Absent any creative inspiration of its own, corporate Disney has digitally rebooted many of its classic animated properties — Aladdin, The Lion King, Dumbo, Mary Poppins Returns, Cinderella, The Jungle Book — while others are waiting in the pipeline, including Lady and the Tramp and a musical version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
But in the wake of yesterday’s news that Marc Webb will probably direct the Snow White reboot (with screenwriter Erin Cressida negotiating to adapt), a question hangs in the air: How do you reboot the cobwebby 1937 original, in which the angelic Snow White was rescued from a witch’s coma with a kiss from an adoring prince, in the era of #MeToo?
And do you play along with the precedent of Into The Woods, which said that fairy tales are delusional bullshit and that Cinderella’s Prince was a philanderer? Not to mention Relativity’s Mirror Mirror (’12) and Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman (also ’12). Or do you ignore all of this and just pretend it’s 1937 all over again?
I’m presuming that Disney will lean toward a “#MeToo who?” solution, but maybe not.
Justin Kroll’s Variety story reports that the forthcoming Snow White “will expand upon the story and music from the 1938 animated classic,” and that Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land,The Greatest Showman) will write new songs.
Webb’s directing credits include The Only Living Boy in New York (which I absolutely hated), Gifted and 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man.
Wilson’s best-known credit is The Girl on the Train.