Disney was already feeling some bad press from Snow White, but have they already given up on pushing it in the parks?
Disney has seen ups and downs at the box office. That’s no secret and really nothing new. What is well known is that when a big Disney movie comes out, it’s almost impossible to escape its presence at the parks.
Disney will go all out for these movies with posters, merchandise and more. A common bit would be them having special showcases at the Hollywood Studios with props and other bits as well as character meet and greets. As soon as you hit a Disney resort, the push for these movies is there.
Even if the film underperforms, Disney will still try to push it. They poured so much money into these projects, they want to get some sort of return for it, and visitors already in the parks are ready to see this presented.
Which is why it’s so striking that in less than two months, the presence of Snow White at the Disney parks is almost nil and showcases once more why that movie is a huge embarrassment for Disney!
The failure of Snow White is epic
Disney has seen more than its share of box office bombs. But Snow White is already looking to be in a category by itself.
Long delayed by various issues that included the 2023 Hollywood strikes, rewrites, reshoots and controversial statements by stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, the movie’s budget was a reported $240 million and that’s not counting marketing. Some reports claim the budget was closer to $370 million, meaning the movie would have to crack the billion-dollar mark to make a profit.
As it stands, the film is now on track to be one of the bigger bombs of 2025. As of May 12, it grossed $200 million globally, meaning Disney could be losing at least $120 million on it. While Zegler’s performance was praised, the movie was otherwise lambasted by critics and audiences for its terrible story, script and the horrific CGI Dwarves.
Disney still tried to eke out something by expanding the film to an additional 1300 screens on May 9, hoping to get something from the Mother’s Day weekend crowd. It didn’t work with just $335,000 over the weekend.
Where is Snow White in the parks?
My family visited Disneyland Mother’s Day week, and I had expected to see a lot of Snow White marketing around. Instead, except for one poster and display window on Main Street USA, there was nothing for the film.
No huge posters or banners around. No Snow White coverings for the monorail. And, most striking of all, the only Snow White merchandise in the shops was for the original animated film and ride. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that ride getting a makeover to emulate the movie.
It was amazing to see Disney giving up on a huge movie in such a short time. It’s not hard to imagine that some higher-ups saw the flop coming and didn’t want to burn more money on merchandise for a movie bomb (something Disney has experience with).
It's not the first time Disney has tried to distance themselves from a movie that underperforms at the box office. However, I can fully remember being at Disney World in the fall of 1991 and still stuff for The Rocketeer. Or Hocus Pocus in late 1993. To completely refuse to push one of their biggest releases in just a month is astounding.
If anything, Disney had more merchandise for Stitch as the live-action version of that movie is coming soon. It only cements how badly the live-action Snow White has sunk that even the Disney theme parks don’t want to acknowledge this disaster and rather push the original classic for guests.
Snow White now playing in theaters.