"Weird, weird": When Snow White's Rachel Zegler criticized a classic Disney tale

As the first-ever animated feature film Disney ever made, it's safe to say that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the most celebrated film from the studio. Released in 1937, the classic fairytale has a long-standing legacy and a fanbase that consists of millions. As multiple Disney princesses got their live-action feature films, fans were eagerly waiting for an announcement for Snow White's live-action adaptation, which came in 2016.

The adaption got into the process of production and Rachel Zegler was cast as the titular character of Snow White. Backlash followed, as fans pointed out the inaccuracy in casting and only got worse following Zegler's less-than-kind expression regarding the classic Disney tale.

The actress spoke up about how the old film depicted Snow White as a damsel-in-distress who is dependent on the Prince to come and save her. She critiqued what she considered to be the lack of feminist themes in the films and talked about how the reimagined film would change these aspects of the tale.

Speaking about it at the D23 Expo in 2022, Zegler said:

"The original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so. There's a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird. So we didn't do that this time. We have a different approach to what I'm sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie, Andrew Burnap, great dude. [...] But it's really not about her love story at all, which is really, really wonderful. [...] All of Andrew’s scenes could get cut, who knows? It’s Hollywood, baby!"

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Backlash followed as fans called her out for criticizing a much-beloved role that she is supposed to be portraying in the film while also criticizing her for forcing a hyper-independent, feminist rebranding onto Snow White.

Later on, Zegler clarified her statement in an October 2024 interview with Variety, where she talked about how her words were blown out of proportion and reassured fans that the love story still is very much a part of the film.

“In all honesty, it made me sad that it was taken in such a way, because I believe that women can do anything. But I also believe that they can do everything,” Zegler says.

She continued:

"I would never want to box someone in and say, ‘If you want love, then you can’t work.’ Or ‘If you want to work, then you can’t have a family.’ It’s not true. It’s never been true. It can be very upsetting when things get taken out of context or jokes don’t land. The love story is very integral. A lot of people wrote that we weren’t doing [that storyline] anymore — we were always doing that; it just wasn’t what we were talking about on that day.”

More criticism following Snow White's live adaptation

Many fans had expressed their opinions on Rachel Zegler's casting as Snow White, as her Latin ethnicity clashed with the idea of the Disney Princess being white. This was rebuked by fans, who pointed out that Snow White's ethnicity was not an integral part of the plot and that it's important for there to be representation of all races in popular media.

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Zegler herself made a statement in the same interview with Variety, where she talked about how the line “skin as white as snow” in the film was not related to her race but to how she survived a snowstorm.

“It fell back to another version of ‘Snow White’ that was told in history, where she survived a snowstorm that occurred when she was a baby. And so the king and queen decided to name her Snow White to remind her of her resilience. One of the core points in our film for any young woman or young person is remembering how strong you actually are.”