The controversy surrounding Disney’s live-action Snow White remake continues to escalate after the trailer achieved an unwanted milestone.
Earlier this month, Disney released the first official trailer during its D23 Expo.
The teaser has been online for approximately three weeks and has already reached a significant number of dislikes.
In the trailer, Rachel Zegler, who portrays Snow White, is seen singing the iconic song ‘Whistle While You Work’ while dancing with the seven dwarfs, which have been reimagined as ‘magical creatures’.
The trailer concludes with Snow White reaching for the apple—an act that everyone knows the outcome of.
Although some Disney fans are eagerly anticipating the film’s release next March, it has also faced substantial criticism, which seems to be reflected in the high number of dislikes the trailer has garnered.
One viewer expressed on X: “Congratulations to the live action Snow White trailer on reaching 1 MILLION DISLIKES!”
Since the announcement of the movie, it has faced considerable backlash online, partly due to comments made by Zegler about the original 1937 film.
In an interview with Extra TV, Zegler disclosed that she wasn’t a big fan of the original Disney princess movie and even called the prince ‘a stalker’.
“The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so. There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird! So we didn’t do that this time,” Zegler said.
“We have a different approach to what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie.
“All of Andrew [Burnap]’s scenes could get cut, who knows? It’s Hollywood, baby!”
She added: “I just mean that it’s no longer 1937.
“She’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love.
“She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave, and true.”
Additional criticism of the movie arises from the title—Snow White, instead of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Disney explained that it aimed ‘to avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film’ and added that ‘we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community’.
Meanwhile, Katrina Kemp, an advocate for Dwarfism and Disability inclusion in the media industry, commented that the casting was ‘a missed opportunity to make a movie with seven little people where they actually have intended characters. There will have been people who gladly would have taken those roles.’