The live-action remake of Snow White hits cinemas this week, but the movie has found itself at the centre of several controversies - one of these being around how the seven dwarves are represented on screen. This week, actors with dwarfism are planning to protest outside Disney Studios about the decision to portray the characters with CGI figures.
Actress Ali Chapman, 50, told the Mail on Sunday: 'The whole point of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is right up there in the title. Disney has made a live-action film and instead of giving seven talented little people the chance to shine they've scrapped us completely and used CGI instead,' continuing 'It's a total travesty and there are a lot of angry little people actors and actresses out there. People are flying in from all over the world to tell Disney this isn't acceptable.'
Chapman's husband, actor Matt McCarthy, who also has dwarfism, said: 'We've been totally shut out but we're not going down quietly. It’s hard enough in Hollywood. Everyone's trying to make their dreams come true. When you're a little person opportunities are few and far between. I was born to play Dopey.'
Meanwhile, the organiser of this week’s protest, Jeff Beacher, said the decision was 'a disgrace,' adding 'If Hollywood is about inclusion and diversity then you could have had talented little people actors in all of these roles. This is a moment in history. Equality is a movement but when it comes to little people no-one in Hollywood is listening.'
The row around dwarfism started as early as 2022, when Game Of Thrones star Peter Dinklage accused filmmakers of double standards by being conscious of racial diversity in its cast but falling back on other damaging stereotypes.
'It makes no sense to me. You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that f****** backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together,' he told podcaster Marc Maron. He added that if a 'cool, progressive spin' been put on the fairytale, he would have been 'all in.'
In a statement released after Dinklage's comments, Disney said they were 'taking a different approach with these seven characters' and had made their decision to use CGI after 'consulting with members of the dwarf community'.
Martin Klebba is the only person with dwarfism to voice one of the seven dwarfs in the film. He provides the voice of Grumpy, and also serves as an advisor for the characters. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter this month, Klebba addressed the concerns with using real people to portray the seven dwarfs. 'I don’t usually get into the political stuff, but I [felt], "Dwarfs aren’t going to go away just because you can’t imagine that they’re there." We’re still going to be walking around. So I didn’t get the whole stuff about not doing the dwarfs. The story’s been around forever, and it’s a classic,' he said.
Speaking about the decision to use VFX for the dwarfs, Klebba said: 'If you guys go this route, it just makes sense to be able to draw them the way you want. This way, they’re all the same size. And to find seven little people actors to pull it off, that’s not an easy thing either.'