An evangelical US pastor has criticised Disney’s latest adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for straying from the "gospel themes" of its original storyline.
The 2025 remake of Disney’s 1938 classic has underperformed at the box office, with an estimated loss of $115 million.
Some attribute the poor turnout to its CGI rendering of the seven dwarfs – rather than employing actors with dwarfism – or the political controversy of casting former IDF soldier Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.
Pastor Greg Laurie, of Harvest Christian Fellowship, California, believes its failure stems from "secularisation" of the storyline.
In a YouTube video, he said: “The ‘Snow White’ tale was a story of a battle between good and evil, likening the Evil Queen’s obsession with beauty and power to the pride and fall of Lucifer in the Bible.
“That’s basically the story that we read about in the Bible, about Lucifer, a once high-ranking, powerful angel who wanted to take the place of God with himself.”
Laurie asserts that the modern princess's journey of self-empowerment reflects a self-obsessed culture. Rather than the leading musical number centring around 'true love', the original 'Someday My Prince Will Come' has been replaced with 'Waiting on a Wish'.
Leading actress Rachel Zegler sings: "Waiting on a wish... I close my eyes and see the girl I'm meant to be // Is she a part of me?"
Pastor Laurie branded the film "woke", remarking: "Heaven forbid we acknowledge the timeless human desire for love, redemption, and rescue."
He drew parallels between the original fairytale and Jesus' resurrection, saying: "Snow White is resurrected from her deathlike sleep [and] saved by the prince... which if we're being honest is not all that different from a Christian worldview."
Greg Laurie has a background in film production, having worked on the 2023 film Jesus Revolution, which tells the story of his own conversion and features The Chosen actor Jonathan Roumie.
The pastor’s YouTube channel has over 567,000 subscribers.