Disney continues to reinvent its best-known fairy tales... After Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, it's now the turn of Snow White, the studio's very first princess, , to be adapted for live action, with Marc Webb, known for films such as (500) Days Together and The Amazing Spider-Man, directing.
This ambitious project, driven by the talent of Rachel Zegler, who made her name with West Side Story, also reunites Gal Gadot in the iconic role of the Evil Queen and Andrew Burnap in an as yet undisclosed role. The script, written by Erin Cressida Wilson, promises a new reading of this universal tale, while retaining the magical essence of the original.
Snow White will open in theaters on March 19, 2025.
Synopsis: A live-action version of the Disney classic "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".
Snow White follows the story of the eponymous princess, known for her beauty and purity, who must flee the devastating jealousy of her stepmother, the Evil Queen. Taking refuge in an enchanted forest, she meets a group of seven dwarves who help her escape the Queen's Machiavellian plans. This film explores not only Snow White's quest for survival, but also her journey to self-reliance and self-discovery, while revisiting the cult songs and scenes from the original cartoon.
Aimed at a broad family audience, this film should captivate both nostalgic fans of the original cartoon and new generations curious to discover this tale in a modernized form. With Marc Webb's commitment to bringing a contemporary touch while respecting the legacy of the 1937 film, Snow White follows in the footsteps of recent Disney live-action adaptations such as The Lion King and Aladdin. If you enjoyed these modern reinterpretations, you're sure to find particular interest in this new version of Snow White. Gal Gadot's performance as the Evil Queen is particularly eagerly awaited, promising to add a complex dimension to this iconic character.
Marc Webb'sSnow White promises to be an emotionally rich musical adventure, combining nostalgia and innovation. With a stellar cast and a bold creative vision, this film could well redefine storytelling for a new generation of moviegoers. Get ready to rediscover one of Disney's most beloved tales in a never-before-seen version.
Our review of Snow White:
Mirror, Magic Mirror on the wall... Magic regained or failure...? We're going with the second option, Your Majesty... So Snow White is unfortunately not a success, on several counts. Starting with its extremely shaky narrative, the film is more like a rewriting of the tale than an adaptation. The further the film progresses, the more you get the impression that Disney has taken bits and pieces of the animated film (and of the tale) here and there, and rammed them into what the studio has to offer in order to turn it into something modern and in tune with the times, responding to societal issues... In principle, why not, the cult animated film still being dated in terms of the image it conveys, but problem : it loses coherence throughout, as the film struggles to detach itself from the homage it wants to pay while offering something modern. The result is scenes that sometimes follow one another without transition or explanation as to how one situation leads to another (the Queen who decides to go in search of Snow White and prepares her potion without us knowing why, even though the cartoon explains it well...). For those familiar with the animated film, it's fine even if it's bizarre, but for younger viewers discovering it, it's hard to understand.
A message off the mark?
The film seems to make this claim loud and clear (at least in its pre-film statements), so let's get to the bottom of it. Problem: the message in question (i.e., benevolence solves all problems... We're simplifying, but that's the idea), while working perfectly in a fairy tale, is extremely naïve, even counterproductive, in real life. Imagine resolving an armed conflict with good feelings... OK, we're exaggerating a little, it's a children's story and it encourages them to be kind to one another, but the reality of life, and especially its violence, at their age, is clearly not a fairy tale.
Let's stay with the violence of life... The film doesn't even prepare viewers for this, since it's watered down to the extreme, avoiding upsetting as many people as possible to please everyone. The doe's heart in the queen's box is replaced by an apple, no Prince Charming but a bandit instead, and so on. Evolve the characters to avoid the pitfalls of harassment or stigmatization, obviously and rightly so, but not in any way, unfortunately. Not showing the heart in question, for example (remember that in the tale, it's the heart and liver of a wild boar), is nevertheless possible, and the cartoon does it very well... So why replace it with an apple and show it? Just one example among many.
On top of this, the film is full of aberrant details(Spoiler alert: the seven dwarfs have magical powers, Simplet can talk, no glass coffin for Snow White, etc.) that add absolutely nothing to the story. One wonders why...
An interesting cast
Casting-wise, it's a little better: Gal Gadot is a screen smasher as the Evil Queen, her attitude particularly convincing, even saving the film. She's the only character who comes close to the cartoon character (even if her performance is flawed). A good score helped by particularly sumptuous costumes, very close to those in the animated film.
As for Rachel Zegler, she IS Snow White, and no one can ever take that away from her. But her character, torn between an homage to the 1938 film and a more modern vision, is rather poorly written, and never really makes a choice. The poor actress does what she can with the limited means at her disposal, but still manages to make her mark, particularly in the singing parts. An absolutely divine voice for such a cult character... What more could you ask for!
As for the seven dwarfs, we'd have preferred real actors to the CGI characters, but we understand this choice, particularly in the portrayal of their faces and expressions. Simplet, for example, is particularly touching, as the film restores his image by giving him more depth... but ends up ruining everything by making him talk (Simplet doesn't talk, it's his condition, that's what gives him his name). It's a shame, but it's a conscious choice, and we accept it. The rest of the cast, on the other hand, is dispensable.
A story that mixes everything up and misses the mark
Even the story is confusing. Snow White, who is supposed to stay only one night with the seven dwarfs, spends her time going back and forth, sometimes running away from the Queen, sometimes helping the bandits... It's like a vaudeville act. The house-cleaning scene with the seven dwarfs takes place with them, and not before they discover that she's moved in... So OK for the message behind it, we understand, but there's a reason for the events to happen this way.
The same goes for the yodeling party scene, which takes place after her visit to the bandits, welcomed here by the dwarves. We continue: after biting into the apple, Snow White is awakened well before the Queen's death, only to have them confront each other... And this goes against both the cartoon and the tale. Changing things is all very well, but it has to be consistent with the story being told. And that's complicated. In short, everything gets mixed up, and not for the better.
Mirror, mirror... fortunately, it's not all doom and gloom!
The picture we've painted so far isn't exactly rosy... but it's not all doom and gloom. The first fifteen minutes are particularly good, full of nods to the animated film, and set the scene much better than the cartoon by broadening the spectrum of Snow White's origins. It's a real plus, and even a real breath of fresh air with the first song, a new one, which should work well with younger audiences.
Some of the lines, too, are particularly heartfelt. We're thinking in particular of Grumpy who, at one point, in English (we're translating, not knowing what the French version sounds like, given that we saw the film in VOSTFR), says to one of his companions " tell me more about that brush and I'll stick it where the sun never shines ", all the while singing, of course. Tasty...
As for the special effects, they're pretty well done. We love the scene where Snow White flees into the forest after being attacked by the huntsman. Aesthetically, it's really quite beautiful, playing well with colors and respecting the scary side of the cartoon. It's a polished aesthetic that can be seen throughout the film.
Some of the story's changes, while questionable, are ultimately good ideas, on reflection. The Queen's death, for example, makes more sense here. A very symbolic death, finely thought out in the end. In short, a good point.
Are the songs a sensitive part of this "adaptation"?
On the one hand, Disney tramples on its heritage by removing most of the original songs, not to mention the best-known ones, while on the other, it offers new songs that are either relevant or intelligently flesh out old ones. Thus, the song " Un jour mon prince viendra..." disappears completely (no prince, no song). A great pity, given that the song is perhaps the best-known in the entire Disney repertoire (not counting The Snow Queen, which is a much more recent film).
The Dwarves' Tyrolean traverse (you know, with the yodeling) is whistled away in 30 seconds. On the other hand, Heigh-Ho (the other ultra-famous song from the animated film) is brilliantly reposted, allowing us to introduce each dwarf one by one. The scene in question, by the way, is also very pretty, the architecture of the mine mixing enchanted grotto worthy of a good fairy tale and "nanic" architecture straight out of The Lord of the Rings, in dashes. A surprising and welcome artistic choice.
A messy film, in the end...
But all these good points won't be enough to save a film that has too many gaps and too many inaccuracies. It's a pity, because it's dynamic and well-paced. A film that will appeal to absolute fans, certainly, but not to moviegoers looking for coherent storytelling and other ayatollahs of adaptation stricto sensu.
On the other hand, here's an invitation: if you want to see a truly modern Snow White that respects the original Disney character, you'd better watch the Once Upon a Timeseries... An ABC and Disney series, available on Disney+, with Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard, meets this challenge brilliantly. Otherwise, we'll settle for the cult animated film, also available on Disney+. And if you'd like to make up your own mind, the doors of the movie theaters are open to you.
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