Snow White star Martin Klebba is defending Disney’s controversial remake in light of recent developments about their world premiere. Klebba has a major role in the movie as Grumpy, one of the seven CGI dwarves. As the next Disney live-action remake, Snow White features Rachel Zegler as its тιтular star, Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, and Ansu Kabia as the Huntsman. Andrew Burnap also plays the important role of Jonathan, a new love interest for Snow White. The movie has been a lightning rod for controversy since Peter Dinklage spoke out about its “backwards” portrayal of dwarfism.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Klebba, who also has dwarfism, opened up about the controversy. While he acknowledges the lack of a red carpet ceremony, he is excited about the release and is proud of his role. He believes that the CGI dwarves were a logical decision, but that he wishes Disney would have kept the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarves тιтle. Check out his full comments below:

It really isn’t going to be a red carpet. It’s going to be at the El Capitan [Theatre], which is cool. But it’s basically going to be a pre-party, watch the movie, and that’s it. There’s not going to be this whole hoopla of, ‘Disney’s first f*cking movie they ever made.’ Because of all this controversy, they’re afraid of the blowback from different people in society.

I don’t usually get into the political stuff, but I [felt], ‘Dwarfs aren’t going to go away just because you can’t imagine that they’re there.’ We’re still going to be walking around. So I didn’t get the whole stuff about not doing the dwarfs. The story’s been around forever, and it’s a classic. If you guys go this route, it just makes sense to be able to draw them the way you want. This way, they’re all the same size. And to find seven little people actors to pull it off, that’s not an easy thing either.

I wish they would’ve kept [the тιтle]. I wouldn’t have gone away from that. But the marketing people know what they’re doing.

I’ve been waiting forever for somebody to write something for the Marvel Universe, instead of all these beautiful-looking guys like Chris Pratt — let’s have somebody different. Let’s see some people that aren’t exactly nature’s wonder.

What Klebba’s Comments Mean For Disney’s Snow White

The Controversy Will Not Stop Here

The controversies surrounding Snow White are likely going to remain a significant aspect of the movie’s public perception. Dinklage’s comments sparked outrage against its portrayal of dwarfism, and those arguments are in stark contrast with Klebba’s beliefs. That does not, however, mean that either actor is necessarily wrong regarding their perspectives on the movie. Dinklage believes that the portrayal depicts dwarfism as a stereotypical portrayal of dwarves “living in a cave“. Klebba, however, views this as an opportunity for positive representation, and neither perspective is outright wrong.

Klebba’s comments could very well still have an impact on compelling hesitant viewers to look past the controversy to see the opportunity that this movie provided for people with dwarfism. Regardless of which actor has the more sound argument, however, some of the effects have already been set in stone. The Snow White movie will not see any red carpet spectacle, despite being a mᴀssive production with a reported budget of around $250 million. This has since fueled rumors that Disney is not entirely confident in the remake, despite their reps debunking those reports. Now, the next issue in question is whether this will impact the movie’s box office results.

Our Take On The Ongoing Snow White Controversies

This Probably Should Not Have Been Made

Disney’s live-action remakes have had a constant presence at the box office since 2014’s Maleficent proved to be a $750 million hit. It attempted to reignite love for Sleeping Beauty (1959) by portraying the story from a new perspective. After that, however, Disney largely left that strategy behind to focus on simply recreating its old animated classics. Most of those adaptations work, but this is a major exception. While Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) was Disney’s first animated movie, perhaps it should never have been remade.

Disney’s Snow White relies on the dwarves as a central part of the story. They cannot necessarily be removed or reworked to eliminate at least one of the controversial elements. At one point, it was reported that Disney planned to use seven bandits instead, but that only drew more criticism. The unfortunate truth is that the original movie is too divisive to adapt to a modern landscape. It may be a classic, but some classics should remain as products of the past, and they certainly should not be given a $250 million budget.

Source: THR