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David Hand<\/strong>, whose father of the same name was one of the directors of the 1937 Disney film Snow White<\/em>, is weighing in on the controversy surrounding the upcoming live-action remake.<\/p>\n Hand, 91, said that both his father, who died in 1986 at age 86, and Walt Disney would be \u201cturning in their grave[s]\u201d if they were alive to see the new adaptation<\/a>, which is set for a 2024 release.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no respect for what Disney did and what my dad did,\u201d Hand said during a Friday, August 18, interview with The Telegraph<\/em><\/a>, after noting that he \u201ctotally disagree[s]\u201d with the direction of the upcoming film.<\/p>\n Hand also said that Disney has become \u201cradical\u201d with its approach to updating old movies. \u201cThey just aren\u2019t the original stories anymore. They\u2019re making up new woke things and I\u2019m just not into any of that,\u201d he said. \u201cI find it, quite frankly, a bit insulting [what they] have done with some of these classic films.\u201d<\/p>\n The Snow White<\/em> remake first sparked backlash in June 2021 when Deadline<\/em> confirmed that Rachel Zegler<\/strong><\/a>, who is of Colombian and Polish descent, had landed the role of the titular princess.<\/p>\n Zegler, 22, has faced online hate from racist trolls since the casting announcement. Last month, she took to social media to say she\u2019d had enough.<\/p>\n \u201cExtremely appreciative of the love i feel from those defending me online, but please don\u2019t tag me in the nonsensical discourse about my casting,\u201d she wrote via Twitter<\/a> at the time. \u201cI really, truly do not want to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n Zegler drew further criticism when an Extra<\/em> interview from September 2022 resurfaced this month. In the clip, the West Side Story<\/em> actress<\/a> said she was \u201cscared\u201d of the original film and criticized the \u201cweird\u201d nature of the love story. \u201c[The prince] literally stalks her,\u201d she said before explaining how the remake would focus more on Snow White\u2019s autonomy.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s not going to be saved by the prince and she\u2019s not going to be dreaming about true love,\u201d Zegler said of her character. \u201cShe\u2019s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave and true.\u201d<\/p>\n Hand, who met the OG Snow White, Adriana Caselotti, while she was alive, told The Telegraph<\/em> that the late actress would be \u201cterrified\u201d by suggestions that her character wasn\u2019t a feminist. (Caselotti died at age 80 in 1997.)<\/p>\n In addition to controversy surrounding Zegler, the film made headlines when Peter Dinklage<\/strong><\/a>, who has a form of dwarfism known as achondroplasia, raised concerns<\/a> about how the film would handle the dwarves central to the original fairytale.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes no sense to me. You\u2019re progressive in one way and you\u2019re still making that f\u2013king backward story about seven dwarves living in a cave together. What the f\u2013k are you doing, man?\u201d the Game of Thrones<\/em> alum<\/a>, 54, said during a January 2022 appearance on Marc Maron<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s \u201cWTF\u201d podcast. \u201cLiterally no offense to anything, but I was sort of taken aback. They were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you\u2019re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n In response, a rep for Disney said in a statement that the company was \u201ctaking a different approach with these seven characters\u201d to \u201cavoid reinforcing stereotypes\u201d and had been \u201cconsulting with members of the dwarfism community.\u201d<\/p>\n The controversy was reignited last month when photos purporting to show the new \u201cdwarves\u201d appeared online. Some social media users were quick to point out that several of the actors didn\u2019t seem to have dwarfism while other racist and sexist commenters complained about the group containing Black actors and women.<\/p>\n Sign up for Us Weekly’s free, daily newsletter<\/a> and never miss breaking news or exclusive stories about your favorite celebrities, TV shows and more!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Although a Disney rep initially told The Daily Beast<\/em><\/a> that \u201cthe photos are fake and not from our production,\u201d the company later clarified that the snaps were real but not \u201cofficial.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n