The New Snow White Movie Shows Disney Doesn't Understand Its Own Story

Greg Ehrhardt, OnScreen Blog Editor

We have yet another remake of the iconic 1937 Disney film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” on our hands, this time featuring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, and yes, still made by Disney, who has basically given up on developing new content for the masses. (Yes I know, they have a couple original animated movies in the pipeline, but if you look at what is coming, trust me, I’m on safe ground with my statement).

I’m not here to pile onto how bad the movie was (I haven’t seen it, but people I trust tell me that yes, it is that bad outside of Rachel Zegler’s performance), nor am I here to yell about how morally wrong Disney is for daring to adapt nearly 90-year-old IP for our modern times. Disney, and any other entertainment company, not only has the right to adapt vintage movies to modern times, but they should do it. The 1937 movie was made for a 1937 audience. We, citizens of 2025 Earth, should not be demanding movies to be made reflecting the cultural inclinations of a society 90 years ago.

However, and this is where I get off the train and join in concurrence with the angry proletariat, the decision to remake Snow White in the way they did it was dumb and reflected Disney's lack of real understanding of why Snow White is an iconic princess to so many.

However, Disney is not alone in their lack of understanding. Many people, including actress Rachel Zegler, believe the original Snow White is not applicable to our times because she is a damsel in distress, yearns for nothing more than to be with a man, and is ultimately saved from death by a man. This reflects, so they say, an inherent male chauvinism and patriarchy in the movie that was prevalent in 1937. This is a valid interpretation of the movie, but it is only valid because it is a literal interpretation of the plot beats of the movie, understood at the most superficial levels.

Of course, storytelling is not in the business of being literal 99% of the time.

Before I go further, let me repeat what we said in a previous editorial; Rachel Zegler should not be getting hate for her point of view on Snow White. Many people agree with her, and I disagree with all of those people on the merits of their point of view, not for having and expressing that point of view.

Back to our editorial…

Unfortunately, the new Snow White movie attempted to course correct the 1937 adaptation with many changes you can read about here but with the big fundamental shift in making Snow White a hero for being more active and driven in furthering her story instead of a passive damsel as some see her in the 1937 version.

None of this is inherently offensive, but making this change fundamentally misses the message of the 1937 movie and how that message is still poignant today.

The message of the 1937 adaptation of Snow White is not one of a passive damsel in distress saved by a white knight, err, prince. It’s a story about how being kind in life is a winning recipe for fulfillment, no matter how evil life is to you. Snow White is the kindest princess in the entire Disney canon. She is kind to a fault, even to the death, even when any normal person’s suspicions of a weird lady offering her fruit out of nowhere would have stopped any person in their tracks. She is kind even when despair would normally overtake everyone else in her situation and make them too afraid to do anything about it.

Being kind literally killed Snow White.

And yet, even then, she still had her happily ever after, even after death. She lived a hero, died a hero, and lived again to be the hero for her kingdom, even though she wasn’t “smart enough” to suspect a rotten apple.

I mean, if the Christian allegory of being allowed into heaven due to living a kind life on earth isn’t beating you over the head, I guess stop reading right now and yell at me on social media.

Conversely, the queen is all about vanity; she is obsessed with being the most beautiful of the people in her kingdom. She was so obsessed with this that her best friend was basically her mirror, and she had the kindest person in the kingdom killed by her own hand. She seemingly won but still met her demise despite getting everything she wanted.

Again, even Sunday Schools would blush at how obvious the allegory is here.

That does not mean the story of Snow White is, or even needs to be, a religious allegory. (For an exhaustive history of the story of Snow White, read Ashley Griffin’s piece here.) Kindness is a universal quality we want everyone to hold dear to their hearts.

If the story of the modern-day version of Snow White is to be retold, it should center on the necessity and struggles of being kind in the face of adversity. That does not mean any modern retelling must strictly follow the 1937 adaptation. Many plot elements can be updated to reflect today’s culture and be faithful to that message. It doesn’t HAVE to be a prince who saves her. With her iconic song “Someday My Prince Will Come”, Snow White can yearn for something, anything, that reflects wanting a happy ever after, which can be more reflective of what we view that to mean today.

But erasing that song entirely from the movie tells me Disney doesn’t really understand its own IP. Disney has reworked the lyrics to many songs in previous remakes, including this new version of Snow White! Deleting it entirely is a choice, and a wrong choice on the merits.

Snow White singing “Some Day My Prince Will Come” can be properly seen as a metaphor for anyone seeking to live happily ever after despite the challenges in front of them, whatever that happiness entails. For Snow White in the 1937 adaptation, it is being a princess, but it could be anything, including an afterlife for religious people, or just a generic brighter future, or even a nice house. Hope kept Snow White going, driving her not to give up being herself and spreading love through kindness.

In 2025, that messaging is as relevant as it was in 1937.

Social media has emphasized the need for young people to watch and perform “Look At Me!!” content. Heck, advertising focusing on beauty rather than kindness has been around since 1937. We constantly talk about the need to be kind to everyone, a lesson I wish our current president and shadow president would understand. But the importance of being kind just for the sake of being kind is something all parents stress to their kids from when they can first understand words.

While the new Snow White movie does not completely erase the importance of kindness in Snow White's achievement of her goals, it deprioritizes it in favor of empowerment, being true to herself, and realizing she has what she already wants. This is admirable messaging, but ultimately, it is familiar content repackaged in different clothing.

That’s why it’s frustrating and sad that Disney decided to trump that messaging with more generic themes of female empowerment and can-do attitudes. This is not because I disagree with the notion of female empowerment; I want my 11-year-old daughter to be as empowered as humanly possible. It is more because nearly every Disney Princess movie in the last 25 years has already emphasized those themes! Every princess movie going back to at least the original Mulan, with the exception of the remake of Cinderella, has themes of female empowerment heavily involved.

So, what cultural impact will Snow White have if it fundamentally says the same thing as nearly every movie from the past 25 years?

A 2025 adaptation refocusing on the need to be kind despite the financial and social pressures not to be kind is exactly what we need today: to be kind for kindness's sake and for no other reason. We frankly don’t have much content about kindness and its long-term payoff because it seems antiquated and probably too religious.

That’s why the new Snow White movie is ultimately a missed opportunity. Disney still thinks making movies about female empowerment is “out of the box” thinking despite making 20 years of movies centering on female empowerment. They could have updated the notion of a “prince” being Snow White’s wish for a happy life and kept the core of the movie's unique messaging intact.

Of course, Disney also thinks that a woman focusing on kindness to her environment in the hopes that it will pay off and lead to a fulfilling life is too antiquated for today’s times.

That’s really the biggest and only offense we should all be upset about today.