The importance and meanings of fairytales have been studied across a range of scholarly disciplines. Let us consider the traditional understanding of fairytales: the universal aspect of fairytales is in examining and presenting the human condition and life-lessons about the battle between good and evil and the importance of virtues in life such as perseverance and hope, humbleness and love, forgiveness and justice. The question is: should contemporary, re-imagined fairytales reflect the spirit of their time, ideologies or politics?
The invention of the moving image enabled the re-imagination of fairytales through cinematic adaptations of literary works and the old fairytales. It is important to note that adaptions had to be ‘adjusted’ to the nature of the new art form, industry, cultural climate, target audience and profit. Some literary adaptations were more successful representing a work of art (translating the literary classic into film language) some less, depending on the artistic level of the filmmaker. In Disney’s cinematic world, however, the adaptation was bound to the rich production that would rarely fail in impressing the audience, at least at the very beginnings of cinema. However, in Disney world the fairytales somehow became a matter of expressing the spirit of the time, that is, representing the adaption of the adaptation of the original, or as the title of one film says ironically: ‘the original of the falsification.”[1]
Disney’s latest release of the new Snow White according to media so far represents not only a financial debacle but a failed version of Snow White that took a completely new turn significantly departing from the initial version from 1937. In the spirit of time. It seems that everyone in the Disney orbit have forgotten the important dimension of fairytales: while they certainly come from a specific context and time – fairytales have a universal appeal surpassing cultural contexts, history and time.
The new Snow White thus sparked political and cultural debates about the film: how for instance the 1937 version offered a feminine, soft, family-friendly Snow White rescued by her prince (as the fairytale goes), while the 2025 version opted for a feminist, Latino Snow White, which many referred to, in popular language, as to a ‘woke’ Snow White of ‘socialist utopia.’ In this new version Snow White’s fairness does not refer to her beauty, outward or inward (which the original possessed) but literally to fairness – being fair to her subjects, that is to people of her land, whom she defends from the exploitation of the evil – greedy queen. It has to be said at this point that the feminist Snow White is not an invention of Hollywood or Disney and that for instance Czechoslovakia produced Cinderella[2] that besides providing a new take on the beloved fairytale character, actually succeeded as a cinematic work. However, it is now an almost incurable ailment of ‘the West’ not to know world cinema, and to fail seeing its own follies: for example, how self-centrism bears fruit to another form of self-centrism that is very much criticised, thus reaching the heights of the best ancient political comedies.
In the spirit of the Disney world, the author of this text dared to propose a new adaptation building upon the new version of Snow White, and in order to introduce reality into the fantasy, and propose a new genre of fairy-realism (daring the potential viewers, if this would ever to become a film, to tell the distinction between real and fictional, and discover in that process whether they are indeed the subjects of totalitarian cinema or their own illusions).
Let us imagine the following script:
Once upon a time there was a King (a man not a woman) who ruled over his people unjustly. He possessed all the qualities that his subjects despised, such as greediness, arrogance, selfishness and lust for power, but he did not care as he equally despised his subjects. However, at the same time he desperately needed his subjects to justify his existence as a king – as there is no king without a kingdom. However the subjects were becoming increasingly unhappy with his rule, so he thought one day of how to make everyone happy. This was the plan that would make him happy, but also give an illusion of happiness to his subjects. But how could he do that? He decided to call the fairest of them all to help: Snow White from the North (of his Kingdom), pale and beautiful, a bit advanced in age but still highly respected.
This impressed the ‘town-criers’[3] who announced on all public squares that Snow White is coming to the land, hoping that such news will elevate the spirits of the despised subjects. Snow White and the King met and in a feminist spirit after giving a moral lecture to the King Snow White proposed a solution that would make everyone happy, mostly her realm. Namely the solution was this: she had seven dwarfs who also desperately needed to work (as they were not happy with doing nothing).
The dwarfs were the miners, and their true happiness was when they dig the mines: they would sing, dance, joke and basically feel very much alive. However, they were sitting for too long in Snow White’s realm unhappy to just receive the richness of mines from other miners from the faraway kingdoms, and they really wanted to have their own mines again.
Snow White, beautiful and fair, made an agreement with the King to send her beloved dwarfs who will be happy to work again, and bring the mine minerals to both her and the King. As for the subjects – they would be convinced by the town-criers that they will become rich too, and certainly happier – because – who can resist the charms of the happy seven dwarfs?
Unfortunately, one of the King’s hunters who overheard the story, announced it to the subjects, after which the subjects miraculously started turning into the people. The actual people, and the King could see their faces for the first time. Naturally, this left him in a state of shock. The people however did not want the seven dwarfs. What a scandal and what a misfortune for the King and the fairest of them all who had to return to her castle to re-think the strategy for the realm. The people (similarly like in Disney’s 2025 version) started to disobey, even the King’s faithful warriors started to remember how good it was when they worked on the land and shared with each other (just like in Disney’s 2025), that the King even briefly considered Richard III and wanted to cry “A horse, a horse for a Kingdom!”[4] in order to escape, but Snow White did not let him make such a foolish step.
He went to the mirror that Snow White in her generosity lent him to ask what to do, but the mirror did not respond. Then he remembered that the mirror only responded to the question: “mirror, mirror on the wall…who is the fairest of them all?” To his great surprise the answer was not ‘you, my King’ or ‘Snow White’ but ‘your people’. The King smashed the magic mirror and sent a telegram to Snow White, who did not respond, still in a comatose state. A hunter soon came to the King to find a suitable solution, to implement fairness as the rule, without the seven dwarfs, Snow White and even potentially without the King himself. The King panicked and wanted to kill the hunter, but the other hunters were already with the people and there was nobody to carry out the task. Desperate the King reached out to Snow White and even went to visit her. He found her deeply asleep and could not wake her up. But that is another story. To this day we do not know what happened with the seven dwarfs, whether they entered the kingdom, and if the kingdom will be sold for a horse. But we do know that the hunters and the people are happier than they have ever been before. Heigh – Ho.
The End?
[1] The Original of the Forgery (Original falsifikata, Dragan Kresoja, 1991).
[2] Three Wishes for Cinderella (Tri orísky pro Popelku, Václav Vorlícek, 1973).
[3] Traditionally officers of a royal court or public authority who makes public pronouncements as required; in the modern context – the media.
[4] William Shakespear: Richard III, Act 5, scene 4, line 13.
Photocredits: Image 1: (C) Wikimedia Commons, Image 2: (C) Wikimedia Commons
RaT-Blog Nr 8/2025