The Japan Times - 'Disney's Snow White' gets muted Hollywood premiere

EUR -
AED 3.994578
AFN 76.887936
ALL 99.397449
AMD 426.374576
ANG 1.962862
AOA 991.94594
ARS 1162.092983
AUD 1.718698
AWG 1.957788
AZN 1.851598
BAM 1.954767
BBD 2.199037
BDT 132.330037
BGN 1.947592
BHD 0.410579
BIF 3227.034527
BMD 1.08766
BND 1.453605
BOB 7.526021
BRL 6.246651
BSD 1.089124
BTN 94.66695
BWP 14.838155
BYN 3.564216
BYR 21318.135098
BZD 2.187643
CAD 1.563702
CDF 3128.110153
CHF 0.96191
CLF 0.026406
CLP 1013.329231
CNY 7.87232
CNH 7.875387
COP 4492.720836
CRC 544.107328
CUC 1.08766
CUP 28.822989
CVE 110.206734
CZK 25.020513
DJF 193.937465
DKK 7.460868
DOP 68.483163
DZD 145.3155
EGP 54.991797
ERN 16.314899
ETB 143.048655
FJD 2.491832
FKP 0.840551
GBP 0.84106
GEL 3.018242
GGP 0.840551
GHS 16.881075
GIP 0.840551
GMD 78.311523
GNF 9417.847606
GTQ 8.396561
GYD 227.859531
HKD 8.452091
HNL 27.853018
HRK 7.532476
HTG 142.833171
HUF 399.619345
IDR 17809.887917
ILS 3.980289
IMP 0.840551
INR 94.415356
IQD 1426.745679
IRR 45790.484347
ISK 146.311934
JEP 0.840551
JMD 170.559825
JOD 0.771147
JPY 162.15324
KES 140.854207
KGS 95.115857
KHR 4363.652816
KMF 491.459541
KPW 978.893959
KRW 1574.279305
KWD 0.335075
KYD 0.90762
KZT 545.831419
LAK 23592.526627
LBP 97583.307688
LKR 322.809331
LRD 217.814841
LSL 19.815723
LTL 3.211577
LVL 0.657915
LYD 5.243228
MAD 10.540527
MDL 19.380753
MGA 5078.315094
MKD 61.497486
MMK 2284.068557
MNT 3776.879509
MOP 8.71869
MRU 43.27972
MUR 48.999147
MVR 16.760355
MWK 1888.501549
MXN 21.675301
MYR 4.837367
MZN 69.514472
NAD 19.815723
NGN 1677.661475
NIO 40.078074
NOK 11.5764
NPR 151.465528
NZD 1.88877
OMR 0.418799
PAB 1.089124
PEN 3.995188
PGK 4.476551
PHP 62.257793
PKR 305.083902
PLN 4.187084
PYG 8647.428103
QAR 3.969501
RON 4.976805
RSD 117.148064
RUB 93.003844
RWF 1529.891146
SAR 4.079271
SBD 9.14847
SCR 15.63732
SDG 653.682971
SEK 11.029835
SGD 1.451449
SHP 0.85473
SLE 24.831398
SLL 22807.686583
SOS 622.4709
SRD 39.502716
STD 22512.365071
SVC 9.529962
SYP 14141.690202
SZL 19.82252
THB 36.605198
TJS 11.871224
TMT 3.817686
TND 3.364821
TOP 2.547411
TRY 39.901349
TTD 7.39509
TWD 35.904197
TZS 2886.914936
UAH 45.178514
UGX 3991.889487
USD 1.08766
UYU 46.41546
UZS 14107.54134
VES 69.726055
VND 27773.396925
VUV 133.735875
WST 3.065565
XAF 655.610379
XAG 0.032185
XAU 0.000364
XCD 2.939456
XDR 0.815369
XOF 655.610379
XPF 119.331742
YER 268.380589
ZAR 19.831081
ZMK 9790.240117
ZMW 31.175517
ZWL 350.226061
  • NGG

    0.8900

    63.21

    +1.41%

  • SCS

    0.2000

    10.99

    +1.82%

  • RBGPF

    66.0200

    66.02

    +100%

  • RIO

    1.8400

    63.04

    +2.92%

  • RYCEF

    0.0500

    10.4

    +0.48%

  • RELX

    1.1200

    48.93

    +2.29%

  • CMSC

    0.0500

    23.22

    +0.22%

  • BP

    1.0200

    33.39

    +3.05%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    39.49

    +0.66%

  • BTI

    -0.0200

    41.36

    -0.05%

  • JRI

    0.0335

    12.83

    +0.26%

  • VOD

    0.0500

    9.55

    +0.52%

  • AZN

    1.0900

    77.6

    +1.4%

  • BCC

    2.9700

    99.35

    +2.99%

  • BCE

    -0.1990

    23.47

    -0.85%

  • CMSD

    0.1500

    23.35

    +0.64%

Advertisement Image
'Disney's Snow White' gets muted Hollywood premiere
'Disney's Snow White' gets muted Hollywood premiere / Photo: VALERIE MACON - AFP

'Disney's Snow White' gets muted Hollywood premiere

Disney's live-action remakes of animated classics are usually safe bets. But a new version of the oldest of them all, "Snow White," has become mired in controversies, receiving an unusually low-key premiere in Hollywood on Saturday.

Advertisement Image

Text size:

The studio kept its outspoken stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot away from reporters at the afternoon event, with no red carpet interviews -- and has avoided questions about the film's divisive depictions of the Seven Dwarfs.

It follows a similarly pared-down European premiere on Wednesday at a remote castle in Segovia, Spain, where few media outlets were invited.

The negativity began way back in 2021, with the casting of Zegler, who is Latina, as Snow White -- a character from a German fairy tale who was famously "the fairest of them all."

This was predictably slammed as "woke" by some fans and conservative commentators.

"yes i am snow white no i am not bleaching my skin for the role" wrote Zegler, a US actress of Colombian and Polish descent, in a since-deleted tweet.

But criticism spread more broadly across Disney's loyal fan base when Zegler appeared to repeatedly denigrate the 1937 "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," Walt Disney's first feature-length animation.

Zegler described the beloved original as "weird" because Snow White's love interest is "a guy who literally stalks her."

This time "she's not going to be saved by the prince, and she's not going to be dreaming about true love," Zegler said in one interview that was blasted on Disney forums by fans longing for exactly those traditional tropes.

Zegler is unusually outspoken by Hollywood standards.

She publicly complained about not being invited to the 2022 Oscars gala, despite being the star of best picture nominee "West Side Story." She eventually bagged an invitation -- and some disapproving tuts.

"Zegler isn't necessarily the most decorous celebrity when it comes to the media or the internet," Slate journalist Nadira Goffe wrote in a 2023 column.

"She has a demeanor that can come across as charmingly awkward to some, and a tad glib and grating to others."

Compounding Disney's headaches, Zegler has signed off social media posts with "Free Palestine," while Gadot -- who plays the Evil Queen -- has expressed public support for her native Israel.

Disney did not respond to AFP request for comment.

- 'Backward story' -

And then there is the issue of the Seven Dwarfs, who have been conspicuously dropped from the new film's title, "Disney's Snow White."

Peter Dinklage, perhaps Hollywood's most famous actor with dwarfism, slammed Disney's "hypocrisy" for making a new "Snow White" film at all.

In a 2022 interview with podcaster Marc Maron, the "Game of Thrones" actor questioned how Disney could be "proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White," and yet think a remake of a "backward story of seven dwarfs living in a cave" made sense.

Disney quickly issued a statement promising to take "a different approach" that would "avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film."

In the new movie, the dwarfs are cartoonishly gnome-like magical creatures, created by computer-generated visual effects rather than human actors.

This has itself provoked backlash. Some actors with dwarfism have blamed Dinklage.

"There aren't many roles for dwarfs in Hollywood so him saying that cancelled these roles... it hurt the dwarf acting community," professional wrestler Dylan Mark Postl told the Guardian.

- 'Passion' -

Altogether, Disney's latest live-action film has proven vastly more contentious than billion-dollar-grossing remakes like "The Lion King" and "Beauty and the Beast."

Requiring extensive reshoots, and hit by delays from the pandemic and Hollywood strikes, "Disney's Snow White" cost well over $200 million to make, according to Forbes.

Disney will be hoping that all publicity proves to be good publicity when it hits theaters next weekend.

"I interpret people's feelings about this film as a passion for it," Zegler told Vogue Mexico.

"What an honor to be part of something that people feel so passionate about."

K.Tanaka--JT

Advertisement Image