The majority of Disney’s live-action remakes tend to stir up a hornet’s nest of controversy in one way or another, so it’s no surprise that next year’s Snow White is following a long and storied tradition of pearls being clutched by grown adults who can’t face the prospect of their childhoods being ruined yet again.
Rather unfairly, star Rachel Zegler has found herself placed squarely in the firing line more often than not, although your mileage may vary depending entirely on personal preference whether her desire to have the central story updated and modernized is a wise move or a direct assault on the timeless tale that made the original such an iconic and beloved classic.
A totally unbiased member of the latter camp is David Hand, a former designer for the Mouse House who just so happens to be the son of original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs director, also called David Hand. Far be it from us to accuse him of being an old man yelling at clouds, but the 91 year-old nonetheless let rip in an interview with The Telegraph.
“It’s a whole different concept and I just totally disagree with it, and I know my dad and Walt would also very much disagree with it. I disagree with this whole new concept. [Disney is] trying to do something new with something that was such a great success earlier … their thoughts are just so radical now. They change the stories, they change the thought process of the characters … they’re making up new woke things and I’m just not into any of that. I find it quite frankly a bit insulting [what] they may have done with some of these classic films … There’s no respect for what Disney did and what my dad did … I think Walt and he would be turning in their graves.”
There’s a lot of folks out there who’ll share the exact same opinion as Hand, and claiming that his father would be “turning in his grave” at the live-action do-over is sure to do nothing but pour even more fuel on the fire.
