Disney responded Tuesday to Peter Dinklage’s recent comments to Marc Maron about the upcoming remake of Disney animated classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” assuring him that the new movie won’t be as incendiary as imagined.
Dinklage expressed concerns over this new iteration of the classic fairy tale, applauding the studio’s decision to cast Rachel Zegler, the breakout star of “West Side Story,” in the title role, while deriding the company for maintaining a tired narrative about dwarfs.
“To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community. We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period,” Disney said in a statement shared with TheWrap.
Instead of dwarfs, Disney will fill the void with a group of what they describe as “magical creatures,” according to casting sheets that TheWrap has seen. (They are currently looking for voice actors to give these creatures personality.) It’s unclear if they will inhabit the same roles as the dwarfs – will they be mining for jewels? Will they have names like Sleepy, Grumpy, and Bashful? – but these magical creatures will be the substitutes for the original seven dwarfs.
This new “Snow White,” to be directed by Marc Webb, is in production now, with Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen and new songs by “La La Land” team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and does not have an official release date yet.