Dwarfed by Controversy

by

The premiere of Disney’s live-action
has brought even more problems to the door of the latest reimagined movie from the Disney vault. Taking its premise from the original 1937 animated classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the film has been marred by controversy from the casting of Rachel Zegler in the titular role and both her and costar Gal Gadot’s opposing political opinions on the Israel-Gaza war. However, another huge point of contention has been the way Disney has handled the movie’s seven little people – which has led to a number of actors with dwarfism protesting at the premiere.

Disney’s attempt to remake Snow White has not been a smooth one, and the subject of its seven central characters has been a particularly divisive one. While appearing at the premiere of the movie, actress Ali Chapman – who has dwarfism – slammed the decision of Disney to drop the dwarfs from the title of the movie and to replace actual actors with CGI characters instead. She said:

“The whole point of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is right up there in the title. The seven dwarfs were the stars of the original 1937 film which is a classic loved by millions of people. Disney has made a live-action film and instead of giving seven talented little people the chance to shine they’ve scrapped us completely and used CGI instead. It’s a total travesty and there are a lot of angry little people actors and actresses out there. People are flying in from all over the world to tell Disney this isn’t acceptable.”

Along with Chapman, her husband Matt McCarthy, who also has dwarfism, added his criticism to the cause, pointing out that it is already hard for actors with dwarfism to find work in the industry without companies like Disney eradicating them from screens with “freaking cartoons.” He said:

“We’ve been totally shut out but we’re not going down quietly. It’s hard enough in Hollywood. Everyone’s trying to make their dreams come true. When you’re a little person opportunities are few and far between. I was born to play Dopey the dwarf. It’s my dream role but Disney never gave me a chance. There were seven great parts right there but Disney decided to go with freaking cartoons. Shame on them!”

The Dwarf Controversy Is Not Going Away

This is not the first time issues have arisen around the lack of opportunities for actors with dwarfism being excluded from the industry. 2023’s hit Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel, Wonka, caused a stir when it cast Hugh Grant in the role of the Oompa Loompa as opposed to employing little actors. However, in contrast, prominent actor Peter Dinklage, who is best known for his role as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, slammed Disney when the movie was first announced for even bringing the story back. At the time he said:

“I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White. 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… You’re progressive in one way and you’re still making that f–king backwards 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.”

This in itself caused controversy among other actors with dwarfism, who slammed his opinion for making it harder for little actors to find work. It seems like even two years later, the controversy is still not going away. How it impacts the performance of Snow White is yet to be seen, but it has certainly been a massive wake-up call for Disney when it comes to making their live-action remakes in a way that doesn’t derail them before they even make it to screens.

Read More

2025-03-16 16:03