It’s been ten years since Disney released its live-action version ofCinderella, starringLily JamesandCate Blanchett. Directed byKenneth Branagh, the movie was overall acriticalandcommercial hit, and ushered in a new era of Disney remakes, kicking off a trend that was already being announced with 2010’sAlice in Wonderlandand 2014’sMaleficent, sparsely produced films that didn’t yet give signs of the industrial levels of production that were to come. Indeed,Cinderellais a pretty fun adventure-romance, with good performances and a story and look that don’t necessarily follow the 1950 classic all that closely. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the movies that came after it. While some, like the unfortunately direct-to-streaming releasePeter Pan & Wendy, are entertaining and inventive. Most, however, like the photorealistic version ofThe Lion Kingor theabsolute mess that wasPinocchio, are well below the quality standards that came to be expected from the House of Mouse over more than a century of history. Still, one question remained: when would Disney bring into the live-action world the movie that started it all? When would we see a remake of 1937’sSnow White, or, rather,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?
Well, a decade after the live-action craze began, andnearly a decade since it first went into pre-production,a Snow White live-action feature is finally on its way to the screens. StarringGal GadotandRachel Zegler, the film has been mired in controversy, to the point in whichDisney even scaled back some of the film’s premiere efforts. Will it all pay off? Will the movie be one of the good ones, or will it be a mess? So far, there’s no way of knowing. But if you have been paying attention to Disney over the past fifteen years or so, you probably know that the straightforwardly titledSnow Whiteisn’t even the first Snow White project to emerge out of the studio. At least since 2011, Disney has been trying to get its first princess back to the screen, with little to no success. So, yeah,Snow Whitehas big shoes to fill.
‘Snow White’ Was Almost a Kung-Fu Film
Okay, sort of. One has to concede that some of the ideas Disney had for a Snow White-led project were more than a little bizarre. Let’s take, for instance,The Order of the Seven, orSnow and the Seven, depending on when you first heard about the project. This idea first came into beingback in the early 2010s, when studios were inexplicably enamored with the fairest of them all. Concurrent to this in 2012, the world saw the release of not just one, buttwo Snow White movies: Relativity Media’sMirror, Mirror, and Universal’sSnow White and the Huntsman.
With varying degrees of quality and success —Mirror, Mirrorall but flopped, whileSnow White and the Huntsmaneven got itself a sequel — the two films are nevertheless a testament to where the zeitgeist was at concerningSnow Whiteback in the day. And, of course, Disney wanted a piece of the pie. After all, they weren’t about to let others piggyback on their own beloved first princess without a fight. Thus, in 2011,as the two movies were in development, Disney started circulating the news that it had its own Snow White project going on.The film would starSaoirse Ronanas the titular princess. Set in Asia, the story would follow a Kung-Fu fighting Snow White, and fight choreographerYuen Woo-ping, of Kung-Fu classics such asJackie Chan’s belovedDrunken Master, was at one point attached to it.
Snow White Wasn’t Actually the First Disney Princess
This forgotten character set up a long beloved Disney tradition.
It was a risky move, one that would certainly drown the studio in controversy even more than its currentSnow White, what with the optics of a white princess starring in a Kung-Fu flick. So, eventually,Disney decided to scrap the project.Coming out of a big live-actioncommercial flop by the name ofJohn Carter, a movie that hardly anyone even remembers, the House of Mouse wasn’t keen on taking risks. And, apparently,with a budget of at least $150 million,The Order of the Sevenwas one hell of a risk. Thus, in 2012, just as other Snow Whites were making their debut on the big screen, it was announced that the project had been canceled.
Disney Almost Released a Movie About Snow White’s Sister
But none of this stopped Disney from looking for another revisionist take onSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs.In 2018, years after theJohn Carterdebacle,rumors started circulating thatBrie Larsonwas attached to yet another Snow White-helmed project, titledRose Red.Despite its horror movie-sounding name,Rose Redwas actually based on a fairy tale, the Brothers Grimm’sSnow White and Rose Red. Telling a completely different story thanSnow White, the tale follows two young sisters' meetings with a bear and a wicked dwarf (yeah, we’re seeing a theme here…). Still,Disney was going to merge the two stories, turning Rose Red into their own Snow White’s sister and telling the classic story from her point of view.
Very little is known about this project, which didn’t even get as far as onboarding a director.Rose Redsimply disappeared from the media shortly after it started making the rounds. It is possible that, having seen the success oftheBeauty and the Beastremake,Disney simply decided to abandon the revisionist perspective altogether. And, indeed, by 2016, there were already talks about a straightforwardSnow Whiteadaptation, so chances are the studio thoughtRose Redwas one Snow White movie too many.
Disney Might Still Have a Snow White-Adjacent Movie in Its Vault
However, Disney might still have a revisionist take onSnow Whitein its vault. And a take onCinderella, and onSleeping Beauty.Up until last year, there was stillbig news making the rounds about aPrince Charmingfilm, devoted to the character that appears in all the three classic stories. Now, of course, in the world of Disney, Prince Charming is only the dude that Cinderella marries at the end of her film. Snow White’s significant other is called Florian, while Aurora finishes her own film dancing around with her beloved Phillip.Prince Charming, however, would merge all these characters into one, and tell his story through the perspective of his underachieving brother. Kind of likeRose Red.
Wonka’sPaul Kingis set to direct, but whetherPrince Charmingwill see the light of day is still anyone’s guess. Judging from projects as varied asEnchantedandDescendants, we know for a fact that Disney isn’t averse to creating new things with the kinds of properties that they became known for, soPrince Charmingstill has a fair chance. At the same time, however,the studio is diving head-first into its more straightforward remakes, to the point where it seems there isn’t much room for anything else.Not to mention theSnow Whitecontroversy that might put projects attached to the princess to sleep faster than a poisoned apple. Sofar, there’s nothing to do but wait and see if Prince Charming will get his moment in the sun. Well, that and mourn the Kung-Fu fighting Snow White that could’ve been.
Snow White
Live-action adaptation of the 1937 Disney animated film ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’.
