Disney’s new live-action princess movie, Snow White, was released on March 21, 2025. Snow White asks its audience the story’s iconic question, “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” Is it Rachel Zegler, who plays Snow White, a woman of Colombian and Polish descent, who received backlash for her ethnicity and for supporting the Free Palestine movement? Is it Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen, an Israeli woman who prompted a boycott due to her service in the Israel Defense Forces?
Snow White is an uninspired extended narrative of the Disney 1937 animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Despite its lengthier runtime, the film struggles to create a distinct story. The unimaginative plot combined with the countless controversies caused the movie to be a box office flop, with review bombing on IMDb and Google.
Disney capitalized on the movie’s princess theme by debuting the film in the Alcázar of Segovia castle in Segovia, Spain. The medieval castle was an homage and inspiration for the original animated film. Disney collaborated with Toronto’s own castle, Casa Loma, to create an exhibit during March break, from March 10 to 21st, 2025. The exhibit displayed costumes from the movie, movie props, performances, themed snacks and activities for children. Disney pulled out all the stops to target children and immerse them into the magical world of Snow White.
Despite being a fantasy and romance musical, Snow White’s score is dull with the mixture of original songs and reinterpretation of old songs from the animated film. The only memorable song is “Whistle While You Work,” an old song sung with new lyrics by Snow White, as she instructs the dwarves how to clean their home. Snow White’s singing is the cream of the crop among the actors and creates a euphoric experience. The soundtrack would benefit from actors who can powerfully sing and stand on their own besides Snow White.
The movie depends on common tropes found in animated films. The Prince has been reduced to a Robin Hood bandit named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), with his own seven dwarves in the form of seven human bandits. There is only a flicker of a spark between Snow White and Jonathan as he seems more of an ally in her fight to reclaim her throne rather than a romantic partner. Snow White is a naive girl who is constantly told the best course of action rather than taking fate into her own hands. The Evil Queen is an unconvincing villain as she seems more interested in maintaining her beauty and tyrannic hold in the kingdom than Snow White. The Prince, Snow White, and the Evil Queen have brief conversations, which causes confusion about the characters’ motivations and pasts.
The costumes are disappointingly simple for a movie with a $270 million budget. The Evil Queen wore gemstone jewelry, a stained glass crown, and simple dark gowns in velvet or sequin fabric, which seemed too on the nose for her character. Jonathan wears a hooded plaid shirt and green jacket, appearing ordinary rather than a fantasy bandit. Snow White’s white high popped collar, yellow billowing skirt, and blue puffy sleeves are near perfection. The features of Snow White’s signature blue and yellow dress should be dramatized to create a dress with the necessary mix of whimsical and otherworldly for a fantasy film.
Snow White struggles between the ideologies of the past and present. Disney had the opportunity to create something innovative and it failed to deliver. After all, fairy tales change to reflect society and its views.
