Live-Action Snow White Criticized for Production Quality and Character Changes

By Kai Bridges

Snow White (2025), released on March 21, is the live action film starring Rachel Zegler, who plays a princess that is set to free her kingdom from the Evil Queen. With the help of seven dwarves and a charming thief, they protect her on the journey.

Audiences were heavily disappointed by the release of Snow White (2025) due to its poor production quality, controversial casting, and negative publicity surrounding the lead actress. Fans argue that the main stars fail to embody the personality of the characters on-screen and the acting is subpar. After actor Peter Dinklage’s negative remarks on Disney’s original choice to cast real dwarves–referring to it as them going “f—ing backwards”–Disney decided to CGI animate them leaving mixed reactions from fans.

Critics also argue that this film misses what the original Snow White captured in its 1937 animation release, such as Snow White’s characterization. In the original, Snow White is portrayed as a youthful girl who’s best known for her kindness and purity.  In contrast, the reboot, Snow White represents a more powerful, independent trope that drops the helplessness she once had. Her backstory is also rewritten for the reboot, explaining that she earned her name after surviving a traumatic snowstorm.

A troubling aspect about her character in the reboot is that she underwent little character development. From the introduction, she has established confidence within herself, so by the end of the film where she had to confront the Evil Queen, her heroic confidence wasn’t impactful because that bravery isn’t new to her.

The costume and set design are lackluster as well, with outfits looking like costumes and scenes monochromatic. Segments of the film had choppy editing due to the film being shot twice and re-edited with Zegler’s accent being inconsistent. The bandits provide little to no purpose, and the film did not take a lot of time to develop the connection between Snow White and her love interest, Jonathan.

The son of the producer made a post on Twitter exclaiming the film’s poor reception was because of Zegler’s comments about her take on Prince Charming. Her take on Prince Charming suggested he was a stalker and that Snow White was too independent for him. Zegler projects a bold personality onto Snow White throughout the interview which goes against how Snow White was written originally. With how groundbreaking Snow White (1937) was for being the first animated, it is unfortunate the reboot was done so poorly.