Snow Woke and the Seven Non-Dwarfs | Will the Disney remake tarnish the original?

Summary:

• Debate on Disney's reimagining of Snow White's story.
• Critics argue that changes undermine the original fairy tale's essence.
• Defenders believe reimagining is necessary to reflect modern values.
• Discussion on the portrayal of women and female roles in media.
• Comparisons to previous adaptations and the impact on younger audiences.

So what's the point of reimagining a love classic if there's no romance, no dwarves? Will it make a load of money? Let's talk to entrepreneur Amy Anzel and social commentator Amy Nical Turner.

Morning to you both. Good morning. Anzel. I'm going to go by surname. It just makes it a bit easier. Look, I mean, there is an argument. This is 2023. We're talking about a new audience for this. So what's wrong with a few changes? I think that Disney has definitely gone too far. This is a beautiful traditional fairy tale from the 1800s, really, that I grew up with, my mom, my grandparents. And I think that to change the important aspects of a fairy tale is totally wrong. A fairy tale is all about the messaging. And as long as the messaging is coming across, all that other stuff doesn't matter.

And to actually change the title from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to just Snow White is totally wrong. And it's not sending the right message. Children can see modern day princesses by watching people like Princess Kate. They don't need to see Snow White being changed for the sake of being woke. I'm not spending my hard earned money on seeing this for sure. Wintzing from this end of the table. What's your response to that? Well, let's think about it a bit more sensibly perhaps.

Snow White's been reimagined so many times. Countless times. Most recently, 2014, Christian Stewart was in Snow White and the Huntsman. I think this is just an opportunity to just say the word woke a load of times because actually, they haven't really changed the fundamental story. They've just reimagined it for a modern audience. No dwarves, no princess, no prince. Why don't you need the dwarves? What's the facts of the Malven's War? There's nothing offensive actually.

They will represent it. One of the actors does have dwarfism. The other ones don't. They are all different cast members. I mean, I often sit in this studio with people arguing, you know, acting is acting. They don't have to be the thing they're acting. And I think this is an example where the director has just reimagined this story for a modern day audience.

And I think if you focus solely on women, their only path in life is to find romance, then that kind of denies them much autonomy if they're completely reliant on just fine war. But no one's going to Snow White prince. A blueprint for how women should live. They're going for a story. And it's a traditional story. And you say, why do we need the dwarves? Because it was called Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. This one's just called Snow White, right? Yeah, but you've still got seven magical creatures.

Seven magical creatures. So, they're not ignoring the dwarf aspect. They're replacing them with something different. Well, we're not ignoring that there is the original 1937 version. And if you don't like this version, you can always watch that version. But Disney needs to make back their money, don't they? So I think they're alienating so many generations of people. I know that I would not take my son to see it.

I'm going to show him the 1937 version because he should see the original. There's something so lovely about several generations sharing something that they grew up with, that was very important to them. I was read Snow White when I was a little girl. I got to see the film as it was originally intended. And I just think not to be able to share that with my son is a very sad reality. But let's look at what is making money at the moment. Barbie is one of the most highest rated box office films at the moment.

But that doesn't make up for the fact that Snow White's having the most money. It's presented entirely through a feminist lens. To suggest that reframing something through a feminist lens is going to not do well at the box office, I think is potentially not going to be the case. Because I would like my son to see the new version. Because look at 1937 women. Women in 1937, they were unlikely to work. They were still a marriage bar.

So when you got married, you could no longer work. I would rather my son see a modern age who isn't two dimensional and isn't just focused on finding a soulmate. Which actually denies females of any agency if their whole life is dependent on finding this one love. But what's wrong with children seeing as history was in 1937? They need to learn about modern day reality by seeing how far we've come and the progressive nature of society. And I think they'd see that and also appreciate that lovely romantic, innocent notion of Snow White. They're children. They should be able to experience that.

They should also be able to appreciate that women are multifaceted and there's more to womanhood than just finding a partner. Which when you mentioned a Princess Kate, that just makes me cringe inside. Why? Why? Because what do we know about Princess Kate other than the fact that she found Prince William and lives this life of luxury depending solely on the person that she partnered with. Look at the. Well, yes, I see the point you're making, but then that is looking at someone in one dimension, isn't it? That's how the press look at her. And whenever she does anything, any woman that does anything outside that will be met with a lot more criticism. The reason Princess Kate manages to maintain this persona of perfection is by keeping her mouth shut and performing this traditional female rock.

That's a little bit unfair. The Princess of Wales has launched, hasn't she? All of her early years, Foundation. She's made a big mark trying to use her voice in your arena. She has a huge amount of charity work. She's patron of lots of charities. Not least, we've seen her making speeches and the like. It's not like she's a muted, silent, sort of handmade.

How often do we hear her voice? We don't hear her voice very often, actually. And I can't think of a film more recently, which is solely focused on a man finding a woman. That is quite a sexist trope, the idea of a film based solely around a woman finding a man. I can't think of a film where the plot is a man finding a woman. Oh, I don't know. You can write new films. Disney has done that, haven't they? There's Frozen, there's Enchanted, there's Enconto.

Enconto, yeah. Yeah, so they are keeping up with the times and showing children more modern-day philosophies and views on issues. So I don't think it's necessary to rebrand or reimagine something that's traditional, beautiful, romantic for the sake of introducing children to modern-day issues and concepts. It's not necessary. All right, well, look, we've got to leave it there. Sadly, Amy Ansel, Amy Nickell Turner. Thank you both very much indeed.

All right, well, look, we've got to leave it there. Sadly, Amy Ansel, Amy Nickell Turner. Thank you both very much indeed.