After behind-the-scenes clashes, public criticism, and tanking at the box office, the live-action Snow White is finally limping onto Disney Plus.
It was meant to be the jewel in Disney’s remake crown and modernise the beloved classic – but Snow White has been a poisoned apple from the start.
While critics largely praised leading lady Rachel Zegler as ‘enchanting’, the scandal that surrounded the release overtook any positives about the film itself.
Problems seemed to be coming from all angles, with Disney reportedly rolling back the scale of their London premiere in response to the backlash.
When it hit cinemas in March, the box office clawed back $205.5million – impressive until you consider the budget was around $270million.
If you loved the film the first time around or are morbidly curious about it after all the drama, Snow White will reach its final resting place on Disney Plus on June 11, 2025.
With just 40% on Rotten Tomatoes, the remake may have even stopped the controversial live-action remake push from Disney (not in time to pull Lilo and Stitch, though).
After the mixed response, Tangled has ‘been put on pause’, according to insiders speaking to The Hollywood Reporter.
Moana, set for release on July 10, 2026, is still thought to be in the works as one of Disney’s biggest animated hits of recent years.
Disney was facing pushback from fans as its slate appeared to be overwhelmingly focused on these remakes, with some even boycotting.
However, Snow White was hit was even more controversy than the others – until maybe the bizarre choices made for the recently released Lilo and Stitch.
First came the complaints that Rachel, 24, was a ‘woke’ casting choice given her Colombian heritage, echoing similar (distasteful) sentiments voiced over Halle Bailey’s Ariel.
The West Side Story star may have proved those naysayers wrong but this was just the start of the problems.
Game Of Thrones star Peter Dinklage then branded the studio ‘backwards’ for still making a ‘story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together’.
Peter, 55, has a common form of dwarfism known as achondroplasia and asked Disney to ‘take a step back and look at what you’re doing’.
As well as dropping half the film’s original title, director Marc Webb opted to portray the characters using CGI – which was pulled apart when the Seven Dwarfs were first unveiled in the movie’s teaser trailer – after erroneous reports that Disney would be using diverse ‘magical creatures’ instead.
Pro-wrestler Hornswoggle, 39, as well as other actors, said ultimately the decision was detrimental to their careers as the roles would have traditionally gone to seven actors with the condition.
Then came the girl boss-ification of Snow White herself – a common move in all the live-action remakes but garnered extra heat for Rachel.
Snow White was ‘not going to be dreaming about true love’ anymore and rather ‘becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave, and true’.
Fans slammed Disney (and its leading lady) for the outdated feminism, which many felt turned its back on the core of who Snow White is in the original 1937 film.
Finally, there was the boycott over the casting of Gal Gadot, an Israeli actress who has publicly advocated for Israel over the years.
She has stated that ‘killing innocent Palestinians is horrific’, but mostly her public posts are about Israeli hostages, while Rachel was criticised for her support of Palestine.
After an incredibly messy road to get here, Snow White’s release was quickly forgotten in the wake of other remake missteps.
Snow White will be available to watch on Disney Plus from June 11.
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