Correction: Disney has clarified that the photos are indeed from the film’s post-production and feature stand-ins for several actors. Original story follows.
Conservatives have been losing their minds on social media over new photos from Disney’s live-action Snow White. As it turns out, the photos are fake. Set to premiere on March 22, 2024, Snow White is a live-action remake of Disney’s animated classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The film stars Golden Globe-winning actress Rachel Zegler in the titular role, with Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. One problem that the live-action remake faced was how to depict Snow White’s companions.
As Peter Dinklage pointed out in 2022, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs featured an offensive depiction of individuals with dwarfism, as the dwarfs lived together in a cave and were rather childish and silly. Disney responded by assuring it was taking a different approach to Snow White that would “avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film.” The studio also indicated it was consulting with members of the dwarfism community to determine how to move forward with the film. As of now, the film’s final approach to reimagining the characters remains uncertain.
Snow White did drop the “Seven Dwarfs” from the title, and reports were claiming that Disney would have seven “magical creatures” in place of the dwarfs. However, Snow White has hired one prominent actor from the dwarfism community, Andrew Burnap, to portray Grumpy. As a result, many have been curious for a first look to see what direction the Disney live-action remake is taking. When alleged set photos leaked from Snow White, though, it caused an unexpected meltdown.
Conservatives crying over fake Snow White photos
On July 14, The Daily Mail published an article including several photos the outlet claimed were leaked from the set of Snow White, which was filming in the U.K. It’s unclear where the photos came from, but they show a young woman as Snow White, walking through a field with her companions. The seven companions include one individual with dwarfism alongside six adults without dwarfism. The Daily Mail claimed that these were the seven magical creatures from Snow White. It didn’t take long for the photos to begin spreading across social media, with other outlets republishing them.
Of course, the photos are fairly suspicious. The woman in the photo is clearly not Zegler, the costumes don’t look anything like you’d expect from a Disney production, and filming on Snow White wrapped a year ago. While the article explained these facts away by claiming it was a stand-in for Zegler and that reshoots were occurring, it isn’t likely that production would’ve carried on with the SAG-AFTRA strike underway. Shortly after the photos circulated, a Disney spokesperson confirmed that the photos are fake. It was too late, though, as conservatives were already on social media losing their minds over the “politically correct” photos.
Snow White, Zegler, and Dinklage all started trending on Twitter as conservatives slammed the fake photos. Countless users started crying about how the film will traumatize their children, how Disney is too “woke,” and how political correctness is ruining everything. Others even started calling for a boycott of Disney … all before they so much as fact-checked or verified that the suspicious photos were legit.
Conservatives also used the opportunity to renew their racist attacks on Zegler because they genuinely think you can’t have the last name White without being white, and like to pretend that they care about a 200-year-old fairy tale that they’ve never read. Zegler’s casting was met with racist backlash upon its announcement, too, though it will be refreshing to see the talented actress as a Latina Disney Princess. Unfortunately, she has to deal with these renewed hateful attacks because of a fake photo. Having so much hatred, calls for boycotts, and tears shed over a few fake photos is quite concerning.
Even if the photos were real—who cares? I might think that Snow White and the Seven Random People is a little silly, but I don’t think I would lose my mind over a children’s film based on a fairy tale that has no impact on my life whatsoever. Conservatives’ preoccupation over a fictional character’s ethnicity or whether they’re a dwarf or a magical creature is quite disturbing, especially when there are countless more important and serious issues to be concerned with.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
