Brand Expert: 'Snow White' Could Ruin Disney, Cites 'Huge Impact On Ticket Sales' From Star's Woke Political Messaging

Disney's live-action remake of Snow White could prove to be a financial disaster for the legacy film studio that has been reeling from audience backlash over the past few years. Much of the media firestorm has centered around leading lady Rachel Zegler, 22, who made her first bones on Broadway's West Side Story.

Zegler took to the promotional trail by immediately deriding the much beloved 1937 original animated feature that built Disney's empire.

"She's not going to be saved by the prince," Zegler infamously boasted, "and she's not going to be dreaming about true love."

Brand expert Carla Speight explained to The Daily Mail that the hidden or obvious political messaging of the film combined with commentary from the actress could be a costly misstep for Disney.

"Whilst it's been clear that the original Disney Princess films hold old values, Disney have fallen for the trap of going to the opposite extreme to inflict strong and loaded messaging on the viewers — believing that's empowerment," she told the outlet.

"There was a time when Disney actors were media trained and were thoughtful about the impact of their words, whilst sticking to key messaging about the films, but it seems with this total rewrite of Snow White, picturing her as a 'boss girl' has gone to the heads of their stars."

"The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so," she said to reporters. "There's a big focus on her love story with a guy that literally stalks her ... weird, weird — so we aren't going to do that," Zegler told extra during a press junket.

In an Entertainment Weekly interview alongside costar Gal Gadot claimed, "I was scared of the original version. I think I watched it once and never picked it up again. I'm being so serious." She added, "I watched it once, and then I went on the ride in Disney World, which was called Snow White's Scary Adventures."

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Speight warned, "Disney will need to be careful with how they have portrayed Snow White and what they do and don't allow their actors to say about it going forwards. They simply cannot repeat the same mistakes and allow their actors to be so vocal in their own personal opinions during promotions."

"It can have a huge impact on ticket sales, especially with the amount of negative backlash so early in the promo trail."

Providing Disney a bit of free advice adding, "They need to get the key messaging and strong selling point into a brief for the cast of the film and ensure they stick to it. If they don't, it's a disaster waiting to happen and the backlash will keep growing."

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