What comes to mind when you think about the very first Disney film you watched? Maybe The Little Mermaid, where Ariel feels trapped below the surface and yearns to discover what’s past the safety of the ocean? Or what about the classic tale of Snow White: a fair maiden–who is in hiding from her evil, tyrannical, and jealous stepmother–that forms a familial bond between seven dwarves and is awoken with a true love’s kiss by her prince? As the first full-length animated film by Disney, Snow White remains a core memory of the magic that filmmaking can bring.
Of course, many animated films prioritize the message of letting your imagination run free, incorporating mystical fairies, talking animals, and mice that can fix a torn dress. But behind all the magic and splendor, peeling back the layers reveals someone who aspires to reach their dreams. But how did Disney discover the formula to tug on the heartstrings of people during their debut?
Back in the 1930s, when Walt Disney was in charge of writing and planning each movie, every frame of a film was hand-drawn by experienced illustrators. Before the more recent adaptation of the Disney castle opening, you might remember the opening to nearly every Disney movie as a short black-and-white animation of Mickey Mouse whistling a tune and tapping his foot while spinning a wheel. This is actually a snippet from the very first Disney short entitled ‘Steamboat Willie,’ and there were a total of 12,000 hand-drawn frames used for the 8-minute film. Snow White took over three years to make, and each frame was sketched, revised, and modified to create a smooth animation that still feels like jumping into the artwork of a fairytale book.
With new technology platforms emerging, film companies use 3D models rather than drawn frames, essentially taking a shortcut to what would have been difficult animation. While CGI has proven to benefit certain plotlines, the overreliance on CGI has removed what made the original movies so magical. Rather than casting actors with dwarfism to represent the dwarves in the movie and increasing representation for people with this condition, the seven dwarves, forest animals, and even backgrounds were all generated by a computer. Several authors, such as Manohla Dargis, who wrote a New York Times article entitled ”Snow White’ Review: A Princess’s Progress,’ noted “the delicate, flowing lines of the original’s animation style” that “softened every edge to beautiful effect and made even potentially scary moments inviting for tots.”
Many say don’t judge a book by its cover, but people are known to base their judgement of whether to watch a certain movie or not based on box office sales and reviews online. As of April 2025, Snow White is one of the lowest grossing Disney live-action films, with only $183.4 million in box office sales (despite only being released in theaters for over a month).
Furthermore, one of the scales used to measure how popular a movie was with an audience is through the Rotten Tomato scale, with a higher percentage meaning a higher audience favorability.
Despite the anticipation from many Snow White fans in seeing how Disney would reinterpret their star movie, the live-action received a low Rotten Tomato score of 40%. Unlike its underwhelming counterpart, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs of 1937 has a 97% Rotten Tomato score and grossed $418 million, and if inflation was adjusted for, those numbers would spike to over $2.3 billion.
Other live-action movies, such as The Lion King (2019) or Aladdin (2019) performed better in terms of box office sales and ratings, but overall, they were still seen by some as mediocre and not delivering that same spark that can bring back endless laughs and heartfelt tears. Each movie had a meaningful message, something that could resonate with you as you grew up. Maybe the first Lion King movie, with the powerful vocals and lyrics of “Be Prepared,” made you terrified in the moment, but then you remember a comforting meal you had with your family afterwards. As an avid Disney watcher, when I was younger, one of my favorite movies was Tangled. Rapunzel’s strength, naivety, along with her finding true love in the end carried the message that you don’t have to be an independent person in the beginning to be strong. That’s exactly the way a Disney movie can hold a place in your heart.
Many film companies advocate for diversity, and with a wider range of actors and performers entering the film industry, these companies seek to exploit these actors in order to gain recognition for their incorporation of different cultures. However, sometimes these adjustments are not necessary and occasionally hurt the plot, as the younger generations remember a Disney character distinctively by their appearance and personality. Rachel Zegler, who played Snow White in the titular movie, received such comments criticizing the casting choice of her, as Snow White’s story follows her beauty attributed to her pale skin (famously depicted “as white as snow”), innocence, and polite demeanor.
Some of Disney’s newest casting choices have caused controversy within the media world. For example, in the few months prior to the movie’s release, Zegler received backlash from Snow White fans due to her comments on the 1937 movie, as Zegler claimed there was too much emphasis on Snow White’s love story with the prince.
At the 2023 Disney Expo, Variety interviewed Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot about the anticipated movie, and the former remarked, “She’s [Snow White] not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love. She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.” This explained the entirely different approach to Snow White’s upbringing, as she instead received her name due to surviving through a snowstorm and later led a rebellion with the thieves she met in the forest.
Additionally, Gal Gadot, who plays the role of the Evil Queen, has also been facing controversy for her portrayal of the main antagonist in the movie. Her acting was mostly criticized as lacking the emotion and overarching darkness that the original voice actress for the Evil Queen had. These criticisms carried on from her other acting roles, such as Wonder Woman in most of the DC movies and Gisele in the Fast and Furious franchise.
In comparison to Gadot’s performance, Lucille La Verne, the voice actress for the Evil Queen in the 1937 movie, delivered her two completely opposite personas beautifully. As the Evil Queen, she shows clear jealousy of Snow White’s beauty and the young maiden’s title of “the fairest of them all.” La Verne then switched over to such innocence when disguised as the old hooded woman, sweetly promising Snow White all her dreams coming true if she ate the poisoned apple.
With Disney now leaning towards more reinterpretations on their clearly successful works in the past, they turn to casting actors rising to success without any consideration of playing to their acting strengths, leading to audience backlash in deeming these actors “unfit” for the beloved characters.
One of the main problems with Disney’s newest adaptations to award-winning classics is that they don’t adhere to the original storylines in hopes of “appealing to their audience.” For example, in Mulan (2020), one of the most influential characters was Shang, the stern captain of the Chinese army that later became Mulan’s love interest. However, he was completely omitted from the movie and an evil witch was added alongside the antagonist. In Mulan’s story, she was alongside several men who went through the same hardships as her, getting through grueling training to prepare for the fight, and Mulan persisted through the challenges thrown at her with the support of Shang and her friends. Now, it feels as if Disney is obligated to weaken or remove male characters in order to make the female protagonist stand out, whether that be for audience appeal or Disney’s own benefit.
The list of numerous changes goes on with each Disney movie being reworked to gain more profit, with the directors and producers turning a blind eye to what made each movie so captivating and special to people of all ages and cultures. The bright and lively settings have faded to muted and dull colors, intricate and handmade costumes conveying a character’s personality being replaced with cheaper imitations (such as Belle’s detailed golden ball gown becoming a simpler, yellow dress) and songs with powerful, resonating lyrics being overshadowed by more shallow lyrics that don’t even fit the setting or plot at all (like Snow White’s iconic “Whistle While You Work” sharing screen time with the new “Waiting on a Wish”).
While Disney can still produce masterpieces of movies with astounding animation, the need for money, publicity, and satisfying the public’s norms for a good movie is slowly leading the company down the corrupted path of uninspired and minimalistic writing, songs, and animation that barely resemble their original counterparts. If more live-action movies are released with the same underwhelming components, those that grew up with Disney movies may forget the magical experience of handmade music and art.
The list of numerous changes goes on with each Disney movie being reworked to gain more profit, with the directors and producers turning a blind eye to what made each movie so captivating and special to people of all ages and cultures.