New Snow White

Fans React Strongly to Disney’s Snow White Using CGI Dwarfs Instead of Real Actors with Dwarfism

 

Disney's live-action remake of Snow White has become a new source of major controversy. The House of Mouse "Disney" faces criticism from fans and advocacy groups about replacing real dwarfism-affected actors with computer-generated (CG) dwarfs. This step has sparked much debate on how representation is made in Hollywood.

The Snow White live-action remake cast includes Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. The main controversy concerns the seven dwarfs: Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy. Instead of hiring actors with dwarfism, Disney chose to make them all CGI. 

The reaction to this has been pretty severe, coming from fans as well as from the dwarfism community. They feel it misses the opportunity to have real representation with actors who have dwarfism. 

Peter Dinklage Slams Disney's Approach to Snow White

This is only the latest controversy in a long list of problems that have beset the production. Despite delays of several months, the film was marred by negative publicity even before the trailer was made available. One of the most vocal critics of the approach the movie takes was ‘Game of Thrones’ actor Peter Dinklage. He called Disney out on continuing to use offensive dwarf stereotypes while casting this diverse group in other parts of the film, including Latinx actress Rachel Zegler as a Latina Snow White.

Disney was pressed to respond by Dinklage, who prompted the media giant to issue a statement insisting that they were indeed consulting members of the dwarfism community. However, the resort to CGI dwarfs appears to have been misguided.

This is only the latest controversy in a long list of problems that have beset the production. Despite delays of several months, the film was marred by negative publicity even before the trailer was made available. One of the most vocal critics of the approach the movie takes was ‘Game of Thrones’ actor Peter Dinklage. He called Disney out on continuing to use offensive dwarf stereotypes while casting this diverse group in other parts of the film, including Latinx actress Rachel Zegler as a Latina Snow White.

Disney was pressed to respond by Dinklage, who prompted the media giant to issue a statement insisting that they were indeed consulting members of the dwarfism community. However, the resort to CGI dwarfs appears to have been misguided.

Disney Criticized for Representing Dwarfs in New Film

In the trailer, a new song called "Waiting on a Wish" is also previewed, along with reimagined visuals, but excitement for the music itself is overshadowed by the CGI dwarfs. Critics point out that Disney's decision to use animation instead of casting actual dwarf actors further alienates a group already facing limited opportunities in Hollywood.

Disney will undoubtedly face increasing pressure to change how it casts and represents characters in this movie. Set to be released in theaters in March 2025, it remains to be seen whether they will make any changes in response to this pressure.