Rachel Zegler won’t sing “Some Day My Prince Will Come” in Disney’s new live-action remake of “Snow White.”
This princess doesn’t need a man and will instead warble the girl-boss anthem “Waiting on a Wish.”
But given all the controversy around the movie, in theaters March 21, it might be a long wait.
Variety reported this week that there will be none of the typical red-carpet interviews for the film’s premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on Saturday — perhaps to avoid tough questions about the backlash that’s followed Snow White around like an eighth dwarf.
It comes as Disney has alienated fans, and suffered at the box office, by leaning into DEI initiatives, pushing gender ideologies in cartoons and adding content warnings to classic films like “Dumbo.”
It really began with star Rachel Zegler — a Latina actress who rose to fame in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” remake and who has been very outspoken in her #FreePalestine support — trashing the original story from the 1937 Disney classic.
“There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird. So we didn’t do that this time. I was scared of the original version. I think I watched it once and never picked it up again,” Zegler, 23, told Variety in 2022.
And while the song “Some Day My Prince Will Come” has long stood as a Disney classic, Zegler announced last summer at D23, the annual Disney expo, that her Snow White is “not going to be saved by the prince. She’s not going to be dreaming about true love. She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.”
This attitude has upset David Hale Hand, whose late father, Disney animator David Hand, was the supervising director for “Bambi” and the original “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Hand told Page Six he won’t be buying a ticket for the woke new film.
“The original was the way it should be. From what I’ve read [the new film] bears no reflection to the original story,” Hand, 93, said. “It’s so far off base that it’s ridiculous.” In fact, he believes it’s enough to make his father and Walt Disney “roll in their graves.”
“They’ve taken it and moved into the politics of what is woke … They’re taking a beautiful and beautifully drawn story and destroying what was ‘Snow White.’ Why can’t they just leave it alone instead of coming up with a different story — make it a totally different character?” Hand’s wife, Sandra Hand, added. “David’s father took so much pride in the film and he would say, ‘What have you done?’”
It’s a question many people were asking after early filming shots emerged last year showing Zegler’s stand-in leading a line of “dwarfs” of varying sizes and genders. That led actor Jason Acuña — known as “Wee Man” in the “Jackass” franchise — to slam the studio: “You’re replacing jobs that people could have [us] as little people,” he told Movie Maniac in 2023. “It’s for dwarfs. Why are you hiring ‘Snow White and the seven average people?’”
Another ruckus was raised when the trailer showed the actors had been replaced by CGI characters, although the Hollywood Reporter said this week that director Marc Webb had always planned to use CGI.
A representative from Disney did not return Page Six’s request for comment.
Actor Peter Dinklage — who, like Acuña, has achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism — meanwhile, was annoyed that the movie seemed hypocritical in its woke efforts.
“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,” Dinklage told podcaster Marc Maron last year.
When the first trailer for the movie was shown last August at D23, Zegler didn’t waste the chance to express her woke views.
“love you all so much! thank you for the love and for 120m views on our trailer in just 24 hours! what a whirlwind…and always remember, free palestine,” she tweeted on X.
The actress has since continued her outspokenness on the matter and was forced to apologize after a lengthy Instagram post wishing President Trump and his supporters “never know peace” after he defeated Kamala Harris last November.
“Disney’s lead actress is out of control,” a movie insider told Page Six. “They don’t know what to do … she’s an outspoken 20-something and Disney chiefs have called her directly and asked her to tone down her posts. They’ve called her management, but she won’t listen.
“It’s been this way the entire way through filming. But it’s the tying of her politics to ‘Snow White’ that is upsetting.”
Sandra Hand agreed: “Snow White is a lovely young woman who has love for her Prince and her seven dwarves — she’s not someone brandishing a Palestinian flag.”
Zegler’s rep did not return a request for comment.
Adding another twist to the story is the fact that the Evil Queen in “Snow White” is played by Gal Gadot, 39, who has been a passionate supporter of her homeland of Israel, particularly since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
The two actresses, who Page Six is told got along well during filming, presented the Best Visual Effects award at the Oscars earlier this month — where some filmmakers protested Gadot’s presence.
A virtual open letter, allegedly signed by 21 Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences members and more than 75 other filmmakers, called for the Oscars to “reconsider Gal Gadot’s presence” because the “Wonder Woman” star has “openly and repeatedly expressed her support for Israel’s military actions against Palestinians.”
“They spent a few hours trying to get Gal removed from the Oscars,” said one Hollywood source. “it was disgusting.”
Nisha Pahuja, the Canadian director of the Oscar-nominated documentary “To Kill a Tiger,” confirmed to Page Six that she had signed the petition. Other alleged signees, including “Monsoon Wedding” director Mira Nair, did not return requests for confirmation.
Academy sources told Page Six the petition was not submitted before the ceremony, but a Hollywood source said Gadot learned of it shortly before taking the stage.
“Gal has been nothing but dignified throughout all of this,” said the Hollywood source. “But it’s hurtful.”
Despite reports Disney that axed a planned London premiere for “Snow White,” we’re told there were never plans for such an event.
Zegler has, however, been to Japan and Spain to promote the film and will be joining screenings before opening day.
“Disney is leaning towards having influencers to interview Rachel and Gal for promotion days on Sunday and Monday,” an industry insider in the know told Page Six of the decision to avoid traditional red carpets. “They want to concentrate on the content.”
As the cultural tides have shifted over recent months, Disney has pulled back from some of its DEI moves.
But it remains to be seen whether “Snow White” comes back to haunt the company for years to come or serves as the fairytale end to a try-hard era.
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