Latest news with #SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarves
Sky News
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News
Snow White: Blighted by controversy, but Disney live-action remake still tops box office
Disney's live-action remake of Snow White And The Seven Dwarves has topped the North American box office chart, despite a controversy-packed run-up to the film's release. Based on the 1937 classic that established Disney's name as an industry leader, Snow White took an estimated $43m (£33.1) domestically, and $87.3m (£67.3) worldwide according to Box Office Mojo. For comparison, Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King, which came to cinemas in December, took $35m domestically (£27m). It's now gone on to take over $700m (£540m) globally. Meanwhile, Disney's 2019 live-action Dumbo, directed by Tim Burton, took $45m (£35m) domestically in its opening weekend. It has since taken over $350m (£270m) worldwide. Snow White hasn't performed well in China, only making it to seventh place in the Chinese box office charts and grossing less than $1m (£770,000) over its opening, according to EntGroup's China Box Office website. Reviews for the movie have been mixed, with The Guardian calling it an "exhaustingly awful reboot" and The Observer similarly judging it to be "toe-curlingly terrible". The Independent wasn't a fan of the "uncanny CGI caricatures" which it said were reminiscent of 2004 movie The Polar Express, a sentiment echoed by Empire which called the reimagined dwarves an "unholy VFX disaster". The Daily Mail called it "painfully muddle-headed", but gave Zegler the thumbs up, highlighting her "oodles of talent", while The New York Post said it was "mediocre" and unmemorable. Some US outlets have given a more favourable critique, with Variety calling it "one of the better live-action adaptations of a Disney animated feature," and The Hollywood Reporter judging it "mostly captivating". Reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the movie a 44% critic score - which translates to "rotten" - however the audience score on the site's "Popcornometer" is currently at 74%, rating it "fresh". 1:28 Dubbed 'woke' and plagued with speculation The movie had a muted marketing campaign, with no UK premiere and reduced US press opportunities. Costing around $250m to make, the film had been flagged as a potential tent-pole movie (a film that is expected to be very successful and support a range of merchandise or spin-off opportunities) for Disney early on. But aspirations faded as it approached release as it was hit by controversy after controversy. Early on, Snow White was labelled "woke" due to its casting of Latina actress Rachel Zegler, who is of Colombian-Polish descent, in the lead role. Zegler also faced a backlash after suggesting the early version of the film had content that was unsuitable for the 21st century - namely the fact the prince "literally stalks" Snow White. There was then speculation as to whether Zegler got on with Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who plays the evil queen, as they have previously expressed very different views over the Israel-Hamas war. The use of CGI to create the seven dwarf characters, thus replacing the potential for little people to take up the roles, has left disability activists to accuse the movie of "erasing" them from the narrative. Disney missed a golden opportunity to educate children during what was likely to be their first encounter with someone with dwarfism.
Sky News
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News
Snow White: Little people feel 'erased' by Disney's use of CGI instead of real actors
Disney's use of CGI to create the seven miners at the heart of the live-action remake of Snow White And The Seven Dwarves has left little people feeling "disregarded" and "erased," according to a disability activist. Comedian, model and content creator Fats Timbo, who has spoken about being bullied as a child, told Sky News she believes Disney has missed a golden opportunity to educate children in what is likely to be their first encounter with someone with dwarfism. Timbo, who has dedicated her activism to raising the profile of people of short stature, has achondroplasia, a genetic condition that inhibits growth and affects around one in 27,500 people. Award-winning actor Peter Dinklage, who has the same condition, previously criticised the film, telling the WTF With Marc Maron podcast: "It makes no sense to me. You're progressive in one way, but then you're still making that f***ing backward story about seven dwarves living in a cave together?" Following the remarks, Disney said it consulted with members of the dwarfism community to "avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film". It was the 1937 classic that established Disney's name as an industry leader. But the remake has been beset by controversy. Early on it was labelled "woke" due to its casting of Latina actress Rachel Zegler, who is of Colombian-Polish descent, in the lead role. Zegler also faced backlash after suggesting the early version of the film had content that was unsuitable for the 21st century - namely the fact the prince "literally stalks" Snow White. There was then speculation as to whether Zegler and Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who plays the evil queen, got on as they have previously expressed very different views over the Gaza war. Not dwarves but 'animated magical creatures' Now the erasing of the dwarves - first from the title, then from the film, at least in human form - is proving highly divisive. Disney used computer-generated images (CGI) to create what they called "animated magical creatures" rather than using little people in the roles. Timbo tells Sky News: "Our representation is already small as it is - no pun intended. It's already limited. To erase that and use CGI, like we're mythical creatures or people that could be made on computers, it's disregarding us in general." She goes on: "Let's say kids have never seen somebody that has my condition and they've seen a CGI version of me. It's going to be a bit baffling to children. It could have been a real educational piece to have actors that have the condition and give them the role they deserve." Timbo says lack of visibility for small people has real-world consequences. "I used to get made fun of all the time. [Kids would be] saying 'You're one of the dwarves from Snow White,' that kind of thing. I think now when somebody sees a little person, they're not going to believe it's real. They're going to see that CGI version on Snow White instead of seeing a real little person that has real character with real depth." 'Snow White And The Little People' Timbo says other children's films were also used to taunt her, including Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: "The Oompa Loompas - I got called that all the time." In the Snow White remake, Martin Klebba voices CGI Grumpy, while George Appleby has a physical character, playing one of a band of seven robbers - both actors are little people. But the decision not to use people of small stature to play all seven dwarves on-screen has left many scratching their heads. And it's not the first time small people have been edited out of movies. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory's 2023 re-make, Wonka, used special effects to shrink down Hugh Grant to play an Oompa Loompa, while 2012 film Snow White And The Huntsman replaced its dwarves with able-bodied actors Ian McShane, Ray Winstone and Nick Frost. Not a fan of the term dwarfism, Timbo says she thinks Disney would also have done well to tackle the title differently, too: "If they had put a different spin on it where it was Snow White And The Little People, that would have sounded great." She says that in an attempt to avoid controversy, Disney chose "the safe option" of simply cutting the physical roles completely, and letting CGI fill the void. It's a decision Timbo calls "upsetting," due to the fact it "reaffirms the negative stereotypes of little people not being actual people". Disney's poisoned apple Timbo's 2023 book Main Character Energy, about living fearlessly in the face of adversity, seems like it could be a good read for the bosses of Disney right now, as they face growing criticism over the decision. With a muted release (no Leicester Square premiere, and a limited LA debut) it's been a less-than-fairytale opening for a movie which had been intended to rival the success of 2017 remake Beauty And The Beast. Many might say it has turned into something of a poisoned apple. Proving controversial and polarising, the response couldn't be more removed from Disney's brand proposition if it tried. Early reviews are so far mixed. Timbo says she will give the movie a shot: "I want to see if it lives up to the hype or the bad press." Box office figures and audience ratings will soon deliver a verdict, and Timbo remains generous despite reservations: "I want it to surprise me, I want to enjoy it… I hope it does do well. But obviously, I think Disney could have done things a bit differently."
