Disney has responded to Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage’s criticisms about its upcoming live-action adaptation of the 1937 animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. According to a statement issued to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio assured fans that it is taking every precaution to avoid enforcing harmful stereotypes of the dwarfism community.
During an episode on the WTF podcast on January 25, 2022, Dinklage commented on Disney’s hypocrisy in casting West Side Story actor Zegler as Snow White, while choosing to retell a story that shows a backward depiction of dwarves. “Literally no offence to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White — but you’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the star explained.
“It makes no sense to me,” Dinklage continued. “You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that fucking backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together?”
Since Dinklage’s comments, a spokesperson from Disney has come forward and issued a statement to set everyone’s minds at ease. “To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community,” the studio clarified. “We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.”
The upcoming live-action is a retelling of the original 1930s Disney movie, directed by Marc Webb. Joining Zegler in the cast are Tony Award winner Andrew Burnap in a mystery role, and Gal Gadot, who has been cast as the flick’s main villain – the Evil Queen. Marc Platt, who also worked on the upcoming live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, is on board to produce the family movie.
Just as was the case with Disney’s recent Aladdin and Mulan live-action adaptation, Snow White and the seven dwarves will also have ‘cultural consultants’. THR reports that a new and progressive vision for the dwarves in the movie has been considered since the early stages of development. However, no details on how the company plans to update the portrayal of the seven dwarves have been issued yet. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we know more.
In the meantime, here are our lists of the best Pixar movies, and the best kids movies of all time.