Disney’s live-action ‘Snow White’ arrives with baggage—and some magic.
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
Heigh-Ho, has “Snow White” ever arrived with so much baggage? Ever since Rachel Zegler was cast in the live-action film’s title role, we’ve heard about how traumatized she was seeing the “dated” and “sexist” 1937 original film for the first time. The “prince literally stalks Snow White,” she declared.
Toxic Disney fans questioned the casting of a Latina actor in the film. Zegler, who is half Polish, is staunchly pro-Palestinian. Costar Gal Gadot, who towers over Zegler, is an Israeli, no doubt creating much warmth at publicity events. Zegler has incited MAGA anger with her anti-Trump statements. The seven dwarfs have been replaced by “magical creatures” (mostly resembling the dwarfs of the original), rendered in CGI with voice talent supplying the dialogue. Welcome to Burbank’s Uncanny Valley.
This new film’s Snow White is not a feminist firebrand. But she has been “Barbie”-ized (“Barbie” auteur Greta Gerwig had input into the “Snow White” screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson of “The Girl on the Train”). The film kicks off with a gilded book bound in what looks like vellum on screen (vegans avert your eyes). We are told of a “kind” King and Queen who once ruled the land and had a daughter named Snow White (munchkin-sized Zegler as a young adult), and we watch the first deadly dull production number involving the kingdom’s diverse people.
Some of the music from the original film has been retained. Frank Churchill standards “Heigh-Ho” and “Whistle While You Work” are reused, recreating the visuals of the original film as well. New music by Jeff Morrow (“The Little Mermaid”), Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen,” “The Greatest Showman”) has the talk-sing expository ring of Broadway shows. Although pleasant enough, none of it struck me as memorable. The un-P.C. classic “Someday My Prince Will Come” is reportedly only heard in the “underscore” of the new film, whatever that means.
“Snow White” director Marc Webb has made many television and music videos, several TV-like films (“Gifted,” “The Only Living Boy in New York,” and a “Spider-Man” movie), and a “Spider-Man” movie. He’s not exactly a visionary, but his work has been solid. Is that the verdict on his “Snow White?”
For the most part, yes. After the unnamed Evil Queen (Gal Gadot, looking remarkably like the animated character) takes over the kingdom, the people become oppressed. The Queen’s all-seeing “magic mirror” once again resembles the mask of tragedy of ancient Greece. Princess Snow White is made to work as a servant. She has a “wishing well,” where she dreams, sings a bland song or two, and hangs out with some birds. In a “meet cute” scene, she encounters Jonathan (Rhode Island-born, Tony Award-winner Andrew Burnap), a rebel who lives “Robin Hood”-style in the woods and has come to the castle to steal potatoes. Dressed in her iconic blue costume with its puffy sleeves and upright collar, Snow White is led into the forest by the huntsman, who is ordered to kill her.
Instead, she ends up, after escaping some nightmarish, grasping trees, in the cottage of the “magical creatures” once again named Grumpy, Dopey, Sneezy, Doc, etc. and who look very much like CG small actors (So why didn’t they use real small actors?). And why is Dopey such a dead ringer for Mad Magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman? Once again, the (now CG) woodland animals, deer, rabbits, squirrels, moles, porcupines, birds, and fireflies become Snow White’s friends and protectors. The “companions” live in a large cottage in the woods and work in a Spielbergian mine from production designer Kave Quinn (“Emma”). Their slapstick antics are well-staged but not very funny
The much re-released 1937 “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (it wasn’t shown on TV until 1983) is an adaptation of a Grimm fairy tale. It was Disney’s first feature-length animated film and the first feature-length animated film in Technicolor. Disney’s friends and colleagues thought he was crazy for making it at an eye-watering cost of $1.49 million at the time. But it was a triumph, became a pop culture sensation, and established the Disney company as a major film studio.
The Queen’s costumes and Art Deco crown, if not her dagger-like fingernails, were inspired by the original film and designed by Walt Disney and Joe Grant. The vampire capes and padded shoulders looked forward to Cher at her Bob Mackie best (they would look great now on Ru Paul). In fact, the Evil Queen is now seen as a queer-coded figure (the evil queens of Disney have been adopted by the LBTGQ+ community). The costumes emphasize Gadot’s supermodel face and strong features. In short (tall?), she’s pretty spectacular. As her temper tantrums grow, the Queen adds a twitchy element to her witchy look and can take her place beside Disney’s Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella de Vil.
By comparison, Snow White is a bit of a limp noodle. She gets a kind of “Les Miz”/Joan of Arc makeover, making her a bit more of a rebel than just the victim. Zegler sings like an angel, and her Snow White is very likable. But she is also decidedly goody-goody. Still, despite my reservations, at least this “Snow White” is fun for the most part and almost an hour shorter than “Wicked.”
‘Snow White’
Rating: PG for violence, some peril, thematic elements, and brief rude humor.
Cast: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap
Director: Marc Webb
Writer: Erin Cressida Wilson
Running Time: 1 hour, 49 minutes
Where to Watch: AMC Boston Common, AMC Causeway, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, and suburban theaters.
Grade: B
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