The new live-action ‘Snow White’ film has caused much controversy. From the casting to removing the seven dwarfs, romance, and the original meaning of “fairest of them all.” Now renowned lyricist Sir Tim Rice also has some thoughts on the situation.
Sir Tim Rice is known in Disney circles for penning the lyrics to songs for “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.” Just today, an interview he had with GB News was posted. He talks about his thoughts on the live-action remake of Walt Disney’s first full-length animated feature that set the standard for animation and set the Walt Disney Company on a path to where it is today.
During the interview, he was asked if he felt that the live-action remakes were what the public wanted. Rice explained that while he was involved with “Aladdin,” he did a lot with “The Lion King,” and he feels that the animated versions are better.
“I was very involved with songs from ‘The Lion King,’ which was remade…I didn’t think the live-action so-called version worked as well as the cartoon. Partly because it’s extremely difficult to make animals, even though the whole thing was constructed and, in a way, was a sort of cartoon itself, but to make real-looking animals have expressions, it was almost impossible. And a lot of humor seemed to go from the film, I felt.”
After discussing the films he worked on, he turned his attention to ‘Snow White’ and its history from being a fairy tale in the 1800s, and then it became a silent film and a Broadway show in the 1910s. Later it became a film by Walt Disney in 1938.
He discusses how the original fairy tale and the versions that appeared up to, including Walt Disney’s animated classic, were from a different time.
He continued, “The story, as I understand it, the new version of Snow White; the story is being changed so much, the characters are being changed, the dwarfs are not all dwarfs. And you think well, ‘Why call it [Snow White] a remake? Why not just make a new film with an exciting new story?”
While many are questioning the casting of the iconic princess, named for her “skin as white as snow,” Sir Rice doesn’t believe the casting is an issue.
“I think anybody if you’re an actor, should be able to play any part, and the only thing really that matters is whether the actor is good and right for the part….the only thing that really matters is, are they any good? Can they convince in the role? And I think that’s what should apply to all the Disney films as well. Do they work as a movies?”
This leads him into comments about when he feels an old story should be left alone for something new. At what point has a story been changed so much that it is no longer recreating it?
“If you start with a story that was written in 18-whenever, it was, by the Brothers Grim, and you change it so much, you aren’t really recreating a story, you’re doing a new film. Which may or may not be good.”
The interviewer then asked if he felt that we needed to make our remakes more relevant to our culture of today.
“Yes, I think you have to take in the views of today. But you shouldn’t be completely high-bound by them. I don’t think, for example, the 1937 Snow White, for example, is now a bad film, because it reflects and reflected its time. And it was sincerely made and it was extraordinarily popular. And the actual fact that the character of Snow White in that early film isn’t just a cipher. She actually makes a few decisions, and she’s a very good and nice person. But you can’t do that again now, and why would you want to? Because it’s already been done very well back in what seems like the Stone Age of cinema. And my only question is really, why call it ‘Snow White?’ Why not make a brand-new film with an exciting story? Which perhaps they’ve done. I haven’t seen it yet.”
Sir Tim Rice stated that he’s more of a fan of the cartoon versions of films like ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘Snow White.’ He felt that with the live-action “Little Mermaid,” the film lost some of the excitement and enchantment of the original.
He said, “If a cartoon works so brilliantly, like ‘The Little Mermaid’ did or even how ‘Snow White’ did back in 1937 when even I wasn’t around, it’s often a mistake to try and redo it, but remakes can work. I think the Aladdin remake worked pretty well.”
He finishes by discussing how there are a lot of strong female leads in Disney princess films and states, “You have to go back quite a long way to have an excuse to criticize a film for being unfair to women. I think Disney films, whether good or not, have done women justice.”
Most of his points are the same ones fans have been making. Why remake the film at all if it will be so far removed from the original? Why not let the original alone and create something new? Why remake animated films at all?
With every new live-action remake, Disney seems to face diminishing returns. Instead of stopping, they are seemingly doubling down on more adaptations, including ‘Moana,’ which is only a few years old. It all seems to be a redundant cash grab.
The full interview can be viewed below:
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