Despite the huge number of mᴀssive critical and commercial successes that 2025 has seen in the film landscape, there have still been plenty of big misses, and one of the biggest so far was Disney’s remake of Snow White, a film marred by controversy from its very inception. As more studios continue to churn out live-action remakes of IP with any name recognition, there are bound to be some that flounder in their release, and this year, that movie was clearly Snow White.

However, as with any movie, it had several redeeming qualities. Now that Snow White has been released on Disney+, there are plenty of reasons for viewers who didn’t feel the need to watch it in theaters to give it a try. Despite the studio pulling back on its streaming service ambitions in favor of investing back in theatrical releases, Disney+ releases still hold a lot of weight, and from parts of Snow White‘s cast to some of the character changes, these are some reasons audiences should check out the movie.

6

Snow White Has Plenty Of Excellent Visual Effects

The Film Managed To Look Mostly Great

The biggest piece of conversation surrounding this movie’s visual effects was the seven dwarfs, who, rather than being played by live-action actors, were CGI models with voice-acted performances. That decision was understandably controversial, and in practice, the dwarf characters did fall pretty squarely into the uncanny valley for most viewers, looking nearly lifelike but just odd enough to feel wrong. However, aside from the controversial dwarfs, Snow White‘s visual effects were nearly flawless, even though the film had so many CGI characters and sH๏τs.

One of the biggest aspects of the original film was Snow White‘s relationships with the many animals that inhabited the kingdom and the forest. As her animal companions needed to do very specific and complicated things, Disney’s decision to fully animate them could’ve easily backfired and looked ridiculous and unnatural. Thankfully, however, the animators and visual effects artists were able to make these animal characters work very well, even when they were directly interacting with the human actors.

This was a huge boon to Snow White. If this aspect of the movie had looked any worse, the final product would’ve felt much worse to watch. While this may seem like a given, there have been plenty of movie examples that were let down by bad visual effects, especially in recent years. Studios have become more reliant on CGI while simultaneously refusing to give visual effects companies the time to properly do their jobs. Snow White has its share of issues, but fortunately, this certainly wasn’t one of them.

5

Snow White Struck A Solid Balance Between Realism And Fantasy

Snow White Didn’t Stray Too Far In Either Direction

One of the biggest problems that many modern live-action Disney remakes struggle with is striking a decent balance between the whimsy of many of the original animated films and the realism that a live-action film demands, simply due to the medium in which it exists. Some of these films go too far into the realism camp, trying to make something that should feel more lighthearted and silly into something dark and gritty, missing the point of what made the original enjoyable.

On the other hand, some films commit to a one-to-one adaptation, which often results in a movie that feels torn between worlds, taking something that only worked in animation and trying to force it into a live-action setting. Snow White managed to balance both of these aspects very well, taking the fantastical story of the original movie and making it feel more grounded, while still retaining the heart of the original.

4

Snow White Was Given More Agency

The тιтular Character Has More Impact On The Story

This aspect of the Snow White remake was one of the more controversial changes from the original. However, it was probably one of the most necessary changes to the original story when remaking it for the modern age. The original movie was groundbreaking for the time, and is, without question, one of the central reasons that Disney even exists as a company today. For that alone, it deserves to be remembered as the classic that it is.

However, what worked for a film in the 30s wouldn’t necessarily work the same today, which, given that the original was released nearly 90 years ago, seems like a fairly reasonable thing to say. In the original, Snow White had very little agency in the story, mostly just going along with whatever was happening around her, from her meeting and staying with the dwarfs to the original Snow White ending. That worked for that story, but these days, having a protagonist who is just along for the ride is a recipe for a movie that feels meandering and unfocused.

3

The Prince Was Retooled Into A More Interesting Character

Jonathan Made Much More Sense Than The Nameless Prince

Similarly, some parts in the original movie wouldn’t work in today’s climate, including the portrayal of the Prince. The main reason for that is that the Prince wasn’t really a character. He was more of a plot device that existed solely to be someone for Snow White to fall in love with. He only appeared at the start and end of the movie and didn’t really do all that much, save for kissing her at the end.

By contrast, the Snow White remake turned the prince into Jonathan, a bandit leader who opposed the Evil Queen’s rule, lived in the forest, and did what he could to keep his group alive. He received a lot more screen time than the original prince did, giving him and Snow White time to actually bond and fall in love, though, in classic Disney fashion, it still happened quite quickly. Regardless, their chemistry and expanded characters made his kiss to bring her out of her slumber much more believable than if they had barely met.

2

The Snow White Remake’s Soundtrack Is Great

With One Unfortunate Exception

The big asterisk was the one song that was essentially universally scorned, that being Gal Gadot’s “All Is Fair,” the new villain song added for the evil queen. Gadot’s performance in general was one of the biggest negatives ᴀssociated with the movie in Snow White‘s reviews, and unfortunately, “All Is Fair” didn’t do anything to disprove that notion. However, despite how different the remake’s songs were from the original, the rest of the soundtrack was pretty great.

The biggest standout was undoubtedly “Waiting on a Wish,” Snow White’s new “I want” song, where the protagonist essentially details their motivations for the rest of the film. It is one of the most important songs to get right in a film. Out of Snow White‘s entire soundtrack, “Waiting on a Wish” managed to stand above the rest, as not only a good song for a Disney movie but a great musical number on its own.

1

Rachel Zegler’s Performance As Snow White Is Excellent

Zegler Proved Her Skill As A Performer Once Again

Despite all the negative press Snow White received, the most consistent positive throughout all the reactions was Zegler’s performance, which went above and beyond what anyone was expecting. Zegler has always been an amazing actor, evidenced by her breakout role as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s criminally underrated West Side Story, where she gave a monumental performance that unfortunately felt underappreciated. She was an amazing choice for this character, and despite the constant, unwarranted criticism she received, she managed to easily be the best part of the film.

On top of the acting performance itself, Zegler’s singing brought the character to life every time she had a new song. Again, she had already proven herself with her singing in West Side Story, but her vocals in Snow White brought the character and story to life, even more so than the actual words she was singing did. She was absolutely the reason that “Waiting on a Wish” was so good, and every time she had a song, the film simply felt more alive.