Mirror Mirror and 3 Other Snow White Adaptations That Are Better Than Disney's Live-Action Movie
These projects will heal the wound left by the new Disney film.
Marc Webb's Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, is flopping at the box office. However, we're not saying goodbye to the character. The story of Snow White has ancient roots.
Here are some of the most interesting Snow White adaptations, both live-action and animated.
1. Mirror Mirror, 2012
Director Tarsem Singh wanted to portray the Evil Queen as more than just a one-dimensional villain, as she was in the classic Disney story.
She still had to be a villain, but one driven by a thirst for power rather than simple vanity. At the same time, she had to be likable to the audience. Therefore, the director decided that no one except Julia Roberts, with her infectious laugh, would be suitable for the role.
Snow White's image also underwent serious changes. She is no longer a damsel in distress but a heroine who will fight back against the villain. Actress Lily Collins had to learn fencing, acrobatics, and wrestling.
2. Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs, 2019
In Snow White, directed by the Korean filmmaker Sung-ho Hong, the eponymous heroine is not a classic beauty but an ordinary girl who lost her castle due to her stepmother's machinations.
Her father disappeared, and the sorceress locked herself in the palace while trying to grow rejuvenating shoes on a magic tree. Snow White finds the shoes, puts them on, and transforms into a beauty. She then sets out to find the seven heroes who can help her search for her father.
Meanwhile, the hunters of evil spirits pass the time as dwarves because they angered the sorceress, who cast a spell on them. Only a kiss from a beautiful princess can break the spell.
3. Snow White: A Tale of Terror, 1997
The original fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm were quite dark, filled with creepy, archaic details, such as dancing in hot shoes.
In 1997, director Michael Cohn attempted to create a horror film inspired not by the literal embodiment of the plots, but by the dark spirit of these fairy tales. Thus, Snow White is born in tragic circumstances: her father cuts her from the womb of her dying mother.
After an unsuccessful pregnancy, the kind stepmother goes crazy, and the dwarves to whom Snow White runs away turn out to be evil.
4. Snow White and the Huntsman, 2012
Only a few motifs remain from the original fairy tale in this version, such as the magic mirror and the dwarves. The new queen remains obsessed with her beauty but is also driven by a thirst for revenge against men, as well as a desire for wealth and power.
She has a rich biography, including experiencing hunger as a child and being betrayed by a man in her youth. Snow White emerges as the leader of the rebellion against the tyranny of witchcraft, causing the love story to fade into the background.