Disney’s live-actionSnow Whitehas recently become one of the company’s most divisive movies of all time, and unfortunately, this wouldn’t have happened if the movie had stuck with its original premise. Released in March 2025,Snow Whiteis a live-action reimagining of the 1937 classic,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.Aside from earning lukewarm reviews, the movie was panned for its casting choices, its use of CGI, and the tension surrounding actors' differing political views. Ultimately,Snow Whitehas become a big deal for Disney, and not in a good way.
The big question that remains after Disney’sSnow Whitescandal is how this all could have been avoided. A portion of the blame has to rest on Disney itself. Though the company isn’t able to control its actors and their beliefs, there could have been more consideration when putting certain performers in certain roles. For example, Gal Gadot has faced notable criticism for her acting as the Evil Queen. Furthermore,Disney could have cast real actors with dwarfism to play the seven dwarvesrather than using CGI. However,one big change might have savedSnow Whitecompletely.
Disney Was Going To Make A Rose Red Movie About Snow White’s Sister Originally
Disney could have avoided itsSnow Whitedebacle by sticking with the movie’s original premise, which wasn’t centered on Snow White at all. Before Disney announced its plans to develop a live-actionSnow White,the company had revealed that it would be makinga live-actionSnow Whitespinoff centered on the princess’s sister, Rose Red.This character existed in the original Grimm Brothers fairytale, but was cut out of Disney’sSnow Whiteand the Seven Dwarves.In the story, Snow White and Rose Red showed kindness to their peers, which allowed them to break a years-long curse.
8 Ways Disney’s Live-Action Snow White Is Better Than The 1937 Original
The live-action remake of Snow White made many changes to the animated version, and some of these made this version better than the original.
Rose Redwould have been an awesome project for Disney if it hadn’t fallen through. The movie was first put into development in 2016, but was eventually canceled in 2021. Presumably, this is because Disney had other bigger projects to pursue, including the live-actionSnow White,which also went into development in 2016. Regardless,Rose Redcould have shed light on a new fairytale character who switched up the originalSnow Whitenarrative.The movie could have gone in countless directions, dark or light. Plus, Disney even had Brie Larson attached to the movie.
A Rose Red Movie Could’ve Avoided Many Of Snow White’s Biggest Controversies
Rose Red Wouldn’t Have Been Totally Safe From Controversy
If Disney had kept itsRose Redmovie in production rather than the live-actionSnow White,the film could have curtailed the issues that have plaguedSnow White.Mainly,this is becauseRose Redis a story that few audiences actually know, so there wouldn’t have been any upset about changing the source material. A lot of the backlashSnow Whitehas faced has been aboutchanging the originalSnow Whitestory, and this has been the reality for many of Disney’s other live-action adaptations. Fortunately,Rose Redis more of a blank slate that Disney could build on from scratch.
Then again, there is no guarantee thatRose Redwould have been totally safe from controversy.
Then again, there is no guarantee thatRose Redwould have been totally safe from controversy. As a result of being a massive company, Disney often gets criticized for its choices, andRose Redwould definitely have been scrutinized by the public. Just like withSnow White,viewers may have been distraught by Disney’s casting depending on who they hired to be in the movie. Presumably, Disney also would have followed through withits CGI dwarfsinRose Red.In this way,Rose Redcould have lessenedSnow White’sdivisiveness, but wouldn’t necessarily solve it completely.
Disney’s Future After Snow White
Image via Disney
One final point aboutRose Redis that it might have done betterat the box office thanSnow White.Along with receiving middling reviews,Snow Whiteonly grossed $168 million on a budget of $240-270 million. IfRose Reddid decreaseSnow White’scontroversy, then it probably could have raised its box office earnings as well. This is true even thoughRose Redwouldn’t have the same familiarity with audiences asSnow Whitehad. It is telling that, despite being a box office risk,Rose Redcould have made as much as or more thanSnow White.
AfterSnow White,Disney is definitely reevaluating its choices. One hint of this is the fact thatDisney has put a pause on itsTangledlive-actionremake. The assumption is that the company needs to figure out what exactly went wrong withSnow Whiteso that it doesn’t happen again with another movie. Unfortunately,this also means thatRose Redprobably won’t get revived, asSnow Whitehas left such a bad mark on Disney. In this way,Rose Redcould have beenSnow White’ssavior, but it is now probably going to be abandoned for good.
