Once upon a time — December 21, 1937, to be precise — Walt Disney Productions released the classic film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, enchanting audiences around the world and effectively establishing the nascent studio as a preeminent animation powerhouse. Now, the timeless tale has been reimagined as a live-action musical adventure, with Disney’s Snow White set to open in theaters worldwide on Friday, March 21.
Directed by Marc Webb, with a screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson, Snow White stars Golden Globe® winner Rachel Zegler as Snow White, the courageous, kind, and spirited princess; Gal Gadot as Snow White’s icy and unyielding stepmother, the Evil Queen; and Tony® Award winner Andrew Burnap as Jonathan, a young man eager to defy the monarchy.
“Snow White is iconic, obviously, and the opportunity to look at that character and her story through a slightly new lens was thrilling,” Webb said. “I kept thinking about my daughter and what messages I want to send her way; I want her to be proud of what her dad is working on, and this was a great way to do that. There’s something elemental about Snow White’s kindness, but she’s also quite brave. She finds the best in people, and so I think Snow White is a reminder that there’s real value in being kind and having good faith.”
“There’s a lot of motifs and themes that are really important, but something that’s stayed with me is Snow White’s optimism, her kindness, and her ability to inspire the people around her,” Webb said of the beloved character’s timeless qualities. “What cuts through everything else in the film is her gentle, thoughtful, quite powerful worldview of kindness.”
In Snow White, the vain Evil Queen rules the kingdom with an iron fist. When her magic mirror reveals her stepdaughter is the fairest in all the land, she devises a devious plan to get rid of the princess. After fleeing the castle to escape her stepmother’s wrath, Snow White encounters woodland creatures that lead her to a picturesque cottage in the woods. There, she befriends seven dwarfs — Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy — who spend their days digging for jewels in the nearby mines. She also meets Jonathan, who is captivated by her beauty and benevolence. Thanks to her new friends, Snow White is inspired to find her voice and summon the strength to face the Evil Queen.
According to Webb, Snow White honors the original story while also expanding upon it. In fact, before cameras rolled at London’s Pinewood Studios in 2021, he visited the Walt Disney Archives for creative inspiration. That visit, Webb recalled, proved to be invaluable.
“One of my favorite discoveries was an early sketch of the prince in the dungeon,” Webb said. “There’s not much of a storyline in the original film about him. It’s all very lovely and graceful and so beautifully rendered. So, we went back and we used what Walt Disney had started to build and expanded on that in our movie. The storyline with Jonathan, who’s the love interest in our movie, really began with that one image of the prince stuck in the dungeon. It felt like we were reaching into the past and connecting with the incredibly talented animators who had come before us.”
Three-time Academy Award® winner Sandy Powell — who famously created the costumes for the 2015 live-action adaptation of Disney’s Cinderella — “took copious notes” during that visit, Webb said: “She looked at not just the original renderings of all the costumes in Snow White, but the historical periods from which they came. She fleshed out those ideas. She got a great sense of history, attention, and reverence for these characters to build on.”
Another highlight during his research trip to the Archives involved Jeff Morrow, who wrote the film’s original score. “The Archives brought out the old jugs that were used in ‘Silly Song,’ and Jeff and I actually got to play them on the Disney studio lot,” Webb said. “We recorded them, and you can hear them in ‘Silly Song’ — and in ‘Whistle While You Work, by the way! You can hear the calliope bit as Sneezy is sneezing his way through the song.”
Getting to record a new version of the yodel song that the seven dwarfs perform to entertain Snow White? In hindsight, Webb said, “That was a magical, fun day in Burbank.”
That magic is evident, and the breathtaking live-action adaptation — featuring original songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul — demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible.
“You want to be surrounded by all the emotion; it makes for a thrilling, completely profound, fun time at the movies,” Webb explained. “It’s like going to a concert or a live show; you get to experience it with a crowd and hear the excitement. I just experienced it at the premiere, and the response was humbling. It was wonderful to hear the laughs, the cheers, the sighs, the applause. That was as good of an experience as I’ve had in my career.”