Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for ‘Snow White’Considering the large gap between the release of the live-action Snow White and the Disney animated classic, it makes sense that substantial changes have been made to the narrative to make it more accessible to modern-day audiences. These differences can be split into three major categories: those that occur before the original movie begins that flesh out Snow White’s (Rachel Zegler) childhood, changes to the foundational plot line, and the extended finale that takes place after the credits roll in the animated classic. These changes each serve a different purpose, with the longer opening and ending of the story put in place to give Snow White more agency and motivation, compared to the alterations to the story itself, serving to update the outdated aspects of the original surrounding consent, gender, and diversity.
Snow White Now Has a Backstory

The live-action remake has a much longer opening, which features two new musical numbers. The first of these is “Where the Good Things Grow,” which offers an insight into what the kingdom was like under Snow White’s parents, which provides much-needed contrast to how the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) reigns. The former thrives on community, striving for equality where people share food and resources. There are extended clips of Snow White baking pies with her parents and handing them out to the villagers, which offers insight into her kindhearted nature and why she is so maternal towards the dwarfs. This differs from the Evil Queen, who uses fear to control the population and had the farmers become her guards.
This extended introduction also offers more backstory around the wishing well, seeing a young Snow White staring into the water with her parents before revealing her mother tragically passed away from illness. The movie then explains that her father remarried before heading out on an expedition and never returning. This is when the movie meets up with the opening of the animated classic. We return to Snow White at the wishing well, now forced to be a scullery maid for the Evil Queen.
New Songs Give Snow White New Priorities

At the well, her I want song is updated for a modern audience. Gone is “I’m Wishing” from the original, which details her desire to fall in love and meet a prince. In its place is the showstopper of Snow White, “Waiting on a Wish”, which serves to readjust the princess’ priorities and shows her driving force is now making her parents proud. In the original, this is the moment she meets her love interest, the nameless Prince, who sings “One Song,” and the pair immediately fall deeply in love. This immediacy is completely removed; Snow White is given time to show the audience her desire to escape and be free before her new love interest is introduced.
This new love interest comes in the form of Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), who is the antithesis of a prince. Here, he is a thief and provides an insight into the state of the kingdom under the queen. Jonathan is stealing potatoes from the palace when he meets Snow White, and the pair don’t instantly fall in love. There is actually a clash of morals, as Jonathan sees Snow as idealistic and blinkered to the truth, while Snow sees Jonathan as pessimistic and dogmatic in his viewpoint. The remake gives their relationship time to blossom, and it is not until much later in the runtime that you see them fall in love.
‘Snow White’ Updates Negative Gender Stereotypes

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The foundational plot of getting Snow White into the woods, with the Huntsman sent to carve out her heart but encouraging her to flee, is the same. As is the sequence of Snow running through the woods being littered with horror, such as the branches moving to trap her and the trees seemingly having faces. Similarly, the princess’s relationship with animals being the vehicle to her discovering the dwarf’s home is kept in place. However, when she arrives at their abode, she goes straight to sleep rather than cleaning up their house.
The dwarfs themselves are similar in conception, but for some reason now have magic hands to find the gems in the mine. The major change in their interaction with Snow White is that she seems to be a much stronger force of good for them, rather than feeling like a glorified maid. She encourages Dopey (Andrew Barth Feldman) to be confident through teaching him how to whistle, and the subsequent use of “Whistle While You Work” is updated to be about camaraderie and understanding. The song now takes place post “Heigh-Ho”, and is used to show the dwarfs how to work together and understand each other’s differences. It updates the idea of Snow White cleaning up for them and makes her feel more influential in their character arcs.
Love At First Sight is Replaced in ‘Snow White’

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Snow White’s new sense of determination and agency is felt in the updates to the climax of the movie. She leaves the dwarfs to find her father, unaware that the Queen had him killed, and bumps into Jonathan again. The pair sing another of the new songs, “Princess Problems”, which outlines their obvious chemistry before running into Jonathan’s fellow bandits. After being chased by the Queen’s guard, Jonathan takes an arrow for Snow to highlight his feelings to the audience and makes his determination to save her in the climax much more meaningful than the original.
Jonathan is healed by Doc, and this is where an abridged version of “The Silly Song” is used as the group all dance and celebrate. After a romantic new duet of “A Hand Meets A Hand,” likely replacing “Someday My Prince Will Come,” Snow White is left at the house alone. The sequence of the Evil Queen transforming and tricking Snow White is left fairly untouched. In fact, aside from a new musical number, most of the Queen’s narrative is unchanged. With Jonathan coming to save the princess with true love’s kiss, which is now consensual thanks to a song lyric, the live-action remake reaches the point where the animated classic ends.
‘Snow White’ Has a Completely New Ending

Image via Disney

In the animated version, following the true love’s kiss, the movie ends with the statement that Snow White and the Prince live happily ever after. However, the live-action remake has a new ending sequence that gives much more closure to the story. It shows Snow returning to the kingdom and revealing herself to the villagers, before reminding them of what life was like under her parents. It takes naming the soldiers for them to turn on the Queen, and she begins to realize her power is slipping away from her. In a rage, she storms into the castle and confronts the magic mirror. Unlike the original, which sees the Evil Queen fall to her death, she is turned to glass by the mirror before shattering and being sucked into the reflective surface.
With the Queen gone, the village bows to Snow as the rightful heir to the throne, and the movie shows the restoration of community and fairness. You have to wait right until the end of the movie for the biggest change in the movie. Whilst plotting to return to the kingdom, Dopey talks, and the final moments reveal that he is, in fact, the narrator of the whole movie, telling Snow’s story to the village. The updated version of Snow White makes a huge number of changes, for better or for worse. However, it is evident that the story needed to be modernized, and Disney definitely reinvented a classic tale for a new audience.
Snow White is now playing in theaters.

Snow White

Release Date

March 21, 2025

Runtime

109 Minutes

Director

Marc Webb

Writers

Erin Cressida Wilson, Wilhelm Grimm

Producers

Callum McDougall, Marc Platt