The Snow White backlash isn’t going away—if anything, it’s getting worse. Now, Disney is getting hammered by little people actors incensed with the company’s decision to use CGI dwarfs in the troubled film.
Dopey in the Live Action Snow White movie – YouTube, Disney
After Disney scrapped live-action actors in favor of CGI dwarfs, little people actors are speaking out against the studio for robbing them of job opportunities. Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter originally admitted that Disney had changed course but quickly edited their article to claim that CGI dwarfs were always the plan, raising serious questions about the studio’s influence over media narratives.
Little People Actors Speak Out Against Disney’s Decision
Actress Ali Chapman, who has appeared on Little Women: LA, slammed Disney for choosing CGI over real actors.
“It’s a movie that’s supposed to have real dwarves,” she told TMZ. “Instead, Disney chose to use CGI to replace actors and actresses that are little people that are very talented.”
Her husband, actor Matt McCarthy, echoed her frustration, saying Disney’s decision effectively shut out little people from seven key roles.
‘Snow White’ slammed by ‘Little Women: LA’ guest star over use of CGI dwarves: ‘We were shut out’ https://t.co/4igWAV2tYO pic.twitter.com/jIuwawu30T
— New York Post (@nypost) March 13, 2025
READ: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Bombs on PlayStation Plus, BioWare Can’t Even Give This Game Away
“That’s seven roles right there,” he said. “Seven little people that could’ve filled those roles, and unfortunately, we were shut out of that opportunity.”
Chapman emphasized that Hollywood should stop replacing real people with CGI, especially when those roles are meant for little people. This isn’t the first time Hollywood has done this. The Warner Bros. film Wonka used a CGI-altered Hugh Grant as the Oompa Loompas, roles that originally went to Little People actors in the original Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory.
These criticisms add to the growing backlash over Disney’s handling of the Seven Dwarfs, with many pointing to the hypocrisy of claiming to be progressive while actively removing real-life representation for little people actors.
Peter Dinklage’s Role in Disney’s Decision—Burning the Bridge Behind Him?
Disney’s disastrous handling of the Seven Dwarfs began in 2022 when Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage called the original story “backward” on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast.
“You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that f’ing backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together,” Dinklage said. “What the f* are you doing, man?”
Peter Dinklage via The Graham Norton Show YouTube
READ: Inside Sony’s Internal Battle, A Look at the East–West Clash Dividing Sony and the Gaming Industry
Dinklage’s comments seemingly pushed Disney into overhauling the dwarfs, replacing them with a diverse group of men and women of different sizes. However, when leaked set photos surfaced, the reaction was overwhelmingly negative. Fans ridiculed Disney’s attempt to erase the classic dwarfs, and the backlash forced the studio to pivot once again—this time to CGI creatures.
Many little people actors have since accused Dinklage of pulling the ladder up behind him. Having already built a successful Hollywood career playing dwarf characters, he pressured Disney into removing roles that could have given other little people opportunities.
Dylan Postl, a professional wrestler formerly known as Hornswoggle in the WWE who also appeared in the Disney film Muppets Most Wanted blasted Dinklage for what he did in several media interviews with major names like Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan (and me as well…).
Disney’s Flip-Flopping—And THR’s Quiet Cover-Up
After the backlash over the diverse live-action dwarfs, Disney scrambled to course-correct, replacing them with CGI while claiming it was always the plan. But the timeline of events—and now an edited article from The Hollywood Reporter—tells a different story.
Originally, THR acknowledged that Disney had cast a group of diverse actors to play the dwarfs, only to backtrack after fans revolted. However, after publication, that section of the article was mysteriously edited to claim that reports of live-action dwarfs were “erroneous” and that director Marc Webb had always intended for them to be CGI.
A leaked photo from the set of Snow White showing the dwarfs as diverse actors of various sizes – YouTube, The Critical Drinker
The problem? There are literal leaked set photos proving otherwise.
This quiet revision raises major questions about Disney’s behind-the-scenes influence over media coverage. Why did THR change its story? Did Disney pressure them to rewrite history and erase any admission that they caved to backlash?
Disney’s Snow White Disaster Is Only Getting Worse
What started as a bad PR move has snowballed into a full-blown scandal. Little people actors are furious at Disney for cutting them out, Peter Dinklage is being accused of hypocrisy, and Disney is now trying to rewrite history through media allies like The Hollywood Reporter.
Rachel Zegler singing the original song “Waiting on a Wish” from Disney’s Snow White live action remake – YouTube, Disney
But fans haven’t forgotten. Disney’s Snow White has been a disaster from the start, and no amount of CGI, media spin, or corporate cover-ups will change that.
Do you think Disney made a major mistake by not casting little people as the Snow White Dwarfs? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
Dinklage hasn’t just burned bridges behind him, he’s nuked them from orbit. He’s absolutely hated among his fellow little people because of this and now he has a huge red flag flying over his head when it comes to any future roles he might audition for. And I’m being generous even assuming Hollywoke will still be around in the future at the rate things are collapsing.
Disney did absolutely everything wrong with this movie and I’m not exaggerating. The list is just too long to even try and go into. Not even canning it and writing it off for taxes would be worth it because they hyped it up too much. Not releasing it would actually be worse from a PR perspective.
As for THR? I just don’t care about them. I might crack a partial smile when they’re shut down but otherwise I’m completely checked out. “Access media” is synonymous with “useless” and “to be completely ignored” in my book.
Wanna bet it’s all seven of them CHAZ residents’ performances, and diversive, (Oops, diverse!) quirks are still there? Just now thinly veiled beneath a cgi dwarfy skin? Still the same hipster values.
[…] White U.S. Premiere—No Traditional Red Carpet Media Interviews Allowed ∟Disney’s Snow White Dwarf Controversy Explodes as Little People Actors Slam Studio, Disney Claims …– Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle First Movie International Release Dates […]