As someone who has loved the 1937 movie “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” since childhood, been on the now defunct “Snow White’s Scary Adventures” ride at Disneyworld and watched a copy of the film on VHS several times over, this writer was among the skeptics when news of the film’s release began circulating.
It turns out, all these fears were completely unwarranted.
In the first ten minutes of the film, the viewer is greeted with images of CGI animals, several minutes of exposition, and a random musical number. What viewer doesn’t enjoy each of those things?
The beloved Gal Gadot, who is known for incredibly skilled acting performances, assures the audience from the start that she is perfect in her role as the evil queen. She conveys subtlety and nuance in her two facial expressions, and her performance filled this critic with so much joy that it was hard to fight back laughter throughout the viewing.
The chemistry between the actors comes across clearly throughout the film, and Zegler and Gadot were well cast as opposing characters, despite the well reported friendship between the two actresses.
Instead of casting real actors to play the seven dwarfs, CGI was used to render each dwarf, which makes for a delightful nod to the computer graphics of films such as “The Polar Express.” Indeed, the facial expressions of each character are full of life, and their charming faces were rendered well with the use of CGI instead of actors in need of work. As soon as the dwarfs are introduced, it’s difficult to fight back the urge to smile with them.
Rachel Zegler said in one interview that the 2025 “Snow White” was a “refreshing” take on the original cartoon, because the original cartoon “needed that.” Rest assured that the refresh is also present in the film’s change of lyrics in songs like “Whistle While You Work” and “Heigh-Ho,” the latter featuring lyrics introducing each dwarf to audiences who have likely never heard of the seven dwarfs.
There are also new songs sprinkled throughout the film. For viewers who enjoy the anthemic musical stylings of artists such as AJR, or enjoy commercials for “America’s Got Talent” season finales, “Snow White” includes many spontaneous musical numbers that will satisfy that craving. Indeed, if potential viewers have ever wondered what it would be like to hear classic Disney songs placed alongside auto tuned music from the songwriters behind “The Greatest Showman,” then they will be happy to know that this film definitely includes that.
Rather than featuring a prince, the titular character’s love interest is a bandit named Jonathan who wears what appears to be a sweatshirt, blazer, high waisted-pants, and a chain; how romantic! He is accompanied by a group of bandits, not unlike Robin Hood’s merry men, who sing a song about Snow White’s “Princess Problems.”
This is one of many changes from the original film: it was delightful to see that Dopey, who remains silent in the original film, finds his voice by the end, just in time to tell Snow White that he is no longer afraid of the evil queen. This comes before the audience is treated to an extended ending involving a party where everyone is dressed in white.
Audiences may find it difficult not to check their watches, saddened by the realization that there are a mere 90 minutes left to watch. Indeed, at the end of one viewing, audiences made a beeline for the exit as soon as the final shot occurred, probably excited to go listen to the film’s soundtrack.
By the end of the film, it was hard to imagine that Walt Disney himself isn’t rolling around in his grave with joy at seeing his first, and arguably most popular film, be revived with love, and not for the sake of a money grab.
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” earned Walt Disney an Oscar award statuette, alongside seven smaller statues; it would be surprising if this iteration of the tale wasn’t given a similar award.
While there may be some opposition to the frequency of Disney live action remakes, it only makes sense for the company to release more wonderful films like this one. Before the film played, there were trailers for other upcoming Disney features, like “Lilo & Stitch,” and it was hard to imagine that these other remakes could possibly top this one.
Nadia Brach is an assistant arts editor and can be reached at nadia.brach@ubspectrum.com
