Disney Responds To Peter Dinklage’s Concerns Over Live-Action ‘Snow White’

On the promo trail for his new film “Cyrano,” Peter Dinklage stopped by this week’s episode of the Marc Maron WTF podcast. Numerous topics were discussed, but one unexpectedly newsworthy moment centered on Walt Disney Studios’ new live-action version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” And, frankly, it’s impressive Dinklage kept his opinions to himself this long.

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In development for years, the new version of “Snow White” will be directed by Marc Webb and has already cast “West Side Story’s” Rachel Zegler as the title heroine and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. With original songs by Oscar and Tony winners Pasek & Paul, it’s one of the more highly anticipated upcoming Disney releases. Dinklage wonders if it that should be the case.

During the podcast, the Emmy winner noted, “I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White…You’re still telling the story of ‘Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.’ Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me. You’re progressive in one way and you’re still making that f**king backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together. What the f**k are you doing man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox?”

Looking to immediately temper any potential controversy, a Walt Disney Company representative released a statement to Deadline noting, “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.”

.Dinklage’s valid concerns will likely not be truly addressed until Disney releases a preview for “Snow White.’ With the film slated to begin production imminently, that may not be until 2023 at the earliest.