00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at all the major reasons why the upcoming
00:09Snow White is being so heavily criticized.
00:17Yet another live-action remake.
00:24Even if you're not following all the drama, chances are you're discouraged from the
00:27film for the sole reason that it's yet another live-action Disney remake.
00:31These have been mildly successful at best, and we'd be hard-pressed to find anyone
00:34who enjoys one of the remakes over the respective originals.
00:38They've always been an inferior product, often of much lesser quality and stinking
00:54of studio greed.
00:55Fortunately, Snow White looks to be no different, and this one has the added baggage of adapting
01:00what is arguably the most legendary film in the animated canon.
01:03This isn't Mulan, and no disrespect to Mulan, this is freaking Snow White we're talking
01:07about here.
01:15The Casting of Rachel Zegler
01:29From day one, the casting of Rachel Zegler has been fiercely criticized.
01:33Some took the criticism in a racial direction, arguing that Snow White should be a Caucasian
01:37woman, not a Latina.
01:38This was made worse when fans realized that Disney was engaging in colorblind casting
01:43as Zegler's runner-up, Renata Vaca, revealed that the casting call was open to all ethnic
01:47groups.
02:01Others just didn't like the casting in general, arguing that Snow White should be played by
02:05a bigger actress and not a relative newcomer.
02:07We'll see how she does, but the behind-the-scenes drama isn't doing her any favors.
02:11More on that in a minute.
02:13The Casting of Gal Gadot
02:23It's not just Snow White that people have a problem with, it's the evil queen as well.
02:27While maybe not as fierce and vocal, the casting of Gal Gadot has also attracted a fair bit
02:31of criticism, and also for various reasons.
02:34Some simply don't find her a very good actress, and this belief is reinforced in the trailer
02:38thanks to some awkward line readings.
02:45It seems like quite a poor performance, even by the cartoonish standards of Disney.
02:49Others find Gadot more traditionally attractive than Rachel Zegler, which creates a problem
02:53with the whole fairest of them all thing.
02:55Whichever way you slice it, many think that the casting in this film could have used some
02:58work.
03:06The Comments from David Hand
03:21It always helps when a remake gets the seal of approval from someone involved in the original,
03:25and it does irreparable damage when it receives criticism.
03:28David Hand was not directly involved in making Snow White, but his father was.
03:32David Hand Sr. was the supervising director of the original film, and his son has been
03:35quite vocal about his disdain for the remake.
03:42The 91-year-old spoke to the Telegraph and didn't mince his words, finding the remake
03:46a bit insulting.
03:47He also claimed that,
03:48There's no respect for what Disney did, and what my dad did.
03:51I think Walt and he would be turning in their graves.
03:53In certain circles, his words only added fuel to the fire.
04:14Criticism of the Original
04:15It's not a good look when people involved in a remake actively criticize the original,
04:25and it's certainly not a good look when they criticize something that is both widely
04:28beloved and enormously influential.
04:31Rachel Zegler has openly criticized the original Snow White in a number of interviews, calling
04:35it outdated and sexist.
04:48Which fair enough.
04:49It is certainly a little old-fashioned, but for many, her comments came across as derogatory.
04:54Critics felt that she shouldn't be publicly bad-mouthing a movie that gave her a job,
04:58while others felt it was offensive to the original film and those who still enjoy it.
05:02Some even found her comments, ironically, anti-feminist.
05:05Talk about anti-marketing.
05:16Deviations from the original story.
05:30Snow White is a beloved film.
05:32It's one of those movies and stories that people know by heart, so it's very disheartening
05:36to hear that Disney will be changing so much of it.
05:38This information once again comes from Zegler, who has alluded to the changes in numerous
05:42interviews.
05:43The exact details aren't known, but she has referenced big alterations to both Snow
05:47White and The Prince, and has hinted at Disney removing their love story.
06:06And judging by the trailers, it seems like Snow White will become a very active agent
06:09in defeating the evil queen.
06:11While this reflects a move towards modern sensibilities, it has also upset many who
06:14just want a simple love story in the vein of the classic fairy tale.
06:30Social Media Drama
06:43Maybe everyone doesn't follow it, but for those who do, the social media drama behind
06:47this film has also generated some negative publicity.
06:50Both Zegler and Gadot have expressed opposing views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
06:54so really, there's no winning here.
06:56People have been upset with Gadot for expressing pro-Israel sentiment, and vice versa with
07:00Zegler and Palestine.
07:02And Zegler came under fire from conservatives and Republicans after calling Donald Trump's
07:06win a deep sickness in this country, and stating,
07:09Many agree with her statements, but many do not, and it's just one more PR blunder
07:17affecting the marketing of her upcoming film.
07:34Lower Production Values
07:41You know, maybe we wouldn't mind these live-action films if some actual effort and thought were
07:45put into them.
07:46Snow White has a mind-blowing budget of $270 million, yet it looks like some cheap fantasy
07:52movie that Netflix would pump out to fill a quota.
07:55Once again, the film has that cheap digital shine to it, making it look like some straight-to-streaming
07:59junk.
08:11The green-screen work once again looks poor, the costuming is pathetic with spirit Halloween
08:16outfits and Snow White's Lord Farquaad hair, and the CGI looks abysmal.
08:20Seriously, what is with those dwarves and those woodland animals?
08:23An astonishing amount of work went into making the 1937 original.
08:26What deserves better than this?
08:36Dwarfism Controversy
08:37The situation with the dwarves has been a mess
08:54from the very beginning.
08:56Disney announced that they were taking a different approach with the seven dwarves following
08:59negative comments from Peter Dinklage.
09:01He appeared on Marc Maron's podcast and called out Disney, criticizing their progressive
09:05approach to the movie while retaining the backward dwarves.
09:08However, his comments received widespread criticism, as did Disney's reimagining of
09:12the characters.
09:27According to a leaked set photo, most of the dwarves were being played by non-dwarf actors
09:31of various ethnicities and genders, with both aspects receiving fierce condemnation.
09:36People didn't like the non-dwarf actors, and people didn't like the overly PC approach.
09:40Basically, Disney was impressing no one, and it was about to get a whole lot worse.
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10:15Horrible CGI Dwarves
10:21So Disney's response to all this criticism was to retain the dwarves, but change them
10:25into wretched CGI creatures.
10:27There's no way around it.
10:28These things look absolutely terrible.
10:31It's obvious that Disney was rushed following all the controversy, because these things
10:34couldn't be more out of place.
10:41The visual effects are entirely unconvincing, and their faces look like those nightmarish
10:45creations from the Polar Express.
10:47And those faces were widely mocked 20 years ago.
10:50In trying to move forward, Disney only slipped backward, and by multiple decades.
10:53We don't know how much screen time these dwarves get, but our stomachs will certainly
10:57be hurting from all the laughing.
11:08Are you looking forward to this movie?
11:10Let us know in the comments below.
11:16Do you agree with our picks?
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