Disney pushes back live-action Snow White release date amid actors strike

The release of Disney’s Snow White live-action remake has been pushed back by a year and the production studio may have decided to bring back the dwarves that were cut from the script in order to make way for "inclusivity."

"The Walt Disney Company’s decision to veer away from the “woke” approach and return to the traditional storyline has generated a positive reaction from fans. Many applauded Disney’s willingness to listen to the concerns of the audience and preserve the essence of the original film. Others, however, still wish for the live action remake to be scrapped entirely," Disney Dining reported.

During production, it was announced that the dwarves would no longer be dwarves but would be represented by a cadre of diverse individuals. Plenty of backlash from fans ensued. The original, animated version was called Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The new version has simply been renamed to Snow White. 

One member of the cast, the diminutive Peter Dinklage, had said that having dwarves be played by actual little people would be offensive. As a result, he was the only little person who was cast. Now, Disney may be remaking those characters to better represent the original version.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film, starring Rachel Zegler, has had its release delayed from March 22, 2024, to March 21, 2025. 

This comes as the actors strike in Hollywood has stretched past 100 days. Disney CEO Bob Iger as well as other Hollywood CEOs told SAG-AFTRA "that the deadline is all but upon them in terms of having to decide which films to push if the two sides can’t come to a resolution," the outlet reports.

Sources told the outlet that the deadline is the first week of November. 

Zegler has received backlash for comments she made about the 1937 Disney animated classic based on the Grimm Brothers tale, saying that the new version would have a "modern edge."

When asked about it, she said "I just mean that it's no longer 1937. And we absolutely wrote a Snow White that's not going to be shaped by the prince, and she's not going to be dreaming about true love, she's going to be dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be, and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she were fearless, fair, brave, and true." 

"And so it's just a really incredible story," Zegler went on, "for, I think, young people everywhere to see themselves in."

In September of 2020, Zegler issued a series of tweets against Gina Carano, an actor fired from the Disney series The Mandalorian, over her criticism of Covid lockdowns, after she changed her pronouns on Twitter to "Beep/bop/boop."

"Beep/bop/boop has zero to do with mocking trans people [and 100 percent] to do with exposing the bullying mentality of the mob that has taken over the voice of many genuine causes."

Zegler wrote in response to the pronouns, "do not make fun of pronouns."

"they are not a joke! pronouns are validating! pronouns are cool! put your pronouns in your bio! i wear my pronouns on a button sometimes! it’s a good thing! bye!," she added, not using any capital letters.