Little people to rally outside Disney Studios in protest of Snow White

Dozens of Hollywood’s smallest stars will stage a mass protest outside Disney Studios this week to rail against the controversial new Snow White movie – which has replaced the seven dwarfs with computer-generated ‘cartoons.’

I’m with the little fellas on this one.

This whole issue started because Disney got confused by comments made by Peter Dinklage, who is also confused.  Peter Dinklage is a human actor with dwarfism, and is not a dark elf who lives underground, mines gold and forges magical melee weapons.  He gets real and mythical dwarfs mixed up.

Peter Dinklage has some physical attributes in common with the modern concept of the mythical dwarf, especially when he grows a beard.

That photo is Dinklage at a public event.  If a mythical dwarf were needed, he just requires a costume and props.  That’s why human actors with dwarfism are cast to play mythical dwarfs.

When making a movie, it’s easier on everyone to have an actor who is closer to matching the character. Bolaji Badejo was not really a xenomorph, but was actually a tall Nigerian with long legs.  His only acting role was in the movie, Alien.

Kenny Baker was an English actor, and not a robot at all.  Baker doesn’t resemble R2D2 in any way, but he fit in the suit, so he got the role in Star Wars.

Peter Dinklage needs to get over himself.  He was great in Game of Thrones, won Emmy’s and Golden Globes, but he doesn’t speak for the little people. 

Billy Barty had twice as many acting credits over the course of a 70 year career.  Barty started the organization, Little People of America, to build a community.  Dinklage is just shooting off his mouth to keep other actors with dwarfism from achieving his level of success.

The article says that instead of using actors with dwarfism, Snow White has computer generated ‘cartoons’.  Actual cartoons, like the 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, are cute and expressive.

CGI yields dwarfs that look rubbery and stiff.

The latex mask on the right cost $25.  If that was the effect they were going for, making latex masks for actors with dwarfism, would have been the way to go.  Instead, using CGI the cost of the film went up to at least $270 million.  Hollywood accounting is mysterious, but the film will need to make something like $700 million in global ticket sales to break even.

Casting actors to play the dwarfs should have been easy, but Disney couldn’t even cast Snow White properly.  She’s white.  It’s right there in the name.  Instead, they cast a Latina actress who can’t shut up about her ethnicity.  She can’t stop offending people.

Snow White will be in theaters next week.  It will certainly lose money. but will it even be as good and faithful to the original story, as Snow White and the Three Stooges?