On March 21, 2025, Walt Disney Pictures released yet another live action remake of one of their most beloved princesses. The newest to get her own movie is Snow White, Disney’s very first princess, portrayed by the talented Rachel Zegler. The film, produced by Marc Platt Productions and directed by Marc Webb, has already had its fair share of controversies, including everything from questionable costume choices to the actors’ personal lives.
“Snow White” (2025) is a live action remake of Disney’s first feature-length animated film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” which was released in 1937. The plot of this new remake follows the key beats of the original source material. However, because of the limited run time of Disney’s Snow White story, some changes were made to “Snow White” (2025) in order to entertain audiences and match up with the currently preferred movie length, much to the dismay of some lifelong fans of Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
A major source of contention among viewers of “Snow White” (2025) came with the costume choices, especially for the titular character of Snow White. One Lake Land College (LLC) student commented, “They looked cheaply made and did not follow the original color scheme of the [1937] movie.”
In terms of songs, fans of the original 1937 movie were in luck. Iconic tunes such as ‘Whistle While You Work,” “The Silly Song” and “Heigh-Ho” made a reappearance in this highly debated live action remake. New songs were also added to “Snow White” (2025) to better fit with the changes made to the story itself. Arguably the best song added to the movie is “Waiting on a Wish.” The song managed to showcase Zegler’s vocals in a way that is reminiscent of today’s Broadway ballads. An honorable mention on the new soundtrack is none other than “Princess Problems,” which went viral on the social media platform Tik Tok.
Somewhat unexpectedly, there were many controversies surrounding “Snow White” (2025), even before the movie was released. Some fans were upset that Rachel Zegler was cast as the main protagonist, Snow White, because Zegler is Polish and Columbian. They claimed that since Zegler was not strictly white, then she did not accurately reflect Disney’s version of the Snow White fairy tale. This argument is not something Disney has never heard before, especially since their last live-action princess remake was “The Little Mermaid,” which released in 2023 and starred Halle Bailey, a Black American woman. Others argue that these claims are baseless as both Snow White and Ariel are fictional characters, with one being a literal mermaid and the other a princess from a fictional kingdom.
Other controversies included the opposing viewpoints of the movie’s female leads, Zegler and her co-star Gal Gadot, who portrayed Snow White’s stepmother, the Evil Queen. Gadot, an Israeli woman, has been very expressive on her stance in support of Israel following the ongoing conflict between Isreal and Palestine. Inversely, Zegler expressed her support for Palestine in a post she made to social media, causing Marc Platt, the producer of the film, to fly out to see her.
“Snow White” (2025) premiered with a relatively poor reception from theatergoers. The film amassed a mere $87 million across the globe during its opening weekend. Many viewers were underwhelmed, with one watcher of the film stating, “I didn’t necessarily dislike the movie, but I’m not sure I’ll be rewatching it anytime soon.”
Disney’s “Snow White” (2025) has surely made a splash this year and continues to be a source of debates, on and off screen.
