The latest in Disney’s increasingly long line of live-action remakes of animated classics is here. While most critics weren't wowed by the new movie, our own Snow White review was much more positive. Fans have been equally mixed, with some audiences enjoying Snow White and others not caring for it. There are several reasons that the film may not have connected with audiences, but one reason may have been that, when compared to other live-action remakes, Snow White just didn’t look as nice.
A post has gone viral on Threads, which puts two of Disney’s live-action princesses side by side and asks the question, why does Cinderella look so much better than Snow White? Looking at the two official images of the movie, one showing Lily James in her gown and the other Rachel Zegler and the dwarfs, it’s difficult to argue that the older film, which cost a fraction of Snow White’s reported budget, looks better.
Post by @currlymanView on Threads
While there are plenty of defenders of Snow White in the comments and plenty of gross comments that focus on Rachel Zegler’s casting above all else, the vast majority stay on topic and agree that the one certainly looks a lot better than the other. Comments include…
- Maybe a hot take but the live action Cinderella is much better than the original and still remains the best remake to date
- The year CGI reached its ultimate peak, filmmakers got lazy with practical effects.
- Ok I was giving a chance to Snow White but I've never seen anything so poorly executed! Like did they swallow the 300 mill?
- The hardest part for me to fathom is that the same woman designed both the Cinderella dress and the Snow White dress…
The reason one of the movies cost as much as $300 million while the other had a reported budget of just $95 million is right there in the picture. Snow White had significantly more CGI than Cinderella. That fact also likely impacted the look of Snow White as the entire look of the movie would need to be adjusted in order to make the CGI look as good as possible.
But whatever the reason, the fact of the matter is that Snow White’s extreme budget is a problem, and not simply because it didn’t make the movie look perfect. Cinderella went on to make over $500 million worldwide on its small budget, a massive hit. It's also seen as one of the best Disney live-action remakes to date.
Even if Snow White were to match that number, which is unlikely considering its mediocre opening, that likely would not be enough to make the movie a success. Especially once you add in the costs of marketing and distributing the film to its inflated budget.
Whatever you think of the two movies overall, what's clear is that a movie doesn't need to break the bank to look great, and spending more money doesn't always mean a better result.