Snow White review: A charming update for Disney's first princess

The live-action remake is far from perfect, but there's still a lot to like about this energetic adventure.

Rachel Zegler as Snow White, with her arm out and a bird perched on her hand

Disney

★★★☆☆

Snow White is in cinemas from Friday 21 March. Add it to your watchlist

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There’s an irony in seeing a movie so famous for being a cartoon remade with real actors.

That’s because in 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Walt Disney’s first big swing in a new format. He engineered an unprecedented feature-length cartoon experiment and, to everybody’s surprise, it was a hit with both critics and audiences. The idea of an animated movie was such a new concept that it even confused the Academy, who belatedly awarded Walt a special Oscar a year later (alongside seven small ones!).

To put it simply, without the original full-length Snow White ’toon, cinema would have been very different.

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The story is, of course, iconic. Rachel Zegler exudes perfect innocence and sings her heart out in the lead role. She does this (some would say thankfully) in a much lower register than the original Snow White vocalist, Adriana Caselotti. After her mother dies, Snow White’s father (Hadley Fraser) marries a beautiful stranger who turns out to be evil. These wicked stepmother duties fall to Gal Gadot, leaving her do-gooder Wonder Woman persona far behind.

Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen in the Snow White live-action movie

Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen Disney

While she’s certainly enjoying herself, smouldering and preening as the beauty-obsessed Queen, she’s perhaps a little too buttoned-up to truly terrify. (Her outfits, by Oscar-winning costumer Sandy Powell, often act her off the screen.)

After sending the King off to war, the Queen takes power and ensures that all kindness in her kingdom is stamped out. Snow White is reduced to working as a kitchen maid… until the day a Magic Mirror (voiced by Patrick Page) informs the Queen that she is no longer the "fairest in the land". Threatened by Snow White’s beauty, the Queen thus sends her to her death in an enchanted forest. But the young princess promptly stumbles upon a cottage full of friendly dwarfs.

Rachel Zegler as Snow White, looking down a well

Rachel Zegler as Snow White. Disney

Conscious that modern audiences appreciate a little more depth to their love stories, screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson has added a new middle section. This serves to properly introduce Snow White to her eventual "one true love", the Robin Hood-a-like Jonathan (Andrew Burnap). He’s not a prince, either, which means that the song Someday My Prince Will Come is sacrificed; instead, we’re treated to this perky not-prince singing about his "princess problems". Is he a bit bland? Yes, but compared to the underdeveloped original he’s positively Shakespearean.

The Magic Mirror in Snow White

The Magic Mirror in Snow White Disney

While a few other tunes from the old film remain, delivered convincingly by Zegler, there are many new ones. Composed by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (The Greatest Showman, La La Land), a couple even linger as earworms after the credits roll. However, nothing beats the sheer joy of hearing the familiar refrain from Whistle While You Work, or a hearty "heigh ho!" as the dwarfs make their grand entrance.

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Which brings us, at last, to the seven no-longer-titular characters, whose existence in this movie is a fraught one. Given Disney’s determination to remake the film despite the criticisms levelled against the tale, director Marc Webb faced a tough choice. Should he use live-action dwarf actors, risking accusations of insensitivity given their stereotyped roles? Or should he shrink down average-sized actors à la Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit?

Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Snow White

Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Snow White. Disney

Instead, he chose a third option: rendering each dwarf entirely in CGI to match their original 1937 versions, maintaining an air of cartoonish unreality. Does it work? Yes and no. Anyone who grew up with the original film may find these familiar faces nostalgic, but newer (and younger) viewers might, perfectly understandably, question why they aren’t real people.

Each dwarf is still paper-thin as a character, too, although Dopey (Andrew Barth Feldman) at least gets enough screen time to develop as a person.

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Perhaps the very concept of this old Brothers Grimm fable is too antiquated for our modern world. Yet there’s still a lot to like about this energetic adventure. Above all else, it’s a charming fairy tale showcasing – and carefully updating – the original Disney princess.

Authors

Jayne Nelson

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