‘A lot of angry little people’ are holding a pint-sized protest over Disney’s decision to scrap dwarves from the new Snow White movie set to be released on Friday
Disney chiefs face being confronted by “a lot of angry little people” in a pint-sized protest over the decision to ditch dwarfs from the new Snow White movie.
Hundreds of Hollywood’s smallest stars will descend on the film giant’s HQ this week to complain at the move to deploy computer-generated cartoons as mini-men instead of the real thing. Little luvvies around the world say the decision has robbed seven dwarf actors of major roles in the new £208million blockbuster.
While one dwarf has been cast in the film, George Appleby, that hasn’t stopped planned protests over the use of CGI. And they have vowed they are “not going down quietly”. Jordanna James, 36, who is 3ft 11in and was a back-up dancer for Miley Cyrus’s Bangerz tour, said: “Hollywood is trying to erase us. Everyone goes on about wokeism and inclusion and yet we are constantly overlooked and kept in the shadows.
“It’s hard enough to go out in the real world and be seen. We exist. Let us have the same opportunities as other people.”
Actress Ali Chapman, 50, who is 3ft 8in, said: “The whole point of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is right up there in the title. The seven dwarfs were the stars of the original 1937 film which is a classic loved by millions of people.
“Disney has made a live-action film and instead of giving seven talented little people the chance to shine they’ve scrapped us completely and used CGI instead.
“If you flipped it and said, `Oh, all black or all white actors should be replaced by CGI’ there would be an outcry. But because we’re little people no-one cares. I’d like to be seen for who I am. It would be nice to be considered for more than leprechaun and elf roles.
“I want to be more than a Hobbit. It’s a total travesty and there are a lot of angry little people actors and actresses out there. People are flying in from all over the world to tell Disney this isn’t acceptable.’’
Ali’s husband Matt McCarthy, 49, who is 4ft 1in and dreamed of playing Dopey, said: “We’ve been totally shut out. But we’re not going down quietly. It’s hard enough in Hollywood. Everyone’s trying to make their dreams come true.
“When you’re a little person opportunities are few and far between. I was born to play Dopey the dwarf. It’s my dream role but Disney never gave me a chance. There were seven great parts right there but Disney decided to go with freaking cartoons. Shame on them.”
The protest has been masterminded by Hollywood entertainment pioneer Jeff Beacher whose Madhouse theatres in Las Vegas and Los Angeles were the first to celebrate little people.
The clubs attracted a huge fan base including A-lister celebs Paris Hilton, George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Beacher said he believes the demo, outside Disney’s Burbank studio gates in California, is “do or die time” for dwarf actors. He said the writing was on the wall after 2023 film Wonka cast 5ft 11in Brit star Hugh Grant as a tiny Oompa Loompa.
Grant was digitally multiplied more than a hundred times to create a “sea” of green-haired Oompa Loompa’s in the movie, a prequel to 1971 classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder.
Beacher raged: “It’s a disgrace. Snow White isn’t the first time little people have been overlooked. If Hollywood is about inclusion and diversity then you could have had talented little people actors in all of these roles.
“This is a moment in history. Equality is a movement but when it comes to little people no-one in Hollywood is representing them. This was a beautiful opportunity to hire seven diverse highly-talented little people actors and actresses and Hollywood failed.”
The dwarf demo could spell disaster for the new musical fantasy movie which opens on Friday starring Rachel Zegler, 23, as Snow White and Gal Gadot, 39, as the Evil Queen.
A senior Disney exec said scores of placard-waving little people protesting outside the studio gates would be a “total PR disaster” that “is just too depressing to imagine”. “We can’t wait for this week to be over,” they added.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
