Words: Maya Statham (She/Her)
Disney’s ongoing string of live-action remakes of their most classic films poses several questions about popular culture, and the way we view cultural history.
As a large corporation, in the pursuit of pleasing everyone and maintaining the largest scope of patronage, Disney have been creating “politically correct” pseudo-progressive versions of outdated stories, whilst trying to scoop out pockets with nostalgia bait. Seems like the perfect business model, right? That’s the issue here, Disney as a business is concerned with one thing and one thing only: money. It seems that it is impossible to churn out original stories at a rate that satisfies this insatiable greed, in part, bringing about these remakes. Originality no longer pays, with 13 out of 15 of the worldwide highest-grossing films of 2024 being sequels.
Culture should move on from harmfully outdated ideals and depictions entirely, and it is important to scrutinise older films with modern discernment so that we may understand the cultural consensus of the time, and move on. In the case of Snow White, the 1937 original is far beyond criticism – it’s chock-full of antiquated ideals and depictions, and barely any of its characters can be described as compelling nor developed – however, it was undoubtedly a groundbreaking film of the age, a first of its kind in the field of animation. It is then so disheartening to see something so artistically revolutionary transformed into a lazy, fatuous film, still somehow missing the mark of political correctness.
The original has been criticised heavily for the depiction of its titular ‘Dwarves’. Peter Dinklage, an actor with achondroplasia – a form of dwarfism, in 2022 criticised Disney’s choice to retell the story, describing it as ‘backwards’. Disney’s response to this criticism has been to reinvent the image of the dwarves instead, branding them as ‘magical creatures’ and using CGI rather than casting real actors with dwarfism, claiming they had consulted with members of the community to avoid reinforcing stereotypes.
The depiction as ‘magical’ is a longstanding stereotype that many have pointed out as perpetuating tired depictions of those with dwarfism. The project has further been criticised for turning to CGI as it removes an opportunity for disabled actors, with one performer describing it as ‘discriminating in a sense’. How can we possibly interpret this film as a serious attempt at progressivism if it relegates disabled bodies to an invisible role, removing them entirely rather than finding a way to navigate better portrayals?
The film has been an overall mess for Disney, and hasn’t seemed to sit well with people on either side of the political spectrum. There have been many complaints surrounding the casting of Rachel Zegler as a Latina actress in the role of Snow White; this is part of an ongoing pattern of Disney’s remakes opting for more diverse casting, similar to choices made for the live-action The Little Mermaid. This has been paired closely with concerns surrounding the actress’s critical comments on the 1937 original which she described as ‘extremely dated’. Zegler in responding to accusations of the remake being too ‘politically correct’ said, ‘Yeah, it is – because it needed that.’ Many have commented on the vast number of potential changes to the story which include cutting iconic songs and replacing them with new originals, alongside a near-complete gutting of the central love story. As a result of these various controversies, the film opted for unusually small premieres, both in Europe and the US, with minimal press invitations.
Critics have largely slated the film, some pointing to the fact that Disney’s disingenuous efforts to remaster and recontextualise a now politically insensitive story from the 1930s overshadow the viewing experience, and any potential that the film may possess. Many have also commented on some poor performances, with Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen seemingly being the main culprit – one critic referred to her as a ‘cardboard cutout’. There has been further criticism regarding the visual aspects of the film, described by one critic as ‘a film made by people with cartoon dollar signs for eyes and not even the tiniest glimmer of art in their souls’.
All this raises the question: are these remakes really necessary? I would contend that the cultural impermanence of a piece of art is one of the things that makes it so important. These films are just a symptom of our inability as a culture to let go of what we feel defines our past. There are plenty of new stories to tell, but we are often too bogged down with nostalgia, with companies like Disney too bogged down with greed, to consider exploring them. It’s time to stop struggling in vain to transcend these original stories, and invest time and effort in capturing some new magic.
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