Is This Snow White's New Look?

I thought I said everything I had to say about Disney's upcoming remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs starring Rachel Zegler until this set leak happened and took the internet by storm. While I'm no stranger to set leaks, this one really takes the cake. Maybe it's the lighting in these shots, Rachel's unfinished hairstyle in the process of being set, or her unnatural expression, but something seems very off about these photos. Can you spot it? It's probably the bright yellow skirt. As accurate of a depiction this is to the dress Snow White wore in the original animated film, these colors are horrendously bright and do not look good on our young actress at all. Don't worry, though. I'm sure they'll fix it with CGI.

Rachel Zegler sports a surprisingly screen accurate rendition of Snow White's iconic dress with a blue bodice, white collar, yellow skirt, and red teardrop-shaped accepts on the puffed sleeves. And yet, it looks wrong. Could it be too accurate to the cartoon? In Disney's 2017 remake of Beauty and the Beast, Belle's dress lacked many of the intricate gold details that were painstakingly penciled into the animation. Here, Rachel dons every detail of Snow White's animated dress and then some with brocaded fabric, lace, and corset tie details added to the bodice. However, the bright canary yellow tulle detailing on the skirt is more reminiscent of an over-the-top Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique costume for little girls than something an authentic princess may have worn in medieval times. Once Upon a Time did a much better job of portraying costumes that Snow White could have worn if she were a real person.

Keep in mind that these pictures were leaked by an anonymous source and not released officially by Disney, so they may not be congruent with her final look. Still, it's unfortunate that this is the first incarnation that we have of Rachel as Snow White, especially this early in the process. I was surprised to see any images this soon, especially when The Little Mermaid with Halle Bailey is coming out sooner, and the only images we've seen of her in are in the coarse sailboat fabric she wrapped around herself when she washed up along the shore. Halle also released a photo of herself in a tail after production wrapped that caused a lot of confusion on whether or not it was her official look from. Due to the lighting with the sun setting behind her, it is difficult to make out what she is wearing regardless. The confusion behind these photos is reminiscent of that one. Are fans being tricked into thinking this will be Snow White's main look when it is actually a test costume or something she only wears in one scene?

Maybe the confusion behind these leaks are a sign that Disney should be more forthcoming with their official first looks for anticipated titles. In the age of social media, it's impossible to control everything that gets out to the public, so it would be better for them to release promo images within their control than to get bad press from poor quality photos that were not meant to be seen by the public. Disney released several promo photos of Princess Jasmine's costumes in Aladdin six months before the movie came out. Sure, Snow White and The Little Mermaid still have some more time left, but most fans are not willing to wait that long. They will grab at whatever they can get their hands on now, and those images look pretty sad in comparison to the costumes that these characters wear in the theme parks. Considering that this a modern retelling, I'm a little surprised they went with a classic dress for Snow White at all instead of donning her in warrior princess outfits from the get go.

Our first unofficial look at Disney's live-action Snow White came as quite the shock with eye-piercingly bright cartoonish colors. While this does not look very promising right now, keep in mind that it is not our first official look at the character. Hopefully, this costume is only used as a brief tribute to the animated film while the rest of the movie will contain more Once Upon a Time-inspired looks. Are you a fan of this Snow White costume, or do you think Disney could do better? Let me know in the comments!