March 23, 2025 · Watch the official trailer
Disney’s obsession with taking their animated classics and transforming them to live action iterations for easy box office revenue has led to an underwhelming amount of family friendly films that are easily forgotten.
This time, however, it feels like Mickey Mouse and company might actually be onto something with director Marc Webb’s modern reimagining of the classic “Snow White” tale headlined by “West Side Story” actress Rachel Zegler and “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot.
“Snow White” is a relatively progressive, updated twist on the classic fairy tale character with the titular role being given far more agency than ever before. Snow White is not simply a girl waiting for her prince to come like the classic tune removed for this iteration, but rather a much more resilient, independent, and thoughtful young woman seeking to build on her parents’ noble legacy.
In this way, Zegler is an ideal choice to play Snow White, perfectly balancing a wide-eyed naivete with forthright determination and a zeal to be of service to others.
It also helps tremendously that Zegler is an exceptionally talented theatrical and musical performer and her ability to carry the narrative forward while also masterfully performing original tunes written for the film by “The Greatest Showman” songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul give a flavor to a Disney film from a musical sense that the studio has been lacking since Lin-Manuel Miranda's “Moana” soundtrack and the smash hit “We Don't Talk About Bruno” from “Encanto.”
Conversely, the modernization of this “Snow White” iteration largely sidelines Gadot as the Evil Queen, a sorceress with limited magical powers that hinder her character’s backstory and largely paint Gadot into a corner of one note villainy.
Scenes with the Evil Queen are often the worst in the entire film though luckily it is also the smallest percentage of “Snow White” with Webb and screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson keeping Zegler’s demonstrably better performance at the forefront throughout.
The film’s classic seven dwarfs, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, Grumpy, Dopey, and Doc, are all still in the film by name, though not referred to as dwarves. And these friendly miners that Snow White meets all over path have minor alterations to their overall character with Dopey playing an increased role in the emotional through lines of the narrative.
While there is technically a male love interest for Snow White, the rebellious outsider Jonathan portrayed by Andrew Burnap is a major change from the classic prince of the 1937 original and will remind some viewers of Jonathan Bailey’s turn as Fiyero in last year’s “Wicked.”
“Snow White” also features some of the best CGI work that Disney has done in one of these live action re-imaginings of their classic animated films, both in the mostly photo realistic designs given to the seven dwarves, but also in the nuanced yet light animals Snow White befriends.
Musical moments in the film are exceptionally strong with returning classic tunes “Heigh Ho” and “Whistle While You Work” are among the film’s highlights.
These scenes also help to reposition Snow White as more of an independent character with agency with the act one song “Waiting on a Wish” having the same emotional resonance as “How Far I'll Go” from “Moana” did for that film's narrative. It's a song that should be a strong contender for Best Original Song at next year's Academy Awards ceremony.
Although families were probably already heading to the theaters to see “Snow White” over spring break for a monthly outing to the cinema, There is enough quality in the storytelling and filmmaking of Webb's film to make “Snow White” something that cinephiles might agree is a step of or a class above other live action iterations in the same style and perhaps worth taking a chance on the big screen.
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