New photos have circulated / TikTok screenshot
Disney has been going through its animated catalog to reintroduce familiar stories as live-action adaptations. Sometimes these are one-to-one recreations like The Lion King, and other times the new film introduces new elements different from the cartoon. New photos from the set of the upcoming Snow White suggest Disney may be removing the dwarfs, in favor of “magical creatures.”
This is a developing story with new details still emerging. It began when set photos began circulating, alleging to show a lineup of the new seven characters. A statement from Disney initially said they were fake, then specified the photos were of the set but were not official, studio-sanctioned photos. The move has sparked strong reactions from people of differing schools of thought.
On Friday, the Daily Mail published a story with photos reportedly from the set of the upcoming live-action Snow White, which stars West Side Story star Rachel Zegler as the titular princess and is due out in 2024. Some photos show a stand-in for Zegler in Snow White’s iconic yellow, blue, and red dress. Others show a line of seven individuals from various demographic backgrounds.
Initially, a Disney spokesperson told the Daily Beast that “The photos are fake and not from our production. We are currently trying to have the Daily Mail issue a correction.” However, the company later clarified that the photos were indeed from production but were not officially sanctioned. Disney also further corrected, “These show stand-ins for some talent and do not feature Rachel Zegler or Andrew Burnap.”
Disney fans had their first hint something might be different when the company had a back-and-forth with Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage, who was “a little taken aback” that Snow White had been diversely cast as Zegler, but “you’re still making that f–king backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together.” Dinklage was born with achondroplasia, which manifests as dwarfism.
Disney responded, “To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community. We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.”
Some people who saw the production photos are bewildered, however. “He never said don’t hire them … he said portray them like complicated human beings not stereotypes. In response Disney chose not to portray them at all,” said one Twitter user. Another said, “Be interesting to see what they do with the ‘Snow White, a dwarf and 6 people taller than her’ film.” Another echoed Dinklage’s sentiments, saying, “its all corporate. honestly Pete’s right. having dwarf characters is important but working out the story behind the characters like they do for everyone else is even more important. I think Willow is the first movie seen where they aren’t props.”
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