In some future era, when the history of 21st Century Hollywood is written, DISNEY’S SNOW WHITE will be one of the major entries. A musically oriented live action reimagining of Disney’s iconic SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937), the new film was released in April 2024 and quickly became, according to multiple estimates, the biggest flop of all time.
DISNEY’S SNOW WHITE (2024) Trailer
This SNOW WHITE went south almost immediately, with a script that complicated a simple story horrendously and the casting of the obnoxious Rachel Zegler (whose discoverer Steven Spielberg is alleged to have personally called Disney’s CEO Bob Eiger to warn him against casting her) in the title role. The problems continued with the replacement of the seven dwarfs with “magical beings,” which were then replaced by CGI dwarfs in one of the multiple reshoots that greatly swelled an already-exorbitant budget, the final tally of which has been estimated in the $200-$600 million range.
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
Further strife occurred in what was perhaps the most calamitous publicity campaign of all time. It was Zegler who took center stage in that campaign, trashing the original SNOW WHITE, turning the new film into a referendum on the Israel-Palestine conflict and poisoning the relationship with her Israeli co-star Gal Gadot (for whom the studio had to hire bodyguards due to all the death threats she received). Zegler’s antics had the effect of providing Disney with a scapegoat, with numerous “anonymous sources” quoted in the trades about what a pain in the ass she was onset, thus conveniently shifting the blame for SNOW WHITE’s failure away from where it belonged: with Disney’s higher-ups.
This Latina Snow White is in the none-too-grand tradition of Disney girl bosses, a power-hungry brat who sings about herself thusly: “Will she rise or bow her head? Will she lead or just be led?” Her mother, who birthed Ms. White during a snowstorm (hence her name), ruled a magic kingdom until dropping dead (suddenly? Of old age?). In her place the Israeli accented Evil Queen (Gadot) assumed power, installing a magic mirror and making Snow White a servant. Dressed in a deeply unflattering blue and yellow get-up, Show White escapes the kingdom, inspiring the Queen to dispatch a huntsman (Ansu Kabia) to track her down and cut out her heart, but he can’t go through with the mutilation.
Enter the CGI dwarfs, who work in a cavern reachable by mine cars on a rollercoaster track that’s straight out of INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984). Arriving home one day, they find Snow White sleeping in their house, and before long she, true to her entitled nature, is bossing around these fellows whose home she invaded.
Snow White’s love interest is the wimpy peasant Jonathan (Andrew Burnap). Their romance is so half-hearted it barely registers, with Jonathan captured and imprisoned by the Queen, who transforms herself into a wrinkled old crone. In this guise she gives Snow White a poisoned apple that puts her to sleep, but not for long, as Prince Not-So-Charming breaks out of the queen’s dungeon and delivers the kiss of life to Snow White, after which he bursts into tears, and she heads back to the kingdom to give her adversary what-for. The Magic Mirror, meanwhile, informs the Queen that “Famed is thy beauty, but it goes no further than the skin. For Snow White, beauty comes from deep within.”
Zegler, in all fairness, has real charisma, and almost succeeds in making a deeply unlikeable, self-absorbed character sympathetic; her singing isn’t even bad (although the tunes she warbles are forgettable girl power anthems). Gal Gadot, by contrast, offers a high school play worthy performance, while Andrew Burnap makes little-to-no impression as Jonathan and the CGI dwarves are so distractingly silly it’s hard to see beyond their appearances.
The film looks inauthentic, and not just because its medieval populace is so unbelievably diverse, with seemingly every race represented (if you look closely you’ll see exactly one Asian face amid the extras). The settings are patently synthetic, lit by fake sunlight and packed with CGI animals that are anything but lifelike–and so fit in quite well with those ridiculous CGI dwarfs (if I didn’t know better, I’d opine that the film was created by AI).
Ultimately DISNEY’S SNOW WHITE fails because of its sheer inertness. It has an impersonal, corporate feel, suggesting its makers didn’t much care about the film they were making, so why should we?
Vital Statistics
DISNEY’S SNOW WHITE
Walt Disney Studios
Director: Marc Webb
Producers: Marc Platt, Jared LeBoff
Screenplay: Erin Cressida Wilson
Cinematography: Mandy Walker
Editing: Mark Sanger, Sarah Broshar
Cast: Rachel Zegler, Andrew Burnap, Gal Gadot, Jeremy Swift, Tituss Burgess, Andrew Barth Feldman, Martin Klebba, Jason Kravits, George Salazar, Andy Grotelueschen, Patrick Page, Emilia Faucher, Ansu Kabia, Hadley Fraser, George Appleby, Colin Carmichael, Smauel Baxter, Jimmy Johnston, Dujonna Gift, Idriss Kargbo, Jaih Betote