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Ditching the dwarfs? Disney says it’s ‘taking a different approach’ to Snow White to avoid offense

January 26, 2022 | | Print Article

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Peter Dinklage, the dwarf actor made famous for his role in the TV series “Game of Thrones,” appears to be trying to cancel the original “Snow White” because it offends his dwarfish sensibilities.

During an appearance Monday on “WTF with Marc Maron,” a weekly podcast hosted by comedian Marc Maron, he seemingly complained about Disney’s planned upcoming “Snow White” remake not being woke enough.

“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 — but you’re still telling the story of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.’ Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me,” he said.

“You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that f–king backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together? What the f–k are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I’m not loud enough.”

Listen:

Over the summer, Disney announced plans to produce a live-action remake of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

But following Dinklage’s now-viral remarks Monday, Disney backtracked a little.

“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,” the spokesperson added.

And so the remake is still set to be produced, though, from the sounds of it, the remake will be nothing like the original story.

What’s not clear is whether Dinklage was being serious. On one hand, he and Maron were chuckling as he spoke about “Snow White.” Moreover, he admitted later in the interview that he’s “about as politically non-correct” as one can be.

But on the other hand, he’s long harbored resentment over being a dwarf. A 2012 profile of him published by New York Times Magazine noted that “as the only dwarf in his family, he was often angry about his height in his youth.”

The anger grew as he entered the world of acting but found it difficult to get an agent.

“Even after Dinklage’s memorable first film role in the 1995 Steve Buscemi indie comedy ‘Living in Oblivion’ … he still couldn’t get an agent. ‘Word got out [about his height],’ he says. ‘I started to build up a resentment,'” the profile reads.

He also expressed great displeasure at dwarf jokes.

“Dwarves are still the butt of jokes. It’s one of the last bastions of acceptable prejudice. Not just by people who’ve had too much to drink in England and want to throw a person. But by media, everything. You can say no. You can not be the object of ridicule,” he said.

While critics say his personal trauma is completely understandable, they do nevertheless take issue with him trying to use it to “ruin” a classic story and potentially rob seven other dwarf actors of acting roles:

As seen above, critics also point to the numerous examples of Dinklage himself playing (and getting paid for) silly dwarf characters, including an angry elf:

Vivek Saxena
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