37If you are a fan of Disney live-action films, you certainly know of the ongoing drama with Rachel Zegler and her role in Snow White, the upcoming controversial film. Now, another iconic Disney princess seems involved, and she has sided against the public and the majority of Disney fandom in the matter, years before Rachel spoke out.
Starting nearly a decade ago, The Walt Disney Company embarked on a mission to remake all of its classic animated films, giving them a live-action spin. We’ve seen countless classic Disney films get remade, some with stunning visual effects and upgrades, like The Lion King (2019), The Jungle Book (2016), and Cinderella (2015), to name a few. Peter Pan & Wendy, the most recent “live-action” adaptation, was released earlier this year on Disney+. Disney also attempted to capitalize on its classic Haunted Mansion attraction for the second time with 2023’s Haunted Mansion.
We have also seen films like Beauty and the Beast starring Harry Potter star Emma Watson, and Pirates of the Caribbean, starring Johnny Depp, break records at the box office and breathe new life into an old story.
Disney also released a reimagining of its iconic 1989 film The Little Mermaid, with Halle Bailey taking on the role of Ariel in The Little Mermaid (2023). This is when things took a turn for Disney.
Disney has been moving in a much more inclusive direction in all facets of the company –– some of which has been controversial to guests.
A great example of this is Splash Mountain, which has been undergoing a change after closing permanently. Although many Disney fans did not like to see the ride close, it did so to make way for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure! A new ride based on the characters from The Princess and the Frog (2009) will surely blow us all away. This comes after racial undertones were acknowledged in Song of the South (1946), the story that followed the previous Splash Moutain ride.
Previously, Disney launched the Reimagine Tomorrow initiative, stating that “We haven’t always got it right.” This came after the Cast Member dress code changed when it came to the “Disney Look,” allowing Cast Members to express themselves more while at work.
We have seen this reflected in the parks as well, for example, with the storyline change on both Walt Disney World Resort’s and Disneyland Resort’s Jungle Cruise attraction to ensure cultural appropriation disappears. We have also seen more inclusivity added to the characters of “it’s a small world” with some dolls being added on wheelchairs.
In entertainment, we have seen this as well. Disney began to change their casting, placing different ethnicities into characters that were previously created as Caucasian. The first casting choice to make headlines was when Disney announced they had finally found who would play the iconic mermaid, Ariel, for the live-action remake The Little Mermaid. The Disney Princess and mermaid, Ariel, is played by actress Halle Bailey, known for her work in ABC’s Grown-ish and as one half of the famous R&B singing duo Chloe and Halle.
Halle’s casting certainly ruffled feathers, as some believed that Ariel had to look like her animated version, which was quite white with red flaming hair. But, on the other hand, we also saw many touching videos of black children recognizing someone with their skin tone appearing as a Disney princess.
All of this leads us back to the upcoming Snow White live-action film starring Rachel Zegler.
There are two main instances that caused fans outrage with the upcoming film. Firstly, there will be no dwarfs in the film, but seven magical creatures, which deviate from the iconic story that Walt Disney himself created on screen. Many have not understood why the characters were removed, with a point being made that this is depriving little people with dwarfism the opportunity to gain a role in a major feature film.
The second comes from an interview where Zegler and Gadot say that Snow White will not have a prince charming, and there is no one who needs to save her.
At this point, fans accused Disney of creating a totally different film, and creating a pseudo-feminist film that makes Snow White’s ideals and behavior be seen as wrong, creating a corrupt narrative for females who may dream of finding their “prince charming”, or behaving as more of a softer character, than someone who is constantly trying to be the leader, as Zegler said Snow White will now be. With this, fans have been outraged at Disney pushing their “woke” agenda. The film no longer resembles any of the same storyline, according to fans, and many do not understand why such major changes were made to a historic film.
Zegler has made it clear that she thinks the original character of Snow White was a helpless damsel in distress who was only able to be rescued by a prince. While this trope is true for certain Disney films, to many people, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was all about Snow White’s journey. This fact is only proven further by the fact that the prince has about five minutes of screen time in the original movie.
Following the extreme backlash, Zegler took to Twitter to try and have Disney fans be more kind towards her. She wrote, “i love you very much. forever and ever. remember to be kind. treat each other with patience and empathy. remember that you are loved unconditionally, no matter your mistakes, no matter your misunderstandings. you deserve it. you deserve love. you deserve to live without fear. x” as well as “i hope the world becomes kinder” on August 11, 2023.
Some of the comments on the Tweets pushed again that Snow White’s narrative should not be changed, “If you really “love” us so much, then listen. There are legitimate concerns brought forward by others. Why aren’t you fighting for a true adaptation of Snow White? It’s okay for girls to want true love.”, while others were much more hateful, calling Zegler “brownish mud”.
Since then, there have been rumors that state Zegler was entirely dropped from the franchise.
This would follow recent reports that claim Zegler is also no longer set to star in Paddington 3. This series of films starring the loveable bear has grown into one of the most successful family-friendly franchises.
Zegler has reportedly been cut from the film and will be recast as a result of the ongoing Hollywood strikes. These strikes started months ago and have affected countless projects, both in the television world and film production.
We also saw that Mattel photos of the Snow White doll did leak, and so did Gal Gadot’s Evil Queen doll. The Wonder Woman star is set to be alongside Zegler in the film as the apple-giving villain. Now, with the backlash so strong against Zegler, Gadot is shining as the star of the film with far less controversy, even though there is video footage of her agreeing to many of Zegler’s points that had her “canceled” by the Disney audience.
Somehow, Gadot has gotten away with it, and now, another Disney legend has too.
Kristen Bell has been a household name, as she plays Anna, Queen of Arendelle in Frozen and Frozen 2. Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf have won over the hearts of Disney fans alike, so much so that there are multiple Frozen lands that are popping up at various Disney parks worldwide from Disneyland Paris to Tokyo Disney Resort.
That being said, the then 38-year-old mother to Delta, 3½, and Lincoln, 5½, revealed in a new interview with People magazine that she is especially concerned about some of the plot points in Snow White. This was back in 2018, years before Zegler was cast or spoke out on the same messaging.
Bell told the outlet that she reads to her little ones every night — “It’s truly my favorite part of the day,” she gushed — and she makes time to discuss the books afterwards.
“Every time we close Snow White I look at my girls and ask, ‘Don’t you think it’s weird that Snow White didn’t ask the old witch why she needed to eat the apple? Or where she got that apple?’ I say, ‘I would never take food from a stranger, would you?’ And my kids are like, ‘No!’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m doing something right,’ ” recalled the Frozen actress.
The interview continued, “Don’t you think that it’s weird that the prince kisses Snow White without her permission? Because you cannot kiss someone if they’re sleeping!” she says she’s told them.
Here, we can see that Bell is clearly in agreement with Zegler, and believes that the storyline is in need of changing, but no backlash ever went her way. In fact, the interview made minimal headlines, all of which had neutral standpoints, whereas are all of Zegler’s headlines are mostly bashing the actor.
Rachel Zegler, who portrays Snow White in the upcoming film, made a name for herself with films like West Side Story (2021), Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) and will star in this year’s expansion of the Hunger Games franchise with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
What do you think of Kristen Bell’s stance on Snow White?