Snow White versus the Evil Queen

Inside the “Snow White” Controversy

With its release on March 21, Disney’s remake of  “Snow White” is still causing controversy… and it has since before filming began in 2022. This entire debacle stems from the two leads of the film, Rachel Zegler (Snow White) and Gal Gadot (the Evil Queen), who, much like their characters, can’t seem to get along. 

The real drama began in 2022 when Zegler explained the new plot of the remake, saying that the story will take a whole different turn from the original. In fact, she made the well-known comment “the original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so. There is a big focus on [Snow White’s] love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird, weird. So we didn’t do that this time.” She also added that the heroine focuses more on being a hero and doing what she can for her people rather than centering on her love life. The irony of this situation is that critics have said that there is, in fact, a love story, though slightly changed from the original. Unlike the 1937 version, the young man is not a prince, though he still seems to play an important–and romantic–role in the case of this film. So, though the romance may not be the focus of the remake, it still plays a big part into the movie, which makes Rachel’s comments… Well, weird. 

Even before this drama, Zegler’s casting caused some concern. Though not the main issue, Zegler is in fact a Colombian-American actress, not falling under the “Snow White” stereotypes of the original film. The main concern of many Disney fans is that the original story took place in Germany in the early 1800s, meaning that, in their opinion, a Latina should not play this character. However, this should not be a huge concern as Snow White was named for the snow storm that she was born during, not for the color of her skin. The 2025 version is just a new take on the original story, one set in a fantasy world where race shouldn’t matter. 

But Zegler isn’t the only person under scrutiny. The dwarfs from the story have also come under an immense amount of examination due to comments made by Peter Dinklage over the fact that real people were going to be cast as the seven dwarfs. He claimed that Disney was reinforcing stereotypes surrounding people with dwarfism, saying that Disney was being “progressive” by casting a Latina but by doing so they were being hypocritical by casting actors with dwarfism to play the dwarfs. Therefore, Disney decided to complete the seven dwarves with CGI, making them… lifeless, much to the dismay of Disney fans. This caused actors from Dinklage’s own community to turn against him, saying that this prevented them from getting jobs and becoming as successful as he himself is. So drama all around.  

The main controversy, however, is the drama between Zegler and Gadot. Due to politics, no less, the two actresses are on opposing sides of the Palestine-Israel conflict. Gal Gadot, an Israeli actress, obviously took the side of her ethnic roots. She spoke publicly about her beliefs, causing tension with Zegler who supports Palestine. This has led to some harsh words said very publicly between the two actresses, fueling the tension and drama surrounding the film. The duo did appear at the Oscars together to present the award for best visual effects. 

Disney’s “Snow White” is currently in theaters worldwide and hopefully the drama slows down. 

By: Adelle Hall