Disney Should Just Cancel Snow White At This Point

I think most people would agree that Disney needs to cancel their live-action “Snow White” film at this point. File this under op-ed if you want, but I think more people would agree than disagree.

Disney has gotten to a point where they are actively being mocked by South Park over their laziness in storytelling, rehashing of stories, and treatment of legacy IP.

Many do not want more live-action remakes, especially of something like ‘Bambi,’ and I’m noticing how many people are flat-out calling for Disney to cancel ‘Snow White’ at this point.

The final straw in a litany of complaints is the new image they released where they CGIed in the seven dwarfs.

If you are wondering what the controversy is about, I will explain.

Snow White has been a giant train wreck from the start. It was going to always be divisive based on the original story alone. Just the announcement of the film set off those who believe the original story was “rapey” over the kiss that woke her up.

The film itself is seen as basically sacred by many Disney fans. It was Walt Disney’s first full-length animated feature, and it is a big reason why the Walt Disney Company became what it did. Many don’t want to see it changed.

Snow White Herself

Another issue is that they cast the character described with “skin as white as snow” with someone who wasn’t white. Where they could argue that a character like Ariel or Tinker Bell could be a different race due to those characters not being culturally locked, the character of Snow White is a bit different given her name was from her skin tone. So many questioned the choice, and of course, they were all dismissed as “racist.” Something South Park joked about several times in their latest special.

Rachel Zegler was cast as the lead character. She kept causing controversy with some of her comments regarding the original film. The actress has made it very clear that she does not like the original movie or the story. She boldly announced that the live-action version has many changes, including the iconic “fairest of them all” comment, meaning who is the best leader and most just. She also implied the new film was about girl bossing. Fans were not happy.

Diversity and Exclusion

One of the most significant issues for the live-action reimagining came when Peter Dinklage mocked the story, saying it was regressive toward the dwarfism community. Shortly after, Disney announced that the film would have seven “magical creatures” and not dwarfs. This, of course, caused an uproar not only with fans but with other actors with dwarfism who felt the opportunity for such vital roles was taken from them.

Not long after, an image surfaced with stand-ins for the characters featuring diverse, mostly normal-sized people, playing characters that were later described as “bandits.” This, of course, caused another uproar. Disney said they were not all the actors for the parts, and some were stand-ins for the shot. Implying that some were the actors and those outfits and basic looks were meant to be the character’s appearance.

Disney’s Desperate Attempt To Fix The Situation

Then yesterday, Disney dropped an image of the new film that features Rachel Zegler as Snow White along with seven CGIed dwarfs.

Gone are the “bandits” and “seven magical creatures’ and we are once again back to dwarfs. But frankly, they look terrible, and many are asking why Disney didn’t just cast seven actors with dwarfism in the first place.

Disney should cancel it.

The budget for this film is already very high, approaching $216 million (after a tax credit of $41.4 million). Now, it’s been pushed back a year, and it seems they are going to have to redo the dwarfs, so how much more is that going to cost? At this point, Disney would be wise to cancel the train wreck instead of doubling down. Even if they release the film on March 21, 2025, how much money would it need to bring in to break even? Before more changes, they would need to do at least $400 million to break even, but now it will likely require far more money not to be a loss, let alone make a profit.

Disney has spent so much time trying to appeal to everyone that they are appealing to no one. With every change meant to highlight “diversity,” they exclude other groups who may be marginalized more than the groups they have chosen to pander to. Now, most everyone wants to see this film canceled.

Frankly, Disney should cancel all the live-action remakes while they are at it. People are over them. Disney has seen a massive decline in their box office, stocks, streaming service, and more. Now South Park is pointedly mocking them. Maybe they need to go back to their roots to find their place in the market once again.

But this is just my opinion.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!