Snow White: Disney's Latest Live-Action Bad Apple

This apple will grant all your wishes.

Snow White is a 2025 Disney live-action film. Snow White flees the kingdom upon learning that her cruel stepmother, the queen, orders to have her killed. The young maiden meets seven dwarfs in the magic forest. They join forces to rebel against the kingdom.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, how many ways could the live-action Snow White have been better? Let me count the ways. I went into Snow White with an open mind. The live-action Snow White is a disaster. This film had the potential to be fantastic, but it gets completely lost in the dark forest, erasing the magical wonders of what made the original a success.

Let’s talk about the casting, starting with Rachel Zegler. I disagree with others who say she is the downfall of this movie. Zegler gives her best performance and a beautiful singing voice. She embellishes her own interpretation until it’s all lost when she puts on the obvious costumed signature dress from the animated movie.

Gal Gadot has had her share of criticism as the evil queen. She’s cartoonishly evil and yet she was fun to watch. The evil queen has a flashy and Broadway-style song, All is Fair. Gadot’s best performance is her transformation into the old hag.

Did you know that the prince was intended to have a larger role in the 1937 version, but animators couldn’t make him believable? Prince Jonathan’s (Andrew Burnap) role is expanded in this film.

The real downfall of Snow White is the CGI dwarfs. If you’re going to make a live action then why are the dwarfs CGI? This is a live-action movie! Does Disney not know the definition of live-action? The CGI doesn’t do justice. The designs of the dwarfs are so disjointed.

By replacing them with awkward CGI creations, the film totally robs the chance for actual performers who deserve these roles. And the voices for the seven dwarves are played mostly by actors of regular height! Martin Klebba (Grumpy) is the only little person actor.

The dwarves are my favorite characters from the original movie. They are so fun to watch, have depth, and their interactions are integral. The live-action ruins their characters, minuting their roles to shattered diamonds.

And there’s this whole other segment where Snow White meets a gang of seven thieves. One of them is a dwarf actor. They have more characterization, and nobody knows what to do with the dwarfs! Why, why, why - that’s the question.

The film takes its own creative route in the first twenty minutes before it snaps right back into the scene-by-scene carbon copy of the 1937 animated film. Snow White should have been a completely different story. There’s no emotional stakes. Like other Snow White adaptations, they’ve done something different. It shouldn’t have been a carbon copy.

Snow White is both good and bad. I did enjoy some aspects, like the songs. Heigh Ho is a fun sequence, but think of what the scene could have been like as a live-action sequence. The new rendition of ‘Whistle While You Work’ was also a tuneful song between Snow White and the dwarfs.

The original version made history in animated film culture. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has rich behind-the-scenes stories that evolved Disney, but not in the way this ‘live-action remake’ intends.

Introduce the kids to the 1937 animated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This latest Snow White adaptation flopped in its wishes. Disney’s latest live-action is a major disappointment and has no spark or magic.