Disney has unveiled the first look at their live-action adaptation of the 1937 classic fairytale Snow White. The first teaser trailer for the musical film was released on Friday at D23, starring Rachel Zegler, 23, as the titular princess, and Gal Gadot, 39, as the iconic Evil Queen.
We see flashes of the CGI Seven Dwarfs throughout the trailer of the film, directed by Marc Webb, starting with their silhouettes as they walk to work in the mines, before later dancing with Snow White in their cottage.
Over the summer, the film received negative attention after it was revealed by DailyMail.com that the dwarfs were to be replaced by seven ‘magical (non-dwarf) creatures’ in an effort to keep the storytelling in line with the 21st Century’s commitment to political correctness.
However, the film was then delayed for a major overhaul, with only the animated dwarfs present in the new trailer.
We also get a glimpse of Snow White with the male lead character named Jonathan, played by Andrew Burnap, 33.
In the original Disney animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Prince Florian was Snow White’s love interest.
However, the new film is taking a different approach, after Zegler admitted in interviews that she ‘hated’ the original 1937 movie, and described the film’s Prince as a ‘stalker’ and branded the storyline ‘weird.’
The opening of the trailer offers a glimpse into the magical world of the fairytale, with Zegler entering a cottage surrounded by a charming menagerie of woodland creatures.
Zegler sings ‘Whistle While You Work,’ as she dances with the animated dwarfs, Doc, Grumpy, Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Bashful, and Dopey.
She is then seen gazing into a well, while Gal’s Evil Queen is pictured storming off a balcony.
Later on we get a close-up of Gal as she puts on her crown.
She then questions her magical mirror to determine if she is the most beautiful woman in the world. ‘Magic Mirror on the wall… who’s the fairest one of all?’ she asks.
Later in the trailer Snow White gets attacked by a moving tree in a forest.
The trailer ends with a close-up of Snow White reaching out her hand to take the poisoned apple.
Snow White is set to hit theaters March 21.
‘I wanted to make sure that we keep her delightful and delicious, and we understand what makes her tick. Then the evilness is interesting and not just flat,’ Gal told People of her character at the 2022 D23 expo on Friday.
‘For me it was making sure the Queen is not just evil for the sake of being evil. There is a complexity. Between the two characters, it’s like a mother-daughter relationship in a weird way. It’s what happens to a woman when she feels like she’s not relevant anymore, what can come out of her,’ she added.
The Wonder Woman star also shared her experience of working with Zegler.
‘At the end of the day, neither of us is the type of actor that, when it’s cut we just go to our trailers and we wait for our turns again. We all stayed and it was just a wonderful, commune type of atmosphere on set. When you have this good chemistry between everybody it really shows onscreen.’
Last year it was revealed that Disney was delaying the release of its live-action Snow White movie by a year for a major overhaul, after Zegler sparked anger with a tirade of woke fury.
The firm cited the SAG-AFTRA strike as the major reason behind the decision – but cynics pointed to upcoming reshoots as proof Disney bosses fear they’ve made a $330 million turkey.
Zegler also mired the movie in controversy by alleging the 1937 source material was creepy and vowing to ensure the remake was more progressive.
There was also plenty of controversy surrounding the dwarfs. They were seen on the set of the movie and included a mix of men and women of different ethnicities, with a real dwarf among their number. At first Disney denied these pictures were from the set of the movie – but eventually backtracked.
Then, in a publicity shot, Snow White, was pictured seated and surrounded by seven CGI dwarfs, with the diverse originals nowhere to be seen.
It is unclear precisely what Disney is planning to do with the ‘magical creatures’ and original dwarfs.
Beyond the controversy about the dwarfs, a handful of clips of Zegler speaking about the movie in a way audiences detested began to circulate.
Interviews showed Zegler making derogatory claims about the original Snow White movie and chastising the main character for her dated values.
‘I just mean that it’s no longer 1937. She’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love,’ Zegler told Variety.
‘She’s 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 was fearless, fair, brave, and true.’
Speaking again at the Disney D23 Expo in California in September 2022, Zegler – bet known for her breakout role in West Side Story’ 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,’ Rachel continued, referring to Burnap.
‘All of Andrew’s scenes could get cut, who knows? It’s Hollywood, baby!’ she joked, before admitting in a separate interview that she was ‘terrified’ when she went on the beloved Snow White ride at Disney World.
About the 1937 film, she said: ‘I was scared of the original version. I think I watched it once and never picked it up again. I’m being so serious.’
‘I watched it once, and then I went on the ride in Disney World, which was called Snow White’s Scary Adventures. ‘Doesn’t sound like something a little kid would like. I was terrified of it, never revisited Snow White again,” she added in an interview beside Gal Gadot, who plays the evil witch in the updated version.
In yet another high-profile interview about the film, Zegler defended the film’s newly forced progressive bent: ‘People are making these jokes about ours being the PC Snow White … yeah, it is – because it needed that.
‘Our version is a refreshing story about a young woman who has a function beyond Someday My Prince Will Come.’
The Colombian-American actress faced some degree of scrutiny by critics after she was cast as Snow White, who has always been described as having ‘skin as white as snow.’
In a since-deleted tweet, she wrote: ‘Yes I am Snow White; no, I am not bleaching my skin for the role.’
Disney’s 1937 version of the film follows Snow White as she befriends the seven dwarfs while hiding from her wicked stepmother who later poisons her with an apple before Prince Charming wakes her from her slumber with a kiss. The plot is loosely based on the 1812 fairytale of the same name by the Brothers Grimm.
At the time of its release, it became a massive hit for Disney, earning hundreds of millions of dollars across the globe. It was also the first full-length traditionally animated feature film, and Disney’s first animated feature. -dailymail.co.uk
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