While Disney’s live-action remakes have had their ups and downs, their most recent project,Snow White, has fallen short in a number of ways, from its poor critical and audience reception to its absolutely dismal box-office return. There are plenty of reasons as to why the film failed, fromSnow White’s controversial castto the fact that the original film, while iconic, doesn’t hold as much of a draw for modern audiences as their more recent classics likeThe Little MermaidorThe Lion King.
However,Snow White’s reviewspoint to one of the biggest problems being one that is shared by most of Disney’s live-action remakes, and was one of the major factors leading to the movie’s downfall. Most of these films have been criticized for feeling like simple unnecessary cash grabs, andthe best Disney live-action remakes manage to escape that trap. Despite Rachel Zegler’s great performance as Snow White herself, she was unable to save the movie, and, when combined withSnow White’s many controversies, caused the movie to flop.
Snow White Shouldn’t Have Been So Beholden To The Original
The Movie Needed To Take More Risks With Its Story
The biggest problem facingSnow White, alongside its various controversies, was the fact that it tried too hard to stay true to the original while also attempting to make the movie feel like a modern retelling. The original film remains one of the reasons that Disney even exists today, but it still definitely feels like a movie from the 30s, and theSnow Whiteremake’s attempt to tell the same story once again simply fell flat, unable to recapture the classic charm of the original.
If it had been more original and unique, following in the footsteps of a different Disney remake, then the conversation surrounding the movie could have been different.
On top of that, the movie also attempted to modernize the property, with elements such as looking deeper into the kingdom, as well as trying to makeSnow White’s Jonathana more well-rounded character. However, with how straight the movie played it with regard to the original, these two different approaches to the film clashed, and madethe final product feel like it was trying to do too many things at once. If it had been more original and unique, following in the footsteps of a different Disney remake, then the conversation surrounding the movie could have been different.
Maleficent Proved Disney Remakes Can Be Unique
Maleficent Took Plenty Of Risks, And They Paid Off
One Disney live-action remake that did manage to differentiate itself from the original was 2014’sMaleficent, which told the story ofSleeping Beautyfrom the perspective of the villain of the movie, Maleficent. That movie was released before these remakes became the norm for Disney, and it shows, asMaleficentis actually a unique and interesting movie, expanding the universe of the original animated classic in a way that felt natural, compared to many of their newer attempts, includingSnow White, which can easily feel forced and pointless.
While the secondMaleficentmovie came out when Disney was ramping up production on their numerous remakes, it was also as wild as the first movie, expanding the world’s lore even further. Those two movies are some of thebest Disney remakes, due in large part to how unique they felt, especially when compared to the majority of modern live-action reimaginings.Movies likeSnow Whitefeel like they don’t actually add anything worthwhileto Disney’s filmography, a pitfall thatMaleficentsidestepped when it decided to tell a more original story.
The Maleficent Approach Might Have Helped Snow White
Learning From Maleficent Would Have Helped Snow White
The originalSleeping BeautyandSnow Whitemovies are very similar to each other, being classic, pre-renaissance Disney projects that helped build the studio up to where it is today. However, where theSnow Whiteremake has failed to become a success by any metric,theMaleficentmovies managed to become huge hits, with athirdMaleficentmovie even reportedly in development. IfSnow Whitehad adopted some of the characteristics of theMaleficentmovies, then it could have potentially been much better.
$758 million
$491 million
Disney’s Snow White
$183 million
Snow Whitealso tried to make its villain more relatable and personable, but, asthe movie was more focused on simply retelling the original story, the character didn’t get to shine, andGal Gadot’s performance as the Evil Queendidn’t do her any favors. However, if the movie was able to more effectively recontextualize the Evil Queen and Snow White’s relationship, giving the audience a deeper look into both characters, asMaleficentdid with the titular fairy and Aurora, thenSnow Whitecould’ve become the hit that those movies were.
