Let me start by saying that really I do not care about Snow White 2025. I have nothing but apathy for this movie at this point. It could be a critical box smash hit or tank I do not really care. However I still have thoughts on some the offering Disney has released so here is my tepid take.
First we have a song…
There is no denying that Rachel Zelger can sing. She sings very well. This song seems to be a replacement for “I’m Wishing” from the Original because wanting love is bad now and leadership good.
So it’s an “I Want song” as she wants to be different version of herself, like “her higher self” or “best version” BUT because there is that pesky wishing-well iconography that has to be in the song. So there are two things at play she is “waiting on a wish” so she can be herself or she can leave? I think it both sort of. It seems like the concepts go together because she is selling it well but the thesis is muddle if you paid any attention to lyrics. But it’s sung well so people seem to like it but in addition to be confusing on a central theme it’s banal and very similar to Encanto’s “Waiting on a Miracle.”
And then there is this clip
Why does it feel like these two feel like they’re different movies? I still maintain that I think the Queen’s costumes looks more like something in 1950s B Sci-fi movie but maybe it’s more the fabric choice and make-up than the actually design since the design lifted from the original movie. But hey at least we know how the apple iconography is going to worked in to this movie. It’s not just an apple it’s emblematic of Snow White’s charity and kindness. Because she made pies for the poor and this makes the Queen look even more evil because pies are traditional not a luxury food and she think pies are too much for their little minds.
I will also say that Gadot ‘s usual wooden acting actually kinda adds to the menace but we’ll see how the rest of the movie goes maybe it will be fine.
Weird thought, I know the “fairest’ line now refers to “justice” as in being fair and not being pretty but what Snow’s hair was intentional by the Queen to mar her beauty? Just a thought.
Also Disney is totally going to merch the heck out that necklace. You know it and I know!
I’m very likely will not going to go out my way to see this movie but I might watch it on a plane.
Side Note- I deleted the blog’s twitter account a while ago and migrated over to Bluesky. Also for now the blog’s Facebook page will remain up but will not be updated for the foreseeable future. It might be removed at some point just not now.
You know what the problem with the actresses are this day? They try to impart their ideologies, beliefs or whatever in the character. Damn, an actress is acting something she isn’t. If she’s feminist, activist or whatever that’s fine in her personal life but it has nothing to do with the role. Emma Watson not wanting to wear a corset because of her personal belief compromised the costume of the film and perhaps the most iconic Disney dress (note that Belle from the animation was already pretty feminist considering the context of her life), Rachel wanting her Snow white to lead and detracting from wanting love for what? It’s okay, some people are romantic at heart and want a relationship. Imagine this people who can’t separate personal life from their roles, will they ever be able to play a villain or a morally ambiguous character? An actor should be able to portray themselves as something they are not, otherwise they just suck at their jobs.
I bet if this women had their own agenda but didn’t mixed it up with their characters they would do a much better job and be more well received by the fans. I personally am a fan of Emma Watson as an activist and public person, but I loathed her Belle. Much better to stick with Lea Seydoux Belle despite not being Disney.
I do agree, political opinions do alienate audiences from works. I wish we didn’t live in such politically charged times or in times when actors and actresses have less mysterious about their view points.
I hate how Emma Waston’s input influenced the costuming of 2017 Beauty and the Beast. Belle’s original dress is so iconic and the live-action version drop the ball especially after Cinderella’s dress was amazing. Also the costumes in the Lea Seydoux 2014 version are amazing. Disney should be emulating those costumes more in their movies.
I know Zelger is very out-spoken about her beliefs but I don’t know if she had any pull with the direction of this Snow White version and a lot of her interviews were probably talking points Disney gave her. Still the movie looks bad.
I’ve seen a few of the remakes/reimaginings…re-whatever we’re calling them these days. One of the reasons why the original animated films are impressive is that through animation, almost anything can be done. The most magical and unrealistic things can make perfect sense. And through animation, many of the scenes appear more bombastic, colorful and awe inspiring. Take the “Be our guest” sequence from Beauty and The Beast; the animated version is much more colorful and has a lot more going on, than the live action. Or the “Prince Ali” sequence from Aladdin; in the animated version, it’s a larger scale parade event, resembling the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The live action version just looks like a hometown parade. I most likely won’t be seeing the live action Snow White, because the remakes thus far have been tepid and haven’t really added anything through story or character development. This is why I hope NDDP gets a live action re-whatever, because it’s not safe and the unsafe themes could be explored more, as there is still the stigma of “animation is for kids” and live action can be more mature. Over the past weekend I watched the re-whatever of, Nosforatu and couldn’t help but think, “if this can be done, then maybe there’s hope for a new adaptation of NDDP”. Maybe it won’t be a live action Disney re-whatever and that might be a good thing. It would allow the story to be dark, gothic, atmospheric and make way for better story telling…without the conservative mommy bloggers screaming, “this isn’t appropriate for children!” And the re-whatever of Nosforatu did fairly well w/critics, which got buzz and people started to see it. I thought it was okay…it kind of dragged in some parts, but it took a risk and I think that, more than anything is being respected right now (if anyone has interest, it’s avail for streaming on Peacock or can be rented on Amazon Prime). There are also a couple of re-whatevers of Frankenstein slated to release later this year/early next year; I’m hoping this resurgence of re-whatevering the old school horror films does become popular, after all, NDDP was originally considered horror and Quasimodo was one of the original Universal monsters.
Agreed, animation offer so much expression and magic that it’s hard to showcase that in a live-action movie. It’s like the studio don’t understand what works in animation doesn’t work in live-action and vis-versa. I think that’s why some of the earlier Disney Live-action remakes, like Cinderella, worked a little better because they did their own thing.
I would love a new movie version of NDdP. I would also love some darker and gothic in tone. It’s a weird thing that they last two “versions” of the story were parodies and one just uses Quasimodo as character, I’m not even sure it really counts. A new universal monster movie for Quasimodo would be interesting. I hope it done because the 1923 version did start the trend. I haven’t seen Nosforatu but mayebe will check it out soon.
I’ll be honest. Rachel is very pretty and she has an amazing voice, but she doesn’t give me Snow White vibes. And that’s not even for being latin. There are latin girls who are pretty pale – but that’s beyond the point. I think she’d rock more on a more adventurous movie, in the style of Brave (though not brave necessarily as that should have a Scottish actress) but with that kind of storyline. I think she’d make an amazing princess for a new plot centered in leadership. Snow White is a love story and there’s nothing wrong with it.
Also, I disliked Emma Watson as Belle. I think the only live action that was good was Cinderella and the Little Mermaid. Aladdin was decent, but not a masterpiece.
Mellany Barros for instance has a vibe I think would suit Snow White better – she’d make an excellent book Esmeralda if they went with the french backstory, that girls eyes are exactly how I picture Esmeralda’s in the books. If age wasn’t an issue Camilla Mendes would also make a lovely Snow White and she has a beautiful voice, and she actually can get pretty pale when she doesn’t suntan.
As for Rachel’s voice, I don’t care for it in the movie because around the world it’ll be dubbed. I myself will be watching it in Portuguese on my country.
You’re right, Rachel Zelger is not the right casting for the role. She doesn’t have the right look and doesn’t have the right vibe. I did hear that the whole snow naming scheme in the movie was because Snow White was born in a snow storm, so that production thinks it can get away with it but she is not the “Snow White” type. And you bring up a good point, it’s a moot point of how great a singer she is if she going to be dub throughout the world.
Yeah, I wasn’t a fan of Emma Watson’s Belle either. She was only cast because of previous a popular role and her reputation for being smart. I also didn’t really like that movie, it was a mess. I still haven’t watch the Live action versions of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin all the way through yet. Cinderella has been the only good one.
Mellany Barros does have a the right look for a Book accurate Esmeralda.