Anyone who grew up watching Disney movies would know just how many Disney classics have been reworked, retold, and remade into live action films. The adaptations The Lion King, grossing 1.6 billion, Aladdin, bringing in 413 million, and Dumbo, making 400 million dollars have all been great successes. These were all produced in 2019, when Sean Bailey was Walt Disney’s President of Motion Picture Studios. Starting February 26th, 2023, David Greenbaum has taken over as President of Motion Picture Studios. While we haven’t seen an animated to live action film from him yet, the most anticipated, and controversial one that fans are waiting on is the live action adaptation of Snow White. 

Greenbaum is overseeing quite a few changes in the Snow White remake that will completely alter the theme and overall message of the movie. Instead of being about Snow White finding her true love and being saved by the Prince, Snow White’s goal is going to be becoming a leader, and the movie will tell a story of a strong young woman’s fight for independence. While some fans like this new take on the classic story, the majority of fans abhor the different route the movie is going in. Fans believe that Disney is trying too hard to modernize something that they don’t want modernized. For example, Disney is using CGI to create the seven dwarfs, which they believe takes away the magic of the film. One way the filmmakers are changing the theme is by changing the origin of Snow White’s name. Instead of being named “Snow White” because her skin was as white as snow, she was named “Snow White” because she survived a snow storm when she was a baby. This initiates the exploration of the idea that Snow White is resilient, which filmmakers hope inspire other young people to believe in how strong they really are.

Mr. Linderer and Mrs. Zubek both agree with the fans of the original animated classics. Mr. Linderer said, “Animated movies [are better] because the remakes never capture the original magic of the film.” Aspects of live action films like using CGI to make previously animated animals appear hyperrealistic, changing the theme or message of the movie, and attempts to modernize the costumes, customs, and vocabulary; setting; and plot are all things that fans agree take away from the magic of animated movies. Mrs. Zubek said, “I prefer animated movies because they are classic and making them into live action ruins the magic.” The one thing fans seem most worried about when it comes to live action remakes, is the ruining of the original movie’s magic.

Fans will just have to hope that with each new live action remake, that at least some of the original film’s charm remains.