Peter Dinklage Isn’t Into Disney’s Live-Action “Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs” Film (UPDATE)
Disney is currently working on a live-action version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, because remaking all their feature-length animated movies as live-ish action films is currently their bread and butter. Rachel Zegler will play Snow White, and Gal Gadot has been cast as Snow White’s evil stepmother, The Queen. Peter Dinklage has a pretty big issue with this movie so far, and not for the regular reason most people do (you know, the whole kissing an unconscious girl thing). Peter Dinklage thinks it’s more than a bit regressive to be using dwarfs in 2022 in the way that they appear in Snow White.
Peter Dinklage recently spoke about the movie during an appearance on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, and he suggests Disney probably shouldn’t be congratulating itself so hard on casting a Latina actress as Snow White. via Entertainment Weekly:
“Literally no offense to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” Dinklage said. “Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me.”
The Game of Thrones alum continued: “You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that fucking backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the fuck are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soap box? I guess I’m not loud enough. I don’t know which studio that is, but they were so proud of it. All love and respect to the actress and all the people who thought they were doing the right thing. But I’m just like, what are you doing?”
To be fair to those dwarfs, they didn’t live in a cave. They all had lucrative full-time employment at the local diamond mine and could afford a beautiful well-built cottage in the forest, so already they’re miles ahead of me when it comes to home ownership.
Disability rights activist Rebecca Cokley also co-signed everything Peter Dinklage said and shared her own experiences about frat boys using Snow White to make fun of her:
Believe me averages, you HAVEN’T lived until you leave your office to frat boys drunkenly imitating your walk at a bar as you walk by, chanting
“Heigh-Ho! Heigh-Ho!”
— Rebecca Cokley (@RebeccaCokley) January 25, 2022
Well, if an actor with dwarfism is telling you that it feels shitty to see the same old tired story be made, and likely one that was probably a favorite reference for schoolyard bullies, well then, maybe skip ahead a few movies. Really, how is Disney jumping straight to Snow White, when they have The Rescuers, about a chic mouse detective that they can turn into live-action? Yes, Miss Bianca’s glamour will be difficult to replicate in live-action, but I have confidence they can make it work.
UPDATE: Disney has responded to this, saying that they’re working with members of the dwarfism community to change up the characters.
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.
Pic: Wenn.com