Disney’s Snow White has officially debuted with one of the worst Rotten Tomatoes scores for a Disney remake, and its record-low rating sets a bad precedent for the future of Disney’s live-action princess films. Snow White re-envisions the studio’s first feature-length film, and while Rachel Zegler is receiving momentous praise as the perfect actress to portray Snow White, no amount of qualities seem to compensate for the remake’s shortcomings. Despite the box office successes of movies like 2019’s The Lion King, the tide could be turning on Disney’s heavy reliance on live-action remakes — particularly after Snow White‘s critical failure.
Naturally, Snow White‘s Rotten Tomatoes score may change as more reviews are posted, but as it stands, Disney’s latest remake is at a shockingly low 47% by 97 critics on the review aggregate site. This sets Disney’s Snow White as the third worst-rated score for a live-action remake, not including Disney’s sequels. This is a monumental loss, considering it only just beats the 2022 remake of Pinocchio, which scored a dismal 27%. More importantly, Snow White‘s below-average score makes it the lowest-rated Rotten Tomatoes score for any of Disney’s live-action remakes that center around a Disney princess.
Snow White Has The Lowest Rotten Tomatoes Score For Any Of Disney’s Live-Action Remakes About Princesses
Snow White Faced Significant Obstacles In Its Early Stages Of Development
Disney’s Snow White has rapidly become the lowest-rated Rotten Tomatoes movie centering on a Disney live-action princess. However, it is important to make a clear distinction between what projects are taken into consideration for live-action remakes regarding princesses, as several features become instantly omitted. For instance, the Maleficent movies cannot be taken into account as they do not focus on Sleeping Beauty herself. The same goes for Aladdin (2019), given Jasmine is not the film’s leading protagonist. Disney’s live-action princess movies have had varying degrees of success, with some being more positively received than others, despite controversies.
While Snow White has generated significant backlash, other remakes haven’t been universally panned. Despite their shortcomings, Disney’s Cinderella, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid have received higher scores than Snow White on the site. Not to mention, even with rather unfavorable ratings, these previous installments still managed to achieve a Fresh score by surpᴀssing 60%. However, Snow White has fallen short of Rotten Tomatoes Fresh score by 12%. Although there’s still time for Disney’s Snow White to move ahead of 47%, it’s unlikely that additional reviews will propel the film to 60% to reach this milestone.
Disney’s Live-Action Princess Movies Have Nearly Gotten Progressively Lower Scores On Rotten Tomatoes
Live-Action Princess Movies Have Become A Troubling Trend For Disney
Disney’s live-action princess movies have changed quite drastically over the past eight decades. The “Disney princess” label has been reconditioned from a cherished, well-sought-after status into an increasingly stale and troubling format. The term has become somewhat obsolete in recent years following the introduction of Frozen‘s heroines, Anna and Elsa, and Motunui’s Demigod, Moana. The demand for original storytelling appears to be outpacing the interest in remakes which seek to capitalize on nostalgia. Interestingly, each Disney princess live-action film released in the last decade has scored lower than the previous, which highlights the downward trend.
|
Disney Live-Action Princess Remake |
Year |
RT Tomatometer |
RT Popcornmeter |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cinderella |
2015 |
84% |
78% |
|
Mulan |
2020 |
71% |
46% |
|
Beauty and the Beast |
2017 |
71% |
80% |
|
The Little Mermaid |
2023 |
67% |
94% |
|
Disney’s Snow White |
2025 |
47% |
TBC |
The only exception to this is the live-action Beauty and the Beast, which now holds the same score as Disney’s remake of Mulan. While Disney’s female-led films originally garnered a positive reception, the popularity of these films seems to be waning. Clearly, the decrease in momentum for these live-action princess movies shows no signs of stopping. In the case of Snow White, it’s likely that the amount of controversy surrounding the film severely affected the pre-release reviews. However, the downward trend indicates that upcoming Disney live-action princess adaptations may encounter substantial difficulties, regardless of what they may have to offer.
This Disney Live-Action Princess Movie Trend Is Troubling For Moana
Moana’s Live-Action Remake Could Be Doomed Ahead Of Its Release
Although I’m hopeful that the live-action Moana will feel fresh in comparison to the other live-action remakes, the continued trend suggests there is a difficult path ahead of Moana. Not to mention, Moana is one of Disney’s most beloved projects, which explains some of the sequel’s major criticisms. Audiences were skeptical about the studio’s ability to recapture the magic of the original film, and the live-action remake shares a similar fate. Given the situation, combined with decreased enthusiasm for live-action princess adaptations, the film’s prospects appear bleak from the outset.
Despite this, the co-writer of Moana‘s live-action remake, Dana Ledoux Miller, remains optimistic about the project. In an interview with Variety, Miller commends the live-action format and says “The visceral nature of [Moana’s story] really comes through with live-action. It gives the movie a real human vulnerability.” Still, whether future Disney remakes will work critically and commercially is now unclear, particularly given the critical response to Disney’s Snow White.
Source: Variety
