Snow White's Dwarfs Get Their Own TV Series

Disney Jr. has ordered an animated TV series based on the Seven Dwarfs from Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, according to numerous media reports. The initial concept art, though, features Dwarfs that don't look anything like what we've seen before--they're a little more Fat Albert than Snow White, frankly. Titled simply The 7D, Deadline reports that the series "takes place in Jollywood where Queen Delightful relies on the 7D — Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Grumpy and Doc — to keep the kingdom in order. Standing in their way are two laughably evil villains, Grim and Hildy Gloom, who plot to take over the kingdom by stealing the magical jewels in the 7D's mine. While the names of the dwarfs are the same as in the 1937 Disney animated classic, their look is very different. The characters were designed by Fish Hooks creator Noah Z. Jones; Tom Ruegger (Animaniacs) exec produces." While older fans will likely cringe at the changes made to the character designs, attaching it to Disney Jr. more or less guarantees that most of the target audience for the television series probably has not seen, or at least isn't married to, the traditional look for the dwarfs. Indeed, Disney's description of the image above tackles the question head-on: "Accessing a classic fairytale and finding new ways to bring it to audiences, Disney Television Animation has begun production on the new animated series The 7D, a comedic take on the world of Seven Dwarfs, this time in a contemporary storybook world designed for viewers age 2-7 and their families." What do you think? Can you get onboard with a visual reinvention of the seven dwarfs? And is it really any worse than Snow White & the Huntsman?