Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Reimagining The Story That Started It All: Beautiful Story, Character & Set Design

Snow White Live Action Remake Movie Review: Great Film To See

Snow White was a really amazing film and story. It was beautifully costumed and the casting was really amazing. The story blends original pieces interwoven with the old story we all remember from the original enduring classic. From start to finish, it’s a wonderful journey into a colorful reality that becomes darkened by the wickedness of the new queen who doesn’t share in the love and kindness espoused by Snow White’s father before he left.

However, the character CGI in this film was not well done, slightly dampening the overall experience of watching the film. Since the technology I’m talking about, specifically the character design for the little men and the small animals, was used in only a small number of scenes, it’s really not that bad.  The backgrounds and special effects, such as the woods scene with the trees that come to life, are really very good.  The songs and performances are so well executed.  The animals and dwarves are really strange looking in this film, but everything else is incredible.

The story starts with the kingdom in which Snow White grows up. The king and queen to whom she is born believe strongly in the importance of fairness, kindness, and truthfulness, especially as it relates to the ruler of the kingdom. They rule with justice and mercy, fairness and equality. They also lead with kindness and sharing and the power of working together. It really is a paradise of a kingdom.

But then, everything changes. The queen gets very sick and dies. A mysterious woman comes to the kingdom and the king falls in love with her. But he is sent away to fight an enemy that was unknown before the new queen came to power. The king doesn’t return, and we come to understand that he didn’t survive the battle, which may or may not have occurred. It’s likely the queen betrayed him.

With Snow White’s father out of the way and no one to protect her, the princess is locked away in the castle, becoming a scullery maid dressed in rags. She mops the floors and scrubs the hallways every day, doing her chores without complaint. And then everything changes.

She meets a young man stealing food from the castle’s storage room, and she doesn’t understand why the queen would allow the people to starve. These are her people who she cares deeply for and remembers well. She cannot believe that the queen would allow them to suffer if she knew.

She tells her animal friends of her plan to plead the case of the people before the queen, and they’re understandably skeptical. They see the queen for the wicked unfeeling being that she is. But Snow White feels she has to try. The animals are right; the queen is beyond evil and uncaring. As the princess expresses her concerns and talks of how her father used to share the kingdom’s abundance with their subjects, the queen is derisive and cruel.

Then the guard enters- with the young man from the storeroom. The princess pleads for mercy, which actually makes his punishment worse. He is to be tied to the gates with no cloak to freeze to death in the cold. And it is here that Snow White’s inner beauty begins to shine noticeably.

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Did I forget to mention the Magic Mirror that the ‘fair’ queen consults daily to make sure she is still the fairest of them all? Well, it’s Snow White after all, so there’s that. But all of a sudden, Snow White’s beauty has exceeded that of the queen according to the evil mirror. So now she must die.

This is when we finally meet the famous seven dwarves.  While the clearly fake animals are mostly cute, the deer we first meet is extremely creepy. This is quite a backwards step from Aladdin in 2019, where the tiger was done so incredibly well that I thought it wasn’t CGI. However, this one is not done very well. Even the small animals are odd looking, though this may have been what they were going for.

And the dwarves are beyond creepy. This film would have been a little better with human actors playing the dwarves, especially because they aren’t magical creatures. They are just humans with a genetic difference. There are many actors who have dwarfism and are interested in playing  these kinds of parts. The same issues that plagued the genie in Aladdin are compounded when there are seven such creatures. It’s something with the eyes, like they glow weirdly – almost evil looking. The Genie isn’t shown face forward as the floating genie with blue skin very often – probably because of how weird it looks. It’s almost shocking when you see it.

The CGI notwithstanding, the overall film is extremely beautiful – and important. It has such an incredible message, and demonstrates the power of community and love when it comes to preventing suffering in a society. Everything is shared among the people, and this is the best way to have a happy thriving society. And it is possible, but it requires leaders who aren’t selfish and who want to share with those they live with. They don’t judge: they just care instead.

The creativity that went into this film was stunning. The colors and scenes are magical, and the acting by Rachel Zegler was superb. She played a very emotionally intense Snow White, and she truly embodies the spirit of the girl we all grew up with from the 1930s, as the timeless fairy tale that started the Disney empire. Such humble beginnings.

The ending is just fantastic and can’t be beat.  Disney always has such creative new endings in their films.  In many of their recent movies, we see instances where the villain essentially destroys themselves with their greed or vanity or other vices. This one features such an inspirational final scene, which exemplifies what Disney is so well known for.  It’s why we can watch their films over and over.

As in every other live action remake, the film is completely different from the original. It’s not a prince she meets at the well, and she doesn’t meet him at the well. But everything about the story was so well thought out and executed flawlessly – except the CGI. To be fair, though, most of the film does not feature the weird looking Dwarves and the odd woodland creatures. Most of the story focuses on the princess and the boy she meets who reminds her what it is to be brave – the way her father and mother taught her to be.

Overall, I would give this film five stars and highly recommend it.

Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

(L-R): Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen and Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.