In 2021, Disney announced they’d continue their string of live-action remakes with a new rendition of their 1937 classic “Snow White” set to be released in 2024. It stars Rachel Zegler, 22, who rose to prominence in Steven Speilberg’s adaptation of West Side Story, as Maria.
Disney has recently taken strides towards having more diverse casts than the source material with their remakes. They did this to some success with 2023’s “The Little Mermaid” grossing half a billion dollars worldwide, and garnering criticism and audience approval with a 7.2 on IMDb.
Zegler herself is of Columbian-American heritage instead of the source material’s “skin as white as snow”- one of many changes Disney has made for the sake of having diversity. However, in light of several interviews and her demeanor which many have deemed pretentious in online discourse, she’s causing backlash from fans, and casting a shadow of doubt and controversy over the upcoming remake.
“I just mean it’s not 1937,” Zegler said in an interview for Variety. “She’s not going to be saved by the prince, she’s not going to be thinking about true love- she’s thinking about becoming the leader she knows she can be.”
“The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so,” Zegler cooed in a now infamous Extra TV interview, in which she compared the original Prince to a stalker. “It’s really not about the love story at all, which is really really wonderful,” Zegler elaborated. “Whether or not she finds love along the way is anybody’s guess until 2024.” Zegler then stated the possibility of her male co-star’s scenes potentially being cut. “All of [his] scenes could get cut- who knows? It’s Hollywood baby!”
The story of Snow White was originally written in 1812, and has a cultural background to German folklore. Despite Zegler’s comments, the prince was not a stalker – at least not in the source material. Instead, he stumbles upon her in the snow lying dead from eating a poison apple, and with the help of seven dwarves, saves her by dislodging the poison apple from her throat.
Online discourse seems to find Zegler’s aversion to the source material as ungrateful, conceited, insufferable. “She is so insufferable,” one YouTube commenter stated. “She admitted in another interview she only watched Snow White once, so her memories of the prince being a stalker are obviously nonsense she’s spouting.”
David Hand was the director of animation for the 1937 Snow White; his son, also named David Hand, told The Telegraph, “There’s no respect for what Disney did and what my dad did – I think Walt and he would be turning in their graves.”
Zegler isn’t the only actor who has had negative things to say to the press about their roles and the franchises they represent. Robert Pattinson has famously dragged the Twilight franchise which boosted him to prominence, without repercussions. “If you’re going to hate on Rachel Zegler, go and hate on Robert Pattinson and Jacob Elordi,” one TikTok user stated, noting a double-standard the public has for female actors who talk down on their roles.
This controversy boils down to a greater ongoing debate about “wokeness” in Hollywood. The debate over whether reshaping established, “classic” stories is valid or performative is constantly shifting. Now more than ever, we as audiences have to vote with our wallets. The amount of time and money we give Snow White and her seven assistants’ will directly impact how Disney approaches diversity in their films moving forward.
Even if you don’t have a horse in this race, the backlash and PR nightmare that Zegler’s creating for Disney has already been a spectacle.
