Entertainment giant Disney has responded to criticism about its live action adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
It comes as actor Peter Dinklage called the film “backward”.
Dinklage, who is known for Game of Thrones and forthcoming film Cyrano, said that Disney should have reassessed the whole project.
“I was a little taken aback by [the fact] they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White," he told Marc Maron’s podcast.
"But you're still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Take a step back and look at what you're doing there, it makes no sense to me."
The actor has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, and has spoken out about the representation of dwarfism in the past, saying that it was “bad writing” to make it a “dominant character trait”.
The new version of the film stars Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.
Disney has confirmed that it will be an updated version of the original 1937 film, which is considered to be one of the studio’s classics. It was also the first full-length feature film from the franchise.
In relation to the new film, Dinklage said that further progressive casting was needed when it came to other characters, given that a Latina actress had been cast in the leading role.
He said: “You're progressive in one way but you're still making that backward story of seven dwarves living in the cave.
“Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soap box? I guess I'm not loud enough.
“They were so proud of that, and all love and respect to the actress and the people who thought they were doing the right thing but I'm just like, 'What are you doing?'"
Disney said it was going to "avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film", Sky News reports.
"We are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community," it said in a statement.
"We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period."
