Don't Write Off Snow White Just Yet

Although widely considered a disappointment, I found a lot to like about the Disney reboot of Snow White. Overall, the film had more strengths than weaknesses, but the weaknesses hit pretty hard.

Rachel Zegler was a delightful Snow White. She brought a great energy to the role and managed the persona of the classic princess without being pandering or overblown. She looked great and sounded great. I think she gives the animated princess a run for her money. In fact, I think she wins.

To me, something that can make a film great is the ability for the writers and cast to allow the audience to feel like they really get to know minor characters––some of which have only a few lines. Snow White does this masterfully with several lesser players, but it is most evident with the Dwarves––each of whom is given enough room to display the personality that aligns with their namesake. Additionally, the dwarves are just cool looking with their bulbous noses and colorful costumes. The CGI animals were similarly defined and equally appealing visually. It’s like having a movie starring stuffed animals. They’re just adorable really.

The plot of the movie succeeded masterfully in riding the thin line on which it had to stay true to the story’s roots, while still offering a different direction. I found the new twists just surprising enough, but I won’t say any more about this as I’m not one for spoilers.

It is worth mentioning that the film is politically charged with a fairly heavy-handed message of equality and fairness, especially coming from positions of power. One can only hope that the Evil Queen’s takeover of The Good King’s realm won’t be mirrored in the contemporary U.S., although it won’t be from lack of effort by the Trump administration. Rachel Zegler’s outspoken personal politics have tanked the film in online reviews. MAGA trolls from far and wide have trashed it––in all likelihood without having seen it. But, honestly, the obvious effort on Disney's part to include people of color (chief among them, Zegler, who is half Colombian, which isn’t white enough for some people) would have sent them to their screens and keyboards with rants of poorly worded vitriol anyway. And speaking of Zegler being outspoken, she also had a lot to say about gender roles in the original film, which infuriated many Disney purists. To be honest, I haven’t seen the original since I was a kid, but at this point, it is nearly ninety years old, and I just can’t see how anyone could be surprised that it might need a little touching up in terms of how women are portrayed. It makes me wonder if, back in 1937 when the original came out, there were fairy tale purists who were upset that Disney aged up the heroine from the Grimm’s tale, where she was only seven, or that they omitted the queen’s gruesome punishment—being forced to wear iron shoes heated by hot coals and dance until she died. Lastly, those who say that Zegler’s career is taking a hit (from comments on a Yahoo Entertainment article: "12 months, she will be on OnlyFans in a Snow White outfit, that's about the only gig she can land now") and condemn her feminist stance might want to look at what happened to Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Snow White in the earlier film.

The new songs in this film have promising titles and premises: "Waiting on a Wish," "Princess Problems," "All Is Fair (When You’re the Fairest of All)." They suggest a modern aesthetic with snappy wordplay, but unfortunately, they fall far short of any potential that the titles insinuate. To be blunt, the songs contributed to the film by the writing team Pasek and Paul are abysmal. They consist of do-nothing melodies, overblown arrangements, and lyrics that fail to be cute, relevant, or anything at all. These shortcomings are never more obvious than when standards from the original film, "Whistle While You Work" and "Heigh-Ho" (even with their unnecessary updated lyrics), are performed, giving the listener an apples-to-apples comparison. The older songs are zippy, lighthearted children’s songs, while the new ones are smarmy, middle-of-the-road trash ballads. The songs don’t do justice to Zegler’s voice and are not a match for her talent. By contrast, Gal Gadot’s horrid auto-tuned vocals are a perfect match for the soulless fluff that permeates the soundtrack (side note: other than Gadot’s questionable singing, she is pretty much fantastic).

​In the end, I enjoyed the film. It is way better than the catastrophic attempt to modernize Mary Poppins that came a few years ago. Blaming Rachel Zegler’s culturally divisive social media posts for the film not being the mega-blockbuster it was predicted to be is unfair. Her performance was fantastic. If there’s any one thing to blame for Snow White’s box office failure and overall weakness, it is the tunes––plain and simple.

I wish they'd included this song: