Disney has seemingly responded to criticism that its planned live action reimagining of Snow White will contain outdated and insensitive depictions.
A new report from The Wrap suggests that Disney may be making significant changes to its upcoming adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with stories emerging in the wake of actor Peter Dinklage’s criticism of the studio that it’s planning to replace the dwarfs in the film with ‘magical creatures.’
Whilst the term ‘magical creatures’ is fairly broad, Disney’s response to this latest round of negative press, has at least, been swift.
Dinklage criticised the project’s seeming intent to use dwarfs (given the title) by saying “I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White. You’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there,” the actor said. We reported the story here.
It’s the latest wave of negative PR for the company, following its very public spat with Avengers star, Scarlett Johansson, not to mention the reports last year that Marvel Comics, a subsidiary of the studio, often don’t pay comic book writers appropriate royalties when their stories are adapted into billion-dollar films.
Disney responded quickly this time, telling Variety that “to avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community. We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.”
The live action project, which stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, will be directed by The Amazing Spider-Man’s Marc Webb. Reports are suggesting that ‘magical creatures’ will replace the roles of the dwarfs, but it is as yet unclear just how closely they will resemble the original characters:
According to that report in The Wrap, “instead of dwarfs, Disney will fill the void with a group of what they describe as ‘magical creatures’, according to casting sheets that TheWrap has seen. (They are currently looking for voice actors to give these creatures personality.) It’s unclear if they will inhabit the same roles as the dwarfs – will they be mining for jewels? Will they have names like Sleepy, Grumpy, and Bashful? – but these magical creatures will be the substitutes for the original seven dwarfs.”
More on the story as we hear it.
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