The UK plans to cancel the premiere of the live-action film “Snow White”

Disney is set to hold the Hollywood premiere of its live-action “Snow White” on March 15th. However, the company has decided to tone down the event compared to previous years. The premiere will be an internal affair, with only cast members Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot in attendance, and no media or critics invited. According to the Daily Mail, Disney executives have decided not to hold a premiere in the UK due to concerns over potential backlash from “overly woke” sentiments. The film has already faced criticism for casting a Latina actress as Snow White and for not including “the seven dwarfs” in the title. Typically, a film of this scale, which cost £212 million (approximately 1.98 billion yuan) and is based on the classic animated “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” would have a grand event at London’s Leicester Square with lights and cameras aplenty. However, to avoid a “backlash against wokeness,” there will be no celebration in the UK. Instead, a few tightly controlled media events will be held.

This decision stems from Zendaya’s controversial remarks about the role and is regarded as “a public relations disaster for Disney”. The character of Snow White she played has also sparked more controversy as Disney has been promoting more culturally representative narratives in recent years. Zendaya has Colombian and Polish ancestry, and people questioned why she was cast in a role from a German fairy tale.

In the stills, Rachel contrasts sharply with Gal Gadot, who plays the Queen. Gadot’s appearance and demeanor are closer to traditional beauty standards, leading netizens to joke that it’s like “the queen and the maid in the same frame.”

It is reported that the film has modernized the original story: the Prince Charming character has been removed and replaced with an original male character. Rachel has publicly criticized the original prince as a “stalker” and said, “Snow White doesn’t need to be saved.” This adaptation is seen as a subversion of the classic narrative and has drawn criticism from audiences.

Furthermore, the “Seven Dwarfs” in the movie are created with special effects rather than live actors. This approach has been criticized as “wanting to progress while still adhering to stereotypes.”

Due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, the release of “Snow White,” originally scheduled for 2024, has been postponed to March 21, 2025. After the first trailer was released in December 2024, it quickly received over a million “dislikes,” simultaneously revealing the problem of excessive use of CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery).