David Hand, the son of the director of Disney’s original animated “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” told The Telegraph that he thinks the live-action remake is a “disgrace.”
Rachel Zegler portrays the live-action version of Princess Snow White. Comments recently resurfaced of her referring to the original “Snow White” as “extremely dated” and comparing the Prince’s behavior to “stalking.” Zegler has also said that in the new film, Snow White would be “a fantastic leader.” The film will have a male lead, portrayed by Andrew Burnap, but he is not Prince Charming. It’s not clear if the film will feature a love story or not.
Zegler said of Snow White, “She’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love.”
In response, 91-year-old Hand, who worked for Disney in the ’90s, said she “misunderstands” the film. He said young people “have never seen the original” and “don’t know what they’re talking about.”
“It’s a whole different concept and I just totally disagree with it,” he said of the live-action remake, “and I know my dad and Walt would also very much disagree with it.” He added that the original film was done “with good taste when it was written” and that he thinks it’s a “disgrace” that Disney is “trying to do something new with something that was such a great success earlier.”
Many of the live-action remakes have taken the opportunity to correct racist, sexist, and ableist elements of their original animated counterparts and add more diversity. Zegler is of Colombian descent and the seven dwarfs are being replaced by a group of “magical creatures” portrayed by people of different heights, weights, and skin tones.
Hand said of the live-action remakes, “I’m afraid of what they’re going to do with the early films… Their thoughts are just so radical now. They change the stories, they change the thought processes of the characters, they just aren’t the original stories anymore. They’re making up new woke things and I’m just not into any of that. I find it quite frankly a bit insulting [what] they may have done with some of these classic films. There’s no respect for what Disney did and what my dad did. I think Walt and he would be turning in their graves.”
Hand said that Adriana Caselotti, who voiced Snow White in the 1937 film, would be “terrified” by people suggesting the princess wasn’t a feminist.
The live-action “Snow White” is scheduled to be released in 2024.
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