David Hand, the son of the animator who helmed the original “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” has condemned the studio’s updated remake of the classic animated film starring Rachel Zegler.
Hand, 91, whose father was also named David Hand, characterized the upcoming remake as “insulting,” citing concerns about its “woke” approach.
“They change the stories, they change the thought processes of the characters, they just aren’t the original stories anymore. They’re making up new woke things and I’m just not into any of that,” Hand told the Telegraph in an interview.
Hand, who worked at Disney as a designer in the 1990s added: “I find it quite frankly a bit insulting that they may have done with some of these classic films. There’s no respect for what Disney did and what my dad did… I think Walt and he would be turning in their graves.”
Zegler came under fire from touchy conservatives for recently surfaced comments she made at the 2022 D23 Expo. “I mean, you know, the original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so,” she said. “There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her.”
She then laughed and added: “Weird! Weird. We didn’t do that this time.”
Zegler also clarified: “We have a different approach to what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie, Andrew Burnap, great dude. It’s one of those things that I think everyone’s going to have their assumptions about what it’s going to be, but it’s really not about the love story at all, which is really, really wonderful.”
Zegler seemingly responded to the backlash and tweeted “Remember to be kind. Treat each other with patience and empathy. Remember that you are loved unconditionally, no matter your mistakes, no matter your misunderstandings.”
“Snow White,” which has recently completed filming, is scheduled to open on March 22, 2024.
