We've known for a while that Chloe Grace Moretz was signed on to an upcoming Snow White retelling called Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs. The South Korean animated movie is expected to bow this year, and recently the movie had some billboards put out at Cannes, where all hell broke loose when the movie was marketed with a not-thin version of the traditional character and the tagline, 'What if Snow White was no longer beautiful?' After the billboard came under fire, Moretz has now made a statement apologizing for Red Shoes. She said:
I have now fully reviewed the marketing for Red Shoes, I am just as appalled and angry as everyone else, this wasn't approved by me or my team. Please know I have let the producers of the film know. I lent my voice to a beautiful script that I hope you will all see in its entirety. The actual story is powerful for young women and resonated with me. I am sorry for the offense that was beyond my creative control.
Well, it's sort of an apology. Chloe Grace Moretz definitely wants everyone on Twitter to be clear that she just lent her voice to Red Shoes, and that the marketing had nothing to do with her contribution. The problem with Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs may just be this tone deaf poster and not necessarily the fairytale retelling itself, which is supposed to be a movie about body positivity. In fact, the story concept for the Locus Animation movie is about a princess who doesn't fit in on Fairy Tale Island, where people often care about their looks too much. She wears red shoes that help present her as a thinner version of herself, but the movie seems like it is at least supposed to be about getting comfortable in your skin, according to the synopsis.
In her quest to find her lost father, she learns not only to accept herself, but to celebrate who she is, inside and out. And to let the beauty within shine brighter than anyone else in the land.
In contrast, if you'd like to see the original billboard for Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs, plenty of people took snapshots at Cannes, and you can check out what all the hullabaloo is about, below.
This is only a billboard for the movie, although there is a weird trailer with some Peeping Toms, and presumably Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs could move forward and try to show different sides of the story via other marketing leading into the movie's theatrical release. However, bad press is never great for a movie, and a lot of people have seen the Cannes billboard now, thanks to it going viral all over the internet. For now, Red Shoes doesn't have a release date, but you can take a look at all the movies that have been marketed better--and worse--with our full premiere schedule.
