Months After Failure, Disney Puts The Final Nail in ‘Snow White’ Coffin
It’s been months since Disney’s live-action Snow White (2025) quietly fizzled out at the box office, but now we may officially be looking at the end of that chapter. With Lilo & Stitch (2025) absolutely crushing it over Memorial Day weekend — and doing everything Snow White didn’t — the message from fans couldn’t be clearer: stop trying to “reimagine” the classics and just tell a good story.
Let’s be honest — Snow White never stood a chance. And now, with the massive success of Lilo & Stitch, Disney seems to be closing the book on a very loud, very controversial era.
Snow White Was a PR Nightmare from the Beginning
Before anyone even saw a trailer, Snow White (2025) was already trending — and not in a good way. Leading actress Rachel Zegler made headlines for repeatedly calling the 1937 original “outdated” and “sexist,” while promising this version would toss out the whole “waiting for a prince” storyline. That may sound progressive on paper, but it rubbed a lot of longtime fans the wrong way. What was supposed to be a tribute to a beloved fairytale instead came across like an apology for it.
Things only got worse from there. Zegler’s interviews, particularly the infamous Vogue Mexico quote about “not agreeing with everyone who surrounds us,” felt tone-deaf amid growing backlash. Fans weren’t asking for politics or hot takes — they were hoping for magic.
And yet when the film finally premiered, it barely made a splash. No big marketing push. No viral moments. No buzz. A $240 million budget — and it couldn’t even crack $45 million domestically during its opening. Brutal.
A Total Flop — While Lilo & Stitch Skyrockets
Then comes Lilo & Stitch, dropping just two months later — and instantly proving Disney can still deliver when it stops trying so hard to be something it’s not. The film absolutely lit up the box office with $183 million domestic and $341 million worldwide just over the long weekend.
Why did it work? Simple: it stayed true to the heart of the original. Yes, there were updates. Yes, there was chatter about one character tweak. But the core message — about family, belonging, and love — stayed intact. Director Dean Fleischer Camp didn’t try to reinvent the wheel. He just made it roll smoothly.
And Stitch actually looked like Stitch. That’s more than we can say for some of the other live-action “reinterpretations.”
This Isn’t Just About Two Movies
It’s tempting to treat this like a one-off — one bad remake, one good one — but there’s something much bigger at play here.
Snow White felt like a lecture. Lilo & Stitch felt like a hug.
Audiences are clearly still willing to show up for remakes — despite what some online critics say. But only when those remakes actually respect the source material. You can’t build a film around rejecting the very story that made it beloved. Fans want modern flair, not a complete rewrite.
And that’s where Snow White lost the crowd. In trying to be edgy, bold, or maybe even “correct,” Disney forgot to make it fun.
Disney Might Finally Be Listening
After the disaster that was Snow White and the triumph of Lilo & Stitch, Disney execs have to be rethinking their approach. This wasn’t just a bad box office return — it was a rejection of a whole mindset. One that said nostalgia needs to be corrected, not celebrated.
The message from fans is crystal clear now: stop trying to fix what’s not broken. They don’t need a lecture on fairytales. They just want to enjoy them again.
We may not know what Disney’s next move is, but if Lilo & Stitch is any indication, the company might finally be ready to put its “woke era” in the rearview. And that sound you hear? That’s the coffin slamming shut on the studio’s most tone-deaf project in years.
It’s about time.
