Disney's Live-Action Snow White Reportedly Won't Feature Dwarfs at All
The live-action remake of Disney's Snow White has been a hot topic this week as former Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage blasted the movie, calling it a "f-cking backwards" depictions of dwarfs and adding "what the f-ck are you doing man?." Since Dinklage took the movie to task in an interview with the WTF Podcast, Disney has released a statement about his comments and the movie's continued development, noting they're hoping to "avoid reinforcing stereotypes" and "and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community." Now a new update on the film reveals Disney won't be using dwarfs in the film at all.
In their report on Disney's response to Dinklage, TheWrap reports that "instead of dwarfs" in the film's narrative, Disney wll be using " a group of what they describe as 'magical creatures.'" Citing a casting sheet that is circulating for the movie, the outlet notes that voice actors are being sought for these roles but what specific function they will serve in the film isn't clear, nor how they might correspond to what Disney fans know of the seven dwarfs characters from the original movie. What the site does make clear though is that the "magical creatures" are officially stepping into the movie and the dwarfs will apparently not be present.
No official release date for Disney's new Snow White has been confirmed by the studio but filming on the project is expected to begin this year. The Amazing Spider-Man and (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb is attached to helm the film with West Side Story breakout Rachel Zegler set to play the title role and Gal Gadot playing the new version of the Evil Queen.
"Literally no offense to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White. But you're still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," Dinklage said in his interview with comedian Marc Maron, sparking the intense debate and the official comment from the studio. "Take a step back and look at what you're doing there. It makes no sense to me. You're progressive in one way but then 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 soap box? I guess I'm not loud enough. I don't know which studio that is, but they were so proud of it. All love and respect to the actress and all the people who thought they were doing the right thing. But I'm just like, what are you doing?"
Disney's original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered in 1937 and was Disney's first animated feature film.