Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) found itself on the defensive earlier this week after actor Peter Dinklage berated the company for its planned live-action remake of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
However, the timing of Dinklage’s angry remarks — which generated international headlines — is more than a bit curious. Indeed, one has to question whether the actor’s criticism of Disney has less to do with the potentially insensitive treatment of the classic short-statured septet or if Dinklage is trying to keep himself in the spotlight with a new vehicle that hasn't exactly generated “Game of Thrones”-level excitement.
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What Happened: The 1937 production “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was Disney’s first feature-length animated film. Prior to its release, American animation studios limited themselves to making short films because it was believed audiences would not seek out an animated film running more than one or two reels. The Disney film was a major commercial hit and is widely viewed by film scholars as one of the company’s masterpieces.
In October 2016, Disney announced it was adding “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” to a list of animated properties it was considering for live-action remakes. Little was heard about this project until May 2019 when word percolated that Marc Webb, director of “The Amazing Spider-Man” (2012) and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014), was in talks to direct this new endeavor. Webb had not directed theatrical films since the 2017 release of two small dramas, “Gifted” and “The Only Living Boy in New York,” and was mostly focused on television productions before being tapped by Disney.
Last June, Disney announced the casting of Rachel Zegler as Snow White. Zegler was being promoted as a breakout star for the company’s “West Side Story” remake, which was still six months away from release. Five months later, Gal Gadot was cast as the Evil Queen in the new film.
And earlier this month, Tony Award-winning Broadway star Andrew Burnap was cast as the male lead, although the studio insisted he wasn't playing the Prince (the romantic lead of the 1937 story) or the Huntsman (the Queen’s servant who could not fulfill the royal order to slay Snow White).
Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), created “Snow White and the Huntsman” in 2012, which reimagined the relationship between the eponymous characters.
What Happened Next: On Jan. 24, Dinklage was a guest on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast. Although the actor has never been associated with the Disney film, he was asked about its creation — and his reaction was volcanic.
“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,” Dinklage said. “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,” he continued. “It makes no sense to me. You’re progressive in one way, but then 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? I guess I’m not loud enough.”
As Dinklage’s comments trended across social media and news tickers, Disney quickly responded to his remarks by insisting the new Seven Dwarfs will not be portrayed offensively.
“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,” a spokesperson for Disney said in a statement to Variety. “We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.”
The new film was slated to begin production in March, with a release date for 2023. It's unclear whether Dinklage’s remarks and the studio’s response will disrupt its schedule.
Why It Happened: Dinklage appeared on Maron’s podcast to talk about his latest film, the MGM/United Artists Releasing feature “Cyrano.” Considering "Snow White" is still in development and Dinklage is not part of that film, Maron’s questioning him on the Disney work is curious — it's unclear whether Dinklage was briefed about potential questions in advance of the interview or if this was a spontaneous eruption to an out-of-left-field question.
As a result of the coverage from Dinklage's “Snow White” criticism, the actor also brought a much-needed shot of high-visibility publicity to his project.
“Cyrano” has been plagued with problems ahead of its release. The Dec. 16 red carpet premiere in Hollywood was postponed from concern over rising levels of COVID infections — although the Hollywood premieres for “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth” went forward around the same time. COVID concerns also forced the film’s U.K. release to be delayed from Jan. 14 to Feb. 25.
“Cyrano” had a one-week Oscar-qualifying theatrical release in Los Angeles in December and was slated to open in limited U.S. release on Jan. 21 — but that release was pushed back to Jan. 28, with a wider release scheduled on Feb. 11, four days after the Oscar nominations are announced.
Oscar nominations in the major categories could elevate the box office prospects for “Cyrano,” a musical that's arriving in theaters after three heavily promoted musicals — “In the Heights,” “Dear Evan Hanson” and “West Side Story” — were D.O.A. at the U.S. box office.
But this year’s competition among award-worthy films is stronger than usual and “Cyrano” has not scored any significant wins in the run-up to the Oscar nominations. “Cyrano” and Dinklage were nominated for Best Picture and Best Actor in the Musical/Comedy category of the Golden Globes, but lost to “West Side Story” and Andrew Garfield’s “Tick, Tick…BOOM!” performance.
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Dinklage has been nominated for Best Actor in the Critics Choice Awards and the Hollywood Film Critics Association Awards. But he was not nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award and that competition is often seen as the bellwether for the Oscars’ acting selections.
With his hostile response to the concept of the new Disney film, Dinklage has put attention on himself which goes beyond the benign feature coverage that often accompanies publicity campaigns for would-be Oscar nominees. By championing a disenfranchised segment of the population, Dinklage is enjoying very positive coverage — and how often do Hollywood stars bask in positive coverage nowadays?
Of course, as stated earlier, the new version of Snow White has been in the works since 2016 and at no point over the years did Dinklage ever use what he called his “soapbox” to speak out against the project and the threat of stereotypical portrayals of people with dwarfism. Even his insistence of being “a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White” seems forced when one considers the news coverage of Zegler joining the project seven months ago.
Should Dinklage’s remarks be seen as a cleverly-timed publicity stunt? Or should the actor be given the benefit of the doubt under the notion that he has truly embraced the Cyrano character devised by the French playwright Edmond Rostand? After all, it was Rostand's Cyrano who boldly declared: "I wear my deeds as ribbons, my wit is sharper than the finest mustache, and when I walk among men I make truths ring like spurs."
Photo: Publicity photo of Marc Maron and Peter Dinklage from the Jan. 24 "WTF with Marc Maron" podcast, courtesy of Marc Maron.
