American multinational entertainment and media conglomerate, Disney has responded to ‘Game of Thrones’ star, Peter Dinklage’s criticism of its upcoming live-action remake of the classic animated movie, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’.
Dinklage, best known for playing Tyrion Lannister in HBO show ‘Game of Thrones’, recently, heavily backlashed Disney for its decision to remake the movie, which he called “backward”.
In Disney’s response to the actor, it noted that it was going to “avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film”. According to the filmmakers, it is “taking a different approach with these seven characters [Dwarfs] and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community”.
A Disney spokesperson in a statement said: “We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period”.
Directed by Marc Webb, the rebooted version of ‘Snow White’ will feature Rachel Zegler, of the ‘West Side Story’ fame as Snow White, and Gal Gadot, playing the role of the Evil Queen.
It was during an interview on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast when Dinklage offered his views on the remake of ‘Snow White’.
Sharing his opinion on the movie, the 52-year-old actor said: “Literally no offense to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but 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”.
Peter Dinklage, who was born with a common form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, particularly criticized the studio for trying to present a “backward” story of “seven dwarfs living in a cave together”.
“You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together. what are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox?”
Dinklage
Dinklage, who seemed furious about the issue averred, “I guess I’m not loud enough. I don’t know which studio that is, but they were so proud of it”.
Dinklage then concluded by stating “All love and respect to the actress [Rachel Zegler] and all the people who thought they were doing the right thing. But I’m just like, what are you doing?”
The original movie, titled Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale and released in 1937. It was Disney’s first animated feature film and presented the story of a princess who is fed a poisoned apple by her stepmother, the queen, and then falls into a deep sleep that can be broken only by a kiss from the prince.
‘Snow White’ premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles, California on December 21, 1937. It was a critical and commercial success with international earnings of more than $8 million during its initial release, (compared to its $1.5 million budget), it briefly held the record of highest-grossing sound film at the time.
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