Disney promises it will 'avoid reinforcing stereotypes' in Snow White remake after Peter Dinklage's criticism

Disney is vowing to "avoid reinforcing stereotypes" in its upcoming Snow White remake following criticism from Peter Dinklage.

The studio on Tuesday addressed concerns from Dinklage about its upcoming live-action remake of Snow White starring Rachel Zegler after the Game of Thrones star criticized the project on the WTF podcast.

"To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community," a Disney spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. "We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The comments came after Dinklage made headlines for slamming Disney over the upcoming film, accusing the studio of "hypocrisy" in a podcast interview.

"Literally no offense to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White," he said. "...You're progressive in one way but then you're still making that f---ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f--k are you doing, man?"

While Disney didn't share additional details about its new approach to Snow White, The Wrap reported that the film's casting sheets indicate that it will feature "magical creatures" in place of dwarfs, though whether those creatures will serve the same role in the story or the names of the original seven dwarfs wasn't clear. According to the Reporter, Disney has been "reimagining the dwarf characters since the earliest stages" of the project, which dates back three years. It isn't yet clear when the film might be released. ​​​​​