Screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson had an unenviable task ahead of her when she signed on to adapt 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs into a live-action re-imaging that’d appeal to contemporary audiences. After all, the eponymous heroine has little in common with the more modern, spirited Disney princesses who have fought for love, legs, freedom, or the whole of China. Snow White was less a self-rescuing princess and more a pretty damsel in distress who ran away from home, died by a poisoned apple, and was revived by a kiss from a prince she barely knew. But in Disney’s Snow White, Wilson smartly translates the classic iconography of the original film while rejiggering its flimsy framework into a solid and charming coming-of-age story.
In Disney’s Snow White, the princess (Rachel Zegler) is less fragile, named not for the pale color of her skin but for the winter storm that raged the night she was born. When she is called fair, it’s not meant like pretty (though she is), but as in just. For instance, she’s the kind of princess who picks apples alongside her people, and then happily bakes apple pies to share in a big community feast. These little shifts in context make a profound difference, painting Snow White as resilient, capable, and caring. Of course, the tone of this kingdom shifts dramatically when the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) takes over.
Wilson’s take on Snow White is surprisingly winsome. It delivers a familiar story with a fresh perspective and some unexpected sources of nostalgia.
Rachel Zegler shines as Snow White.
Credit: Giles Keyte / 2024 Disney Enterprises, Inc
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
