The new Snow White live-action Disney movie premiered on the 21st of March, starring Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the evil queen. Based on previous live-action movies featuring Disney princesses like Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella, it broke box office records. Yet, Snow White did not break any records. The film flopped at the box office, losing over $100 million, and has earned less than one star out of thousands of review ratings. The budget for the movie was approximately $250-300 million. This resulted in not recouping half of the investment after the film’s release.
With the low ratings and feedback, the Disney movie received a backlash. The female Latin actress who plays Snow White, Rachel Zegler received criticism for her casting and comments about her skin color being compared to the original Snow White’s pale-looking skin color. Zegler’s hairstyle also got criticized for not being as firm as the original. Viewers stated the princess’s dress was a “little child Halloween costume from Walmart.” The editing itself didn’t reach the fantasy of Snow White’s animal friends or dwarfs. There were reviews of the dwarfs and animals presented in the film that suggested they appeared to be computer-generated.
In addition to the negative comments criticizing the Disney princess’s image, Zegler’s point of view also contributed to another missing piece of the Disney movie’s backlash. Rachel Zegler stated in interviews that she was never a huge fan of Snow White and couldn’t finish the Disney movie because she found it scary as a child. Zegler also stated that her movie will show Disney lovers that Disney princesses aren’t relied on to find their prince and live happily ever after. In her movie, it will showcase the aspects of how the princess finds maturity and independence, rather than relying on a prince in the Disney fantasy, which is exactly what happens. The storyline got criticized for ruining a little girl’s Prince Charming fantasy.
Due to the poor performance of the Snow White movie, low ratings, and negative feedback, Disney has paused other remakes, including Tangled. Rachel Zegler, believing the fans approved of her great work, took the backlash very seriously and published a video addressing it. In her video, she argued, “the kids’ Snow White fantasy is no longer like 1937, since Snow White is not going to be thinking about true love.” Zegler’s admission made people on social media completely believe that she had only focused on perfecting the lecture’s storyline, not meeting the character’s expectations.
