Peter Dinklage’s recently criticized of the forthcoming “Snow White” live-action re-make, particularly due to the depiction of the titular seven dwarfs and now Disney has responded.
“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,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement. “We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.”
The response came after the “Game of Thrones” actor expressed concern over the announced reimagining of the 1937 classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the first full-length animated film from Disney, while appearing on the “WTF with Marc Maron” podcast.
When discussing “West Side Story” star Rachel Zegler’s casting as the titular Disney princess, Dinklage said he was “a little taken aback” at the discrepancy in the “progressive” casting of a Latina actress as Snow White while telling a “backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together.”
Rounding out the forthcoming film’s cast alongside Zegler is Gal Gadot (Red Notice) as the Evil Queen and Andrew Burnap (The Chaperone) in an unknown leading role. Neither of the three actors have spoken out about Dinklage’s comments at this time.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney has planned to retool the dwarf characters since the film’s “earliest stages” and is working with “cultural consultants” to ensure an inoffensive portrayal, as the company previously did with 2019’s Aladdin and 2020’s Mulan. However, the former faced criticism for darkening white extras with brown makeup during filming and its stereotypical portrayal of the Middle Eastern community. Similarly, the live-action remake of Mulan proved quite controversial amongst many Chinese critics for the film’s production team’s lack of diversity, inaccurate depictions of Chinese culture, and historical errors.