Disney’s live action Snow White came out in theaters on Mar. 21 with Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. The story aims for a more female empowering and progressive plot than that of the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, but yet so far, the move has spurred up many controversies and has had very little success at the theaters. 

With a 41% Rotten Tomatoes score and 1.5 stars, as you can imagine, it was incredibly easy to buy tickets.The movie really failed to capture the magical essence of the original Snow White. Many controversies with the movie include the use of CGI for the seven dwarfs, many people feeling like Rachel Zeglar shouldn’t have played Snow White, and much more. After seeing it, I didn’t think it was horrible. I thought it was generally ok but the story felt rushed, not thought out, and the plot and characters were nothing like the original. 

The story adds more background to Snow White’s life and how her parents died, providing more meat to the story. Snow White’s goal at the beginning of the movie was to escape the Evil Queen and find comfort in hiding in the seven dwarf’s home. At the end of the movie, she decides to face the queen with the help of her friends and restore their kingdom back to the way it was. The message of the movie was generally to stand up for what you believe in.

There were many new songs added to the movie with the only ones somewhat similar to the songs included in the original were “Waiting on a Wish” and “Heigh-Ho”. “Waiting on a Wish” was based off the song from the original 1937 version “I’m Wishing”, yet the new Snow White greatly contrasts that of the old one as Rachel Zegler’s song is determined, fierce, and bold; whereas the original song was graceful, dreamy, and light. Zegler’s Snow White wishes about saving the kingdom and not being a servant for the Queen, while the old movie talks about her dreams of meeting the prince. 

I love the idea that the movie aimed to be more feminist, yet I feel like Disney changed Snow White’s personality entirely. Not only was her character changed, but Snow White’s love interest was drastically changed as well. In this version, he is a misunderstood thief named Jonathan in a group of many thieves who steal because they can’t afford food. In this version he’s not prince charming, he’s more of the Flynn Rider type from “Tangled”. Disney attempts to build a connection between the princess and Jonathan but I really felt no chemistry between the two. She gets saved by him with a “true love’s kiss” and I like how she defeats the queen and saves her kingdom in the movie.

The “Heigh Ho” song by the seven dwarfs at least had some parts of the original song-yet they still changed much of it. Although most of the dwarfs stayed true to their characteristics, Dopey’s portrayal could have been better. Dopey is shy, sweet, sensitive, clumsy, and he is mute or never speaks in the original. When Snow White meets Dopey, she encourages him to talk or at least whistle. He becomes proud of himself as he and the other dwarfs whistle together and clean the house, later shocking everyone by speaking for the first time. At the end, we see him reading the “Snow White” book to little children and we realize that he was the narrator for the whole movie. I understand that they were trying to show that anyone can overcome their fears and be brave, but I feel like they took away what could have been representation for the mute community. Not to mention the production using CGI for the dwarfs instead of using actors with dwarfism. The CGI was an off putting blend of warm animation and a realistic feel that just looked AI generated. 

Rachel Zegler’s voice is exquisite and there were many beautiful animated scenes in the forest. Yet, even with the added background story, I felt like the story was shallow and I didn’t feel any  emotional connection to any of the characters. A remake of Snow White wasn’t necessary and was just an easy money grab. I felt like the movie deserved 2.5 stars, but I wouldn’t want to watch it again.