Disney back in the culture war crosshairs

Almost from the beginning, Disney’s “Snow White” live-action remake, which opens Friday, became a political lightning rod.

First, it was the racist backlash to the casting of actor Rachel Zegler, who is of Colombian descent on her mother’s side, as the titular character who canonically had “skin as white as snow.”

Then, die-hard fans got up in arms about Zegler’s comments that the story would be updated for modern times, putting less emphasis on Snow White’s dreams of Prince Charming. The royal love interest “literally stalks” the princess in the original 1937 animated film, she said.

Along the way, the film has also battled questions about its depiction of little people and its leading actors’ viewpoints on the Israel-Hamas war. Zegler has been an outspoken advocate for Palestinians, while Gal Gadot, who plays the evil queen, has voiced support for her native Israel.

All of these issues are merging in a high-stakes debut for Disney. The movie, which reportedly cost $250 million to make before marketing expenses, is the latest Disney redo to go through the culture war buzz saw. Previously, actor Halle Bailey, who is Black and starred in the 2023 “Little Mermaid” remake, faced racist backlash after being cast as Ariel, who was white in the 1989 animated film.

The company frequently has been a tinderbox: for diverse casting in its “Star Wars” franchise and for its opposition to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Florida, which led to a prolonged battle with Gov. Ron DeSantis. Disney also has been on the receiving end of intense conservative criticism over diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

“Disney is now the most storied brand in America; if you are that, you have a target on your forehead,” said Stephen Galloway, dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. “When you’re a mega-corporation ... every single issue you deal with is part of a globally interlinked, horribly complex map that you can’t avoid.”

Disney did not make executives available to comment for this article.

How this myriad of issues will influence the box office performance of “Snow White” is an open question, analysts and industry experts said. If the movie is good enough, it could cut through the cultural noise.

“Do they actually have a terrific movie?” Galloway said. “If they do, it will obliterate all the other concerns. If they don’t, it’ll feed the narrative.”

“Snow White” is currently tracking for a $50 million opening weekend at the domestic box office, according to pre-release audience surveys.

That figure is below average compared with Disney’s past live-action remakes. But that may be due to the older nature of the film’s intellectual property, rather than the current controversies, said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at movie ticket seller Fandango and founder of tracking site Box Office Theory.

Many previous live-action remakes, such as 2019’s “Lion King” (which had a $191.8 million domestic opening), 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” ($174.8 million), 2023’s “The Little Mermaid” ($95.6 million) and 2019’s “Aladdin” ($91.5 million) were based on animated films released in the late 1980s and early ‘90s — part of the so-called Disney Renaissance period. Those efforts appealed to the nostalgia of millennials and Gen X moviegoers, many of whom now have children of their own, Robbins said.

Despite Snow White’s presence at Disney theme parks, the character and her story may be less recognizable to a younger audience.

“That’s probably going to play into the generational appeal that is usually a factor for other remakes on the Disney side,” he said. Though, “there’s no question that some of the other narratives that have developed around ‘Snow White’ over the last year or so aren’t helping matters.”

But even a poorer performance from “Snow White” won’t halt Disney’s live-action plans. The company is preparing to release a live-action version of “Lilo and Stitch” in May and has announced a remake of the 2016 animated film “Moana.”