In recent years, Walt Disney Pictures has focused on releasing live-action versions of its classic animated films. From Cinderella (2015) to The Lion King (2019), these reimagined classics have been met with generally positive reviews. Given this success, the studio is looking for another home run with its upcoming adaption of Snow White, which is slated to debut in theaters in 2025.
Rachel Zegler is Disney’s Snow White
In 2021, Disney cast Rachel Zegler as Snow White. A largely unknown talent at the time, she’d made her film debut later that year as Maria Vasquez in Steven Spielberg‘s studio adaption of West Side Story (2021). The news came after several months of casting calls. While initially impressed with Zegler’s audition, the deciding factor was footage of her performing in West Side Story.
The performance reportedly “blew them away.”
The decision was one of many that Disney has made in recent years in an effort to diversify its princesses, following the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel in the 2023 live-action version of The Little Mermaid. Zegler, who was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, is of Columbian and Polish descent.
In a statement about the casting choice, Snow White director Mark Webb said, “Rachel’s extraordinary vocal abilities are just the beginning of her gifts. Her strength, intelligence, and optimism will become an integral part of rediscovering the joy in this classic Disney fairytale.”
Production began in 2022
A live-action version of Snow White had been in the works since 2016, and it officially begin production in 2022. Mark Webb was joined by Mark Platt and Jared LeBoff as the film’s producers, while Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson wrote the screenplay. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the minds behind the music in La La Land (2016) and Dear Evan Hansen (2021), helped to compose new songs for the feature.
The movie is based on the 1812 fairytale by the Brothers Grimm, it and follows the 1937 theatrical release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney’s first animated feature film. The tale has inspired a host of adaptions throughout the years, including the 2007 romantic comedy Sydney White and 2012’s Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman.
Throughout the production process (and after), the movie faced criticism from some Disney fans and public figures. This resulted from comments made by Rachel Zegler over the plan to make the character of Snow White more independent. The actor was also critical of the original film’s depiction of Snow White and the Prince.
David Hand, whose father co-directed the 1937 adaptation, has publicly criticized the film, going so far as to say his dad and Walt Disney would be “turning in their graves” over the changes that have been made to the story.
First trailer for Snow White (2025)
In December 2024, Disney released the first official trailer for Snow White, which is slated to hit theaters on March 21, 2025. Outside of stills and behind-the-scene paparazzi photos, this was the first time many had been given a sneak peek at what the finished product will look like.
Along with showing Rachel Zegler as the titular character, the teaser featured Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, as well as the seven dwarves Snow White meets in the woods. While many have now stated they’re optimistic about the storyline, critics as a whole have spoken out about the film’s CGI, which has been compared to that of a television show (and worse).
The Guardian went so far as to single out the animation used to bring the animals and seven dwarves to life, writing that they “look like someone has snuck into Disneyland, grabbed the statues from Snow White’s Enchanted Wish and wrapped them in human flesh, as a serial killer would with a gift for their mother.”
Along with the characters, people have been quick to point out that the settings as a whole were generated with CGI, something that’s particularly noticeable in the forest scenes. As Screen Rant states, the grass and leaves on the trees “look unnatural,” and nothing “looks real at all.”
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We wonder if Disney will pull a Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) and redo the CGI in Snow White, or if it’ll leave the film as is.