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that.”
Of her detractors, Rachel added that “we need to love them in the right direction”, enthusing: “At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I’m really excited to do. I get to be a Latina princess.”
Unfortunately, the criticism of Rachel and Disney continued into the following year.
Writing on Twitter (as it was still known at that time), Rachel said while she was “extremely appreciative of the love I feel from those defending me online”, she did not want to be tagged in any posts about the “nonsensical discourse”.
“I really, truly do not want to see it,” she added, alongside pictures of herself dressed as both Snow White and Belle from Beauty And The Beast as a child. “I hope every child knows they can be a princess no matter what.”
Halle Bailey, who was at the centre of racist abuse herself when she was first cast as Ariel in 2022’s The Little Mermaid, voiced her support for Rachel in 2023, writing: “We love you so much, truly the perfect princess.”
In the new Snow White film, as is the case in some iterations of the original fairytale, it will be revealed that the character was given her name by her parents after they survived a snowstorm, as a reminder to her of her resilience.
When the movie entered production, Emmy winner Peter Dinklage voiced his disappointment about its depiction of the titular ‘seven dwarves’
Speaking on the podcast WTF With Marc Maron, the former Game Of Thrones star said: “There’s a lot of hypocrisy going on I’ve got to say.
“No offence to anything but I was a little taken aback by [the fact] they were very proud to cast a Latino actress as Snow White, but you’re still telling the story of Snow White And The Seven Dwarves.
“They were so proud of that, and all love and respect to the actress and the people who thought they were doing the right thing but I’m just like, ‘what are you doing?’.”
Peter added: “Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me.
“You can be progressive in one way but you’re still making that fucking backwards story of the seven dwarves living in the cave. What the fuck are you doing man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I’m not loud enough.”
A Disney spokesperson later said: “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.
“We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.”
Confusion subsequently arose when photos taken from the set were published in the Daily Mail, who suggested that the original seven dwarves had been replaced by seven new characters of mixed genders, races and heights.
It later transpired that these characters were, in fact, “bandits”, seven characters added to the story as companions to another character not featured in the original Disney animation, Jonathan, played by Andrew Burnap.
The seven dwarves, meanwhile, have still been included, but are depicted as CGI characters rendered using motion-capture technology.
Jeremy Swift, Tituss Burgess and George Salazar are among the actors playing the Seven Dwarves via motion capture and voice acting, all of whom retain their names from the classic Disney movie.
It’s worth noting that, unlike the original film, this new adaptation is titled simply Snow White, suggesting the characters have a reduced role in the new story.
Choon Tan, an actor with dwarfism, told the Daily Mail that this approach was “damaging our careers and opportunities” and “discriminating in a sense”.
Gal Gadot’s casting has also been controversial
Gal Gadot’s presence in the film has been met with a backlash from a very different set of critics, due to the fact she served for two years in the Israeli army, and has been vocally pro-Israel amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Her co-star, meanwhile has been a supporter of Palestine since as far back as 2021.
Last year, when the most recent Snow White trailer was released, Rachel wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “I love you all so much! Thank you for the love and for 120m views on our trailer in just 24 hours! What a whirlwind.
“I am in the thick of rehearsals for Romeo And Juliet so I’m gonna get outta here. Bye for now.”
A follow-up post attached to her original message then read: “And always remember, free Palestine.”
Of her support for Palestine, Rachel told Variety in October: “I can’t watch children die. I don’t think that should be a hot take.”
“I’m only responsible for what I feel. And then I’m also responsible for how I act upon it,” she continued. “We’re nearing one year since the horrendous attacks in Israel on [7 October 2023], but I’ve been following this conflict for so many years. Like so many people, I’m so heartbroken by the loss of life that we’re seeing with these insane death tolls coming out of both regions.”
The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has called for a boycott of the streaming service Disney+ due to Gal’s casting in Snow White, as well as an Israeli character played by Shira Haas in the latest Captain America movie.
Alia Malak of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel also encouraged a boycott of Snow White in a statement given to The Guardian.
“We deeply appreciate that lead actor Rachel Zegler has publicly expressed support for Palestinian liberation, but that is not sufficient to undo the harm done by the inclusion of Israel’s cultural ambassador,” Malak said.
Rachel Zegler later made headlines with her comments about Donald Trump’s re-election
The morning after the 2024 US election result was announced, Rachel wrote on social media: “There is a deep sickness in this country. May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace.”
A week later, amid another right-wing backlash, Rachel said: “I would like to sincerely apologise for the election post I shared on my Instagram last week. I let my emotions get the best of me.
“Hatred and anger have caused us to move further and further away from peace and understanding, and I am sorry I contributed to the negative discourse. This week has been emotional for so many of us, but I firmly believe that everyone has the right to their opinion, even when it differs from my own.”
She added: “I am committed to contributing positively toward a better tomorrow.”
This comes at a time when Disney is renewed criticism of its own, as well as accusations of bowing to and appeasing right-wing critics.
In a memo to global staff that was later leaked to and published by Deadline, Disney’s HR said that changes were being made in order to focus more on “business goals and company values”.
Around this time, it was also revealed that Disney was retooling its content warnings about outdated media on its streaming platform.
This came after a storyline involving a transgender character was removed from the Pixar series Win Or Lose, while a spin-off TV show hooked on The Princess And The Frog’s central character Tiana will also no longer be moving forward.
Disney has been scaling back premieres and other promotional events for Snow White, according to reports
Amid outcry on both sides of the US political spectrum and Middle East conflict, Disney has reportedly been quietly scaling down its promo for the new Snow White movie.
Earlier this week, Variety claimed that its Los Angeles premiere would not be inviting press, instead consisting of “photographers and a house crew”.
The MailOnline previously claimed that a premiere event in London would not be taking place due to alleged concerns about a potential backlash. Instead, a smaller-scale screening was held at the castle in Spain believed to have inspired the animated original, with a limited media presence.
Rachel was also the only member of the cast thought to have attended the event.
Since then, Page Six also published a piece about the film, citing an anonymous so-called “movie insider” who claimed that Disney had “called [Rachel] directly”, as well as her management, asking her to “tone down” her political social media posts, “but she won’t listen”.
HuffPost UK has contacted Disney and Rachel Zegler’s team for comment.
Snow White is due to hit cinemas on Friday 21 March. Watch the trailer below:
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