Is Disney waving goodbye to its latest princess?
In the past, Disney has been known to remove actors from its franchises if bad publicity is at hand; now reports claim they’ve done so with the upcoming Snow White a live-action film after a lot of scandals and drama plagued the film even before the trailer was released.
If you followed the live broadcast Snow White drama lately, you know a lot of Disney fans aren’t too happy with lead actress Rachel Zegler, who has shown a lot of hate towards the original storyline Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The film that marked Walt Disney’s entry into the world of feature film in 1937 remained a favorite for many years, so when Disney announced that they would be producing a live-action version of the first-ever Disney princess, many were delighted.
Disney cast Latina actress Rachel Zegler in the role, and while her ethnicity did cause a bit of backlash given that Snow White’s skin was supposed to be “white as snow”, many were pleased with the casting choice, as Zegler had recently shared her singing abilities in Maria in the Steven Spielberg film West Side Story.
From then on, things took a dark turn.
Almost ten years ago, The Walt Disney Company took on the challenge of remaking all of its classic animated films into live-action. We’ve seen countless classic Disney films be remade, some with stunning visual effects and enhancements, e.g. “The Lion King” (2019), “The Jungle Book” (2016) and “Cinderella” (2015), to name a few. Peter Pan and Wendy, the most recent live-action adaptation, was released earlier this year on Disney+. Disney also tried to capitalize on its classic Haunted Mansion attraction for the second time in 2023. Haunted Mansion.
Disney also released a remake of their 1989 cult film. Mermaidand Halle Bailey will play the role of Ariel in Mermaid (2023). That’s when things changed for Disney.
Disney is moving in a much more inclusive direction in all aspects of the company’s operations, some of which have caused controversy among guests. We’ve seen complaints in the parks too, especially when Disney decided to get rid of Splash Mountain due to its racial overtones and replace it with The Princess and the Frognew attraction Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
Now that problematic content has come to light, some have chosen nostalgia over what is acceptable.
Knowing this, it’s easy to see that there are certain audiences who don’t want to see any progress in films that reflect the world we live in today. Thus, the assertion that Snow White is not the kind of person who needs a prince charming and the criticism of her archetypal “caretaker” role did not appeal to all audiences.
There are two main incidents that have fans outraged by the upcoming film. Firstly, the film will not feature dwarfs, but seven magical creatures that deviate from the iconic story that Walt Disney himself created on screen. Many still don’t understand why the characters were removed, noting that it deprives little people with dwarfism of the opportunity to get a role in a major feature film.
The second is from an interview where Zegler and Gal Gadot say that Snow White will not have a prince charming (played by Andrew Burnap) and there will be no one to save her.
At this point, fans accused Disney of making a completely different film and creating a pseudo-feminist film that views Snow White’s ideals and behavior as wrong, creating a corrupt narrative for women who may dream of finding their “prince charming.” or act like a softer character than someone who is constantly trying to be a leader, which Zegler says Snow White will now be. At the same time, fans were outraged that Disney was promoting its “woke” agenda. According to fans, the film is no longer similar to any of the previous storylines, and many do not understand why such major changes were made to the historical film.
Zegler made it clear that she believed the original character of Snow White was a helpless damsel in distress who could only be saved by a prince. While this image is true for some Disney films, for many people Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs it was all about Snow White’s journey. This fact is only supported by the fact that in the original film the prince only has about five minutes of screen time.
Zegler’s comments led to numerous rumors suggesting her departure from the film. Recently there were reports that she will no longer be appearing in the series. Paddington 3. Of course, these messages went viral because fans mistakenly believed that the actress had been officially cut from the series. Snow White rather than Paddington. In response to these rumors, Zegler continues to post on social media and ridicule the rumors that have spread across the Internet.
Recently there were rumors that Netflix Wednesday and upcoming Beetlejuice 2 star Jenna Ortega will replace Zegler. Celebrity Corner (@Celebrity_Corner) shared a three-part series on TikTok noting that Disney is replacing Zegler because they can’t afford a “bad box office flop,” according to their inside sources.
@celebrity_corner #jennaortega #rachelzegler #snowwhite #news #fyp #xyzabc #celebritycorner
♬ original sound – Celebrity Corner
The account also notes that reshoots are ongoing with Jenna Ortega. Ortega reportedly “appreciated” the role, according to the social media account. They also noted that Ortega has worked with Disney in the past. Stuck in the middlesitcom on the Disney Channel.
The account stated that Disney would reveal the news when the official trailer was released and shared fans’ reactions to the rumor, many of which were in Ortega’s favor. The video is captioned: “Jenna Ortega IS HAPPY TO REPLACE Rachel Zegler from Snow White“.
Although the video states that they have sources, we saw Zegler wearing a ton Snow White The clothes look stale, which seems to indicate that she is still in the film. Ortega also has a busy filming schedule where reshoots may not work out. The film will debut in 2024 and hopefully a trailer will be released soon to confirm everyone’s suspicions.
What do you think about the ongoing Snow White casting rumors?