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Next year the latest in the long line of Disney live-action remakes will debut when Rachel Zegler leads the cast of Snow White. While we only recently saw the first Snow White trailer, the film has been a lightning rod of controversy for a couple of years, partly due to fans believing the story would undergo significant plot changes, and partly due to the casting of Zegler herself.
Many have been critical of the fact that a non-white actress was cast to play Snow White, regardless of her talent. In a recent story in Variety, Zegler says she grew up obsessed with another actress who flipped the script on a Disney Princess, Brandy’s turn as Cinderella. Brandy is now one of Zegler’s cheerleaders, saying…
I know Rachel will be absolutely incredible in this role.
Back in 1997, Brandy starred in a TV version of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella on The Wonderful World of Disney alongside a multicultural cast that included Whitney Houston as The Fairy Godmother. The TV version, which is available with a Disney+ subscription, has a lot of fans which even resulted in Brandy reprising the role in the most recent Descendants movie for Disney+.
Brandy has some experience taking on these classic Disney Princess roles to broaden representation. She knows there will be those who have a problem with the casting, but there are also those who will be inspired by the sight of a Disney Princess that looks like them, and that’s why Zegler’s performance is important. Brandy continued…
You’re not taking on this role to fit the mold of the critics. You’re doing this for every little Colombian girl who has yet to see themselves in a role like a Disney princess. You’re doing this for the little girl that you once were, who grew up without that representation of her Colombian culture. You are showing her that anything is possible for someone who looks like her, and that is the most important job in the world.
While there have been loud voices critical of the casting of Rachel Zegler, there are also those who have been celebrating it. While Disney’s most successful live-action remakes have been the ones that made the fewest changes to the story, they have updated the tales in various ways, including through casting, such as the casting of Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid.
Considering the controversy it will be interesting to see how this impacts the release of Snow White. When these remakes have been big hits they made $1 billion at the box office, and the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the biggest box office hit ever when it was first released. The possibility for massive success is certainly there.