Original 'Snow White' director's son slams remake as 'insulting' to his dad's legacy

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By Nasima Khatun

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The original Snow White director's son has had some harsh words to say about the latest remake.

Speaking to The Telegraph, David Hand said that his father would be turning in his grave to see the "woke" rendition of the classic 1937 film, branding the entire thing as "insulting."

"I find it quite frankly a bit insulting [what] they may have done with some of these classic films," Hand, who worked as a designer for Disney in the '90s, told the outlet.

"There’s no respect for what Disney did and what my dad did," he added. "I think Walt and he would be turning in their graves."

Check out the trailer for the upcoming Snow White live-action remake:

"I think it’s pathetic that people feel that way... these are art forms in the world of film today," Hand said before adding that this updated film will make young viewers — especially those who "have never seen the original" — "misunderstand" the concept of it.

"It’s a whole different concept and I just totally disagree with it, and I know my dad and Walt would also very much disagree with it," he continued. They change the stories, they change the thought process of the characters," he continued. "They’re making up new woke things and I’m just not into any of that."

It comes as Rachel Zegler, who is set to play the lead in the upcoming Snow White, made headlines after a clip of her discussing the "modern" storyline recently resurfaced.

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Rachel Zegler attends The 15th Annual CNN Heroes: All-Star Tribute at American Museum of Natural History. Credit: Dominik Bindl/Getty

In the video, which was a snippet taken from Disney's D23 Expo in California, Zegler claimed the movie was "weird" and even went on to brand the prince a "stalker."

"The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so," she said at the time. "There's a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird! So we didn't do that this time."

She continued: "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. All of Andrew's [Burnap] scenes could get cut, who knows? It's Hollywood, baby!"

The actress also admitted that she was "scared" of the original movie.

"I think I watched it once and never picked it up again. I'm being so serious," she said in the interview alongside Gal Gadot, who played the Evil Queen. "I watched it once, and then I went on the ride in Disney World, which was called Snow White's Scary Adventures. Doesn't sound like something a little kid would like."

"I was terrified of it, never revisited Snow White again," she added.

In a follow-up interview with Variety, she clarified her stance, stating that rather than trying to overwrite the original, she was hoping to bring a more modern twist to it.

"I just mean that it's no longer 1937. She's not going to be saved by the prince and she's not going to be dreaming about true love," Zegler said.

"She's dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave, and true," she added.

But despite the clarity, it seems as though opinions across the fandom are still divided.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Snow White is set to debut in 2024.

Featured Image Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty