By Shaireza Jaafar
Edited by Maizatul
FLORIDA, 23 August 2023: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? Disney's new version of 1937 classic 'Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs', which will be released next year, has sparked controversy among fans.
In light of several accolades garnered from their recent live-action release 'The Little Mermaid', the upcoming reboot of the classic Grimms' Fairy Tale ‘Snow White’ has stirred a significant storm on social media due to the casting and some alterations being made.
The lead actress of the new version of 'Snow White', Rachel Ziegler, has been subjected to racist remarks on social media, complaining that she did not fit the role considering she is Latina.
The critiques then boiled up to the alterations of the new version. This is due to Ziegler's statement during an interview with Variety that the upcoming 'Snow White' remake will have a modern edge, differing from the 1937 version.
Snow White and the Prince in the 1937 version
"She's not going to be saved by the prince, and she's not going to be dreaming about true love. Instead, she's dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be," expressed Ziegler.
Centered on the foundation of ‘women empowerment’, Ziegler also clarifies that there will be no focus on the love story element, after which she said almost humorously that the prince was a ‘stalker’.
Unofficial images emerged
Other than that, other profound characters in the film ‘The Seven Dwarfs’, may have been jettisoned from the remake after unofficial images resurfaced displaying seven people of diverse colours in what will now be called ‘The Seven Magical Creatures’.
"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," responded Disney.
According to the commentary editor for the International Journal of Disney Studies, Brittany Eldridge explains that "I think it does have a lot to do with the nostalgia and wanting to relive the same exact experience, but the whole point of fairy tales is to adopt and evolve, and that's what we're seeing with Disney."
"People are looking for the exact characters in live-action and that's what Disney did with Cinderella because Cinderella was almost a copy-and-paste job," she added.
Although it is still unclear whether the new version will be the new fan-favourite, the casting and the major changes have left fans grumpy as they long to see and feel the exact characters and experience. ***
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