Snow White: Disney's Live-Action Movie Gets Positive First Reactions, But There's A Catch

"Snow White" is finally making its way to big screens worldwide next week, and no matter where it ends up being ranked among Disney's live-action remakes, it's certainly had the roughest road to release. The start of filming was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and when production was finally ready to roll cameras, the set caught fire. It was put through the wringer of public debate before people had seen a single frame of it, from sensitivity struggles over depicting the seven dwarfs to an ugly backlash over the casting of star Rachel Zegler. And the enmity between Zegler's character and Gal Gadot's antagonist was mirrored in real life by the actors' opposing views on the ongoing war in Gaza.

Amid all of this furore, Disney opted to give "Snow White" a small scale, remotely-located global premiere at a medieval castle in Segrovia, Spain, with no media outlets invited at all. Things were similarly kept tight at the Los Angeles premiere this week, with no members of the press on the red carpet. The limited media presence means that there are only a handful of first reactions to the movie online in the wake of the premiere.

Variety reporter Katcy Stephan had high praise for Zegler's performance in the movie, describing her as "a shining supernova" in a post on X, and noting that "the screenplay wisely gives its heroine newfound depth through her fervent desire to become the leader her father believed she could be." She called the movie itself "a visual feast with show-stopping new musical numbers and, of course, dozens of enchanting animated animals."

The praise for Zegler and the CGI animals was echoed by entertainment reporter Ash Crossan, who described them as "stunning" and "adorable" (respectively), and overall summed up the movie as "quite charming." Skyler Shuler, co-founder of Disney fan site The Disinsider, wrote on X, "Listen, I was worried, but let me tell you Snow White is PURE DISNEY MAGIC! This will end up being a lot of people's favorite live-action remake."

Early reactions from events with studio-curated audiences have a tendency to skew positive, and therefore should be taken with a grain of salt. For example, 2023 animated princess tale "Wish" got rave reactions out of its premiere, but ultimately drew mixed reviews and flopped at the box office. The review embargo for "Snow White" doesn't lift until Wednesday, March 19 (the day before previews begin), so we won't get a wider view of critics' opinions until then. But even the small handful of reactions so far have somewhat tempered praise; Matt DeGroot, VP of production at Crooked Media, ended his X post about the movie with a backhanded compliment:

"Despite becoming an internet punching bag Disney's remake of 'Snow White' is actually mostly successful! Rachel Zegler is an absolute star, (most of) the new songs are catchy and beautifully performed, and the visual palette is sumptuous and vibrant. Gal Gadot had beautiful gowns."

Yet, despite the exhausting mill of controversy and backlash, "Snow White" may ultimately prove to be pretty review-proof. The Hollywood Reporter notes that the movie is "the film is tracking rather nicely for a March release despite all the hand-wringing and hubbub," with a projected domestic opening weekend of $50-56 million. This isn't surprising given that the target audience is mostly families looking to keep young children entertained over spring break. While "Snow White" has been fuel for the cottage industry of "anti-woke" content creators, both those creators and the audiences they preach to were, let's face it, pretty unlikely to go and see a "Snow White" movie anyway.