The fight over Disney's live-action 'Snow White' proves that the studio needs to stop making these remakes once and for all

The endless slew of live-action remakes are not good anyway, so why is Disney bending itself into knots trying to cater to modernize this one?

• Disney is being mocked for changing the "seven dwarfs" in its "Snow White" remake.
• Conservatives are calling it too "woke." TikTokers think the inclusivity is overzealous.
• The remakes are not good anyway, so why is Disney bending itself into knots trying to modernize this?

On Friday, the Daily Mail published set photos from the upcoming live-action remake of Disney's "Snow White." The photos appeared to show that the new movie had swapped out its seven dwarfs in favor of seven diverse individuals, and mockery quickly ensued.

Conservatives, in particular, swarmed, poking fun at what many called an overzealous attempt at inclusivity. It was not helped by the Daily Mail's headline, which jokingly called the movie "Snow White and the Seven... Politically-Correct Companions?" An op-ed from the New York Post proclaimed in its headline "Disney's live-action Snow White takes wokeness to absurd new low."

Initially, a Disney rep told The Daily Beast that the apparent set photos were "fake and not from our production." However, they later back tracked and confirmed that the pictures were indeed real, though they weren't "official photos." While right-wingers like Tomi Lahren, Megyn Kelly, and Robby Starbuck were arguably the most outraged about the change to this children's movie, Insider's Maria Noyen previously reported that some TikTokers were also debating whether Disney's attempts at inclusivity are backfiring by further limiting the already-limited acting gigs available for dwarf actors. 

In the end, though, the major takeaway is that it's obvious there's no winning for Disney here, no matter whether they bring the story up to appropriately modern levels of inclusivity or leave in the outdated, now offensive elements. So they may as well just cut it out with the remakes.

"Game of Thrones" actor Peter Dinklage, one of the most prominent working dwarf actors, derided Disney for attempting the remake back in 2022, calling the tale a "fucking backward story of seven dwarfs living in a cave." Dinklage said he believed the studio was hypocritical for touting its "progressive" casting of Rachel Zegler, a Latina actress who has unfortunately had to deal with a resurgence of hateful and racist commentary on her casting, while still keeping the dwarf element.

Disney responded almost immediately to Dinklage's comments, saying in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter during pre-production that it was consulting "with members of the dwarfism community" about how they'd take a "different approach with these seven characters" and "avoid reinforcing stereotypes" from the original movie. Alas, the "different approach" they opted for — one dwarf, not seven — is clearly a flop in the eyes of many.

Disney keeps on making these live-action adaptations because they're pretty much a guaranteed box-office success with a proven audience, Insider's Kirsten Acuna reported in 2020. Some have made Disney lots of money. But many of the remakes have been poorly received by critics and fans. There are a number of reasons why these movies probably aren't working, but one is likely the inherent difficulty of attempting to reinvent something from 1937 for a modern audience.