“Snow White” (2025), the recent live-action remake of the classic 1937 animated film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” has been marred by controversy since the moment Disney announced the start of production. What started as an attempt to simply update the classic tale for a modern audience quickly turned into a high profile storm of hate comments and public backlash.

The original story is familiar to most. Based on the Grimms’ fairy tale, it follows Snow White, a kind and beautiful princess w hose evil stepmother, jealous of her stepdaughter’s beauty, forces her to work as a ser vant. When the Evil Queen’s Magic Mirror tells her Snow White is more beautiful than she and the Queen tries to kill her, Snow White is forced to flee into the forest, where she befriends seven dwarves. After the Evil Queen attempts to kill her once again (this time with a poison apple), Snow White falls into a deep sleep, but is rescued by a handsome prince and presumably lives happily ever after.

The charming animation and fun music, combined with the novelty of it being the first full-length animated film made the original movie an instant success, grossing around $2.3 billion (adjusted for inflation) at the box office, more than any other animated movie in history. So, the 2025 remake had big shoes to fill.

There are some key differences between the original and the remake: instead of a prince, Snow White falls in love with a commoner; and instead of just riding off into the sunset at the end, she deposes the Evil Queen and takes control of the kingdom. Unfortunately, pretty much every aspect of the movie sparked intense dispute, from the two lead actresses’ opposing views on the war between Israel and Palestine to the comments of Snow White’s actress, Rachel Zegler, surrounding the original film, which she called “extremely dated.”

The handling of the seven dwarves in particular became very controversial. The decision to use CGI to bring the beloved characters to life instead of casting actors with dwarfism made many members of the dwarfism community angry, as well as fans. The movie, which came out in theaters a few months ago, was not particularly well received by fans. Expected to gross $48–58 million in its first weekend in theaters, “Snow White” only brought in a disappointing $42 million, according to IMDB.

However, the film does have some good elements. Despite Zelger’s comments regarding the original storyline, she brings a fun new twist to the character of Snow White.

She explores a new depth to the character that was not included in the original. The character of the prince has also been updated effectively. Instead of a prince, the love interest Jonathan (played by Andrew Burnap) is a bandit and rebel, giving his character a touch more personality than the original, sort of bland Prince Florian. Additionally, I liked that we get to see his relationship with Snow White evolve over the course of the film, so it’s less insta-love and more realistic.

In my opinion, the best part of the new film is the music. It keeps many of the beloved original songs like “Whistle While You Work” and “Heigh-Ho” for a touch of nostalgia, while also adding exciting new ones like “Waiting on a Wish.” In addition, I thought that the sets were beautifully designed and let you really become immersed in Snow White’s world as the story unfolds. From the imposing, beautiful castle to the seven dwarves’ quaint, cozy cottage, the sets added a lot of whimsy and magic to the film.

However, I do think that the movie had many flaws. For example, I found the use of CGI for the seven dwarves a bit creepy, and I thought they stood out in a negative way among the other characters. I also definitely preferred the costumes from the original film to this one, especially Snow White’s iconic dress, the updated version of which I didn’t love.

Despite its controversies, “Snow White” still has many good pieces that make the film appealing. So, I suggest going to the theater and seeing the movie for yourself before deciding on what you think about it. Even if you are a die-hard fan of the original, there will still be something to enjoy in this magical updated fairytale!