Disney has responded to remarks made yesterday by award-winning actor Peter Dinklage that called the studio’s plans for a live-action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs “f*cking backwards.”
A Disney spokesperson told Deadline, “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,” .
Disney, Deadline understands, has cultural consultants on all of its live-action films including previous titles Aladdin and Mulan, in addition to animated movies like Encanto recently. Disney intends for the characters to be CG/animated.
Speaking on the Marc Maron podcast WTF yesterday, Dinklage said, “I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White…You’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me. You’re progressive in one way and you’re still making that f*cking backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together. What the f*ck are you doing man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox?”
The live-action version of Snow White, which stars West Side Story actress Rachel Zegler in the title role and Gal Gadot as the evil queen, is still years away from release. The feature has been in development for three years and the reimagining of the dwarf characters is something Disney has been working on since the project’s earliest stages.
The planned remake of the 1938 animated movie will feature original songs from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Andrew Burnap also stars in a newly created male lead character.
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