Snow White was a happy young princess living in a joyful kingdom with her father and mother. But after tragedy struck and her mother fell ill and died, things started to change. A mysterious woman from a far away land came to the kingdom and married the king. The Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) slowly took over, exerting her power, and sending the king away to take care of some made up threat, never to return. The princess was soon forgotten, locked away in the castle, while the farmers were forced to become the queen’s loyal guard. The Evil Queen is vain and jealous—each night she looks into her magic mirror, asking the same question of “Who is the fairest of them all?”. The answer is always herself.

That is, until several years later. The people of the kingdom have grown tired and hungry, with the queen hoarding the riches of the kingdom for herself. One day, Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), a bandit living in the forest, is found trying to steal food from the castle. Snow White (Rachel Zegler) frees him, and begins to be awakened to the outside world, deciding it is finally time for her to stop wishing for something to happen, and start doing something. However, her newly-awaked spirit causes the magic mirror to finally declare a new fairest in the kingdom. Jealous, the Evil Queen is determined to eliminate her competition. Meanwhile, as Snow White explores the outside world, she sees how the kingdom has changed over the past decade. She crosses paths with a family of 7 goofy miners/dwarfs who take her in, and she also joins forces with the bandits, hoping to find a way to restore the kingdom to the former glory it was under her father. But the Evil Queen has other plans, using her magical powers and private army to eliminate Snow White once and for all.

Snow White is a live action remake of Disney’s very first animated 1937 classic, but with a couple of modernizations/changes, including new/expanded music, and some character changes, while still maintaining the same look and spirit of the original. This film had a lot of negative press when it was released theatrically, with a lot of review-bombing going on based solely on things unrelated to the movie itself, such as some disparaging remarks star Rachel Zegler made while talking about the animated film, or people complaining she wasn’t the correct ethnicity for the role, or personal political statements made by the main actresses on social media. There were also concerns about some leaked set photos, claiming that Disney had replaced the dwarfs with a random array of average-height actors, or that they were going “woke” with the story, saying that Snow White didn’t need a man. All of this was just ninsense—people need to learn how to separate the artists from the art, because the movie itself is quite entertaining and delightful.

Zegler is quite charming as Snow White, capturing the sweetness of the character. Plus she can really belt out the music. The film never felt “woke” to me, and did quite a good job of capture the look and feel of the animated version, recreating many of the film’s iconic costumes, locations and story moments. I only really had two negatives with the film. The first is that, while Gal Gadot makes an excellent, deliciously-evil queen, she’s far from the same caliber of a singer as the rest of the cast, and her “All is Fair” solo isn’t the greatest. My second complaint is the use of CGI for the dwarfs. There’s this creepy uncanny valley feel to the characters, especially Dopey, which I found quite off-putting at times. I would have rather they used actual little people to play these roles in live action rather than going the CGI route, though I can understand what they were going for—the characters are often wild and over-the-top and they wanted to do more cartoony slapstick with them.

Another big change to this version is that there is no prince. Instead, we get Jonathan, the leader of a group of bandits living in the forest, fighting in the name of the king to keep his spirit and views alive. While this character ultimately serves the same purpose as the prince, he’s a little more grounded in both his attire and his attitude. He brings more of a Flynn Rider attitude to the role. Andrew Burnap is a lot of fun as Jonathan, and is also quite a good singer, joining Zegler for the romantic duet, “A Hand Meets a Hand”, and singing what is probably my favorite song in this film, “Princess Problems”, a fun, more modern-feeling musical theater type song that’s the opposite of a Prince trying to win over a Princess. Instead he calls Snow White out on her actions and challenges how she’s trying to solve her problems.

Speaking of the music, the original songs are great, opening and closing with the delightful and uplifting, “Where the Good Things Grow”, and expanding the classic “Heigh-Ho” and “Whistle While You Work”, which were only about 1 minute in the animated version, to now delve more into the dwarf characters. Zegler really shines in the music department, especially in her iconic Disney princess “I Wish” anthem, in which the Disney princess shares her hopes and dreams in a song, this one being “Waiting on a Wish”.

While I haven’t been a big fan of Disney remaking all of its animated films in live action, this one works quite well and is a lot of fun. It has a great cast, wonderful music, and beautiful sets that transport the viewer into this magical medieval world. They have managed to recreate a lot of the iconic looks and scenes from the original animated film. I can see younger viewers wanting to watch this over and over again, like many generations have done with the original animated version.

Disney will be releasing Snow White on Limited-Edition Collectible 4K SteelBook, Blu-ray & DVD on June 24, and the film will be available to stream on Disney+ nearly two weeks earlier, on June 11. I was sent the HD Digital version for review. The presentation looks and sounds great. The picture is crisp, clean and quite detailed throughout, showcasing the film’s beautiful sets and costumes. The audio track provides clear dialogue, highlights the film’s excellent musical performances, and makes good use of the stereo and surround channels to provide an immersive ambiance.

The release contains an entertaining assortment of bonus material, including an optional Sing Along version of the movie, three behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast/crew, a blooper reel, and three deleted scenes. These are the same features as what will be included on the disc release.

What’s Included:
Specs and bonus material may vary by provider.

Film: (1:49:10)

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HDMA, English Descriptive Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Extras:

• Fearless, Fair, Brave, and True: Making Snow White (11:41)
  The cast and crew discuss updating the 1937 animated film with a live action version, what makes the original a classic, keeping true to the original, modernizing the story, casting the movie, playing these iconic characters, the sets, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, concept artwork, and interviews with director Marc Webb, producer Marc Platt, producer Jared LeBoff, associate choreographer Martha Nichols, choreographer Mandy Moore, co-producer Russell Allen, production designer Kave Quinn, set decorator Stella Fox, executive music producer Ian Eisendrath, production sound mixer Simon Hayes, and stars Rachel Zegler (“Snow White”), Andrew Burnap (“Jonathan”), Idriss Kargbo (“Bingley”), Gal Gadot (“Evil Queen”), George Appleby (“Quigg”), Jimmy Johnston (“Finch”) & Hadley Fraser (“Good King”).
• Merry Tunes (9:30)
  The cast and crew discuss expanding songs such as “Heigh-Ho” & “Whistle While You Work” from the original animated film, creating Snow White’s “I Want” song “Waiting on a Wish”, recording the performances live, Gal’s villain song “All Is Fair”, the more modern pop-like “Princess Problems”, the love duet “A Hand Meets a Hand”, the big opening number “Good Things Grow”, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director Marc Webb, producer Marc Platt, producer Jared LeBoff, songwriters Justin Paul & Benj Pasek, executive music producer Ian Eisendrath, production sound mixer Simon Hayes, associate choreographer Martha Nichols, and stars Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot & Andrew Burnap.
• Fairy Tale Fashion (8:53)
  The cast and crew discuss the film’s costumes, the woman behind them, the massive scale of the movie, designing Snow White and The Evil Queen’s iconic looks, tranforming into the Old Hag, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, concept artwork, and interviews with costume designer Sandy Powell, director Marc Webb, hair, make-up & prosthetics designer Nadia Stacey, and stars Rachel Zegler & Gal Gadot.
• Bloopers (2:28)
  Fun with the cast as they flub lines, make each other laugh, and have a good time on set.
• Deleted Scenes: (2:20)
  Collection of three short deleted scenes. Play All, or select from:
  • Anguish and Opportunity (1:00)
    While Snow White and the King grieve, The Evil Queen summons her Magic Mirror.
  • Danger in the Woods (:52)
    Snow White falls in the forest and gets stuck underwater.
  • Hunt for Snow White (:19)
    A member of the Queen’s guard finds Snow White’s ribbon in the water.
• Sing Along with the Movie (1:49:10)
  Stylized onscreen lyrics appear during the musical numbers, allowing fans to sing along with their favorite songs while watching the movie.

Final Thoughts:

Ignore the review-bombing of this film related to external things that have nothing to do with the actual quality of the movie or performances. While I’m not generally a fan of Disney’s decision to remake all of its animated film in live action, this effort is quite enjoyable—the sets and costumes a beautiful, Zegler is charming, Gadot is deliciously evil, and the musical songs are catchy and delightful. The main negative I had is the use of CGI for the dwarfs, which can be a bit creepy at times, However, this still didn’t affect my enjoyment of the film, which is quite entertaining and very re-watachble. I suspect this will on repeat in many homes, and fans should be pleased with the release’s audio/video presentation and bonus material. But for those who still want to check out the movie first before a blind buy, the good news is that Snow White will be streaming on Disney+ starting on June 11!