While Disney’s live-action remakes have had their ups and downs, their most recent project, Snow White, has fallen short in a number of ways, from its poor critical and audience reception to its absolutely dismal box-office return. There are plenty of reasons as to why the film failed, from Snow White‘s controversial cast to the fact that the original film, while iconic, doesn’t hold as much of a draw for modern audiences as their more recent classics like The Little Mermaid or The Lion King.

However, Snow White‘s reviews point to one of the biggest problems being one that is shared by most of Disney’s live-action remakes, and was one of the major factors leading to the movie’s downfall. Most of these films have been criticized for feeling like simple unnecessary cash grabs, and the best Disney live-action remakes manage to escape that trap. Despite Rachel Zegler’s great performance as Snow White herself, she was unable to save the movie, and, when combined with Snow White‘s many controversies, caused the movie to flop.

Snow White Shouldn’t Have Been So Beholden To The Original

The Movie Needed To Take More Risks With Its Story

The biggest problem facing Snow White, alongside its various controversies, was the fact that it tried too hard to stay true to the original while also attempting to make the movie feel like a modern retelling. The original film remains one of the reasons that Disney even exists today, but it still definitely feels like a movie from the 30s, and the Snow White remake’s attempt to tell the same story once again simply fell flat, unable to recapture the classic charm of the original.

On top of that, the movie also attempted to modernize the property, with elements such as looking deeper into the kingdom, as well as trying to make Snow White‘s Jonathan a more well-rounded character. However, with how straight the movie played it with regard to the original, these two different approaches to the film clashed, and made the final product feel like it was trying to do too many things at once. If it had been more original and unique, following in the footsteps of a different Disney remake, then the conversation surrounding the movie could have been different.

Maleficent Proved Disney Remakes Can Be Unique

Maleficent Took Plenty Of Risks, And They Paid Off

One Disney live-action remake that did manage to differentiate itself from the original was 2014’s Maleficent, which told the story of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the villain of the movie, Maleficent. That movie was released before these remakes became the norm for Disney, and it shows, as Maleficent is actually a unique and interesting movie, expanding the universe of the original animated classic in a way that felt natural, compared to many of their newer attempts, including Snow White, which can easily feel forced and pointless.

While the second Maleficent movie came out when Disney was ramping up production on their numerous remakes, it was also as wild as the first movie, expanding the world’s lore even further. Those two movies are some of the best Disney remakes, due in large part to how unique they felt, especially when compared to the majority of modern live-action reimaginings. Movies like Snow White feel like they don’t actually add anything worthwhile to Disney’s filmography, a pitfall that Maleficent sidestepped when it decided to tell a more original story.

The Maleficent Approach Might Have Helped Snow White

Learning From Maleficent Would Have Helped Snow White

The original Sleeping Beauty and Snow White movies are very similar to each other, being classic, pre-renaissance Disney projects that helped build the studio up to where it is today. However, where the Snow White remake has failed to become a success by any metric, the Maleficent movies managed to become huge hits, with a third Maleficent movie even reportedly in development. If Snow White had adopted some of the characteristics of the Maleficent movies, then it could have potentially been much better.

Snow White also tried to make its villain more relatable and personable, but, as the movie was more focused on simply retelling the original story, the character didn’t get to shine, and Gal Gadot’s performance as the Evil Queen didn’t do her any favors. However, if the movie was able to more effectively recontextualize the Evil Queen and Snow White’s relationship, giving the audience a deeper look into both characters, as Maleficent did with the тιтular fairy and Aurora, then Snow White could’ve become the hit that those movies were.