People Are Freaking Out About This Movie Poster—What Do You Think?

“As the producer of the theatrical animated film “Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs”, now in production, Locus Corporation wishes to apologize regarding the first elements of our marketing campaign (in the form of a Cannes billboard and a trailer) which we realize has had the opposite effect from that which was intended.  That advertising campaign is being terminated. 
 
“Our film, a family comedy, carries a message designed to challenge social prejudices related to standards of physical beauty in society by emphasizing the importance of inner beauty. We appreciate and are grateful for the constructive criticism of those who brought this to our attention.  We sincerely regret any embarrassment or dissatisfaction this mistaken advertising has caused to any of the individual artists or companies involved with the production or future distribution of our film, none of whom had any involvement with creating or approving the now discontinued advertising campaign.”

There are certain things in life you spot that you immediately know are wrong. And a poster for a new animated movie in Cannes is one of them.

The movie is called Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs, and it stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Snow White. “Princes who have turned into Dwarfs seek the red shoes of a lady in order to break the curse, although it won’t be easy. A parody with a twist,” the movie’s description reads on IMDB. The title appears to be a mash-up of the classic Grimm Brother’s tale with the Hans Christian Anderson story, The Red Shoes, according to the Huffington Post.

But a promotional poster for the film, which was flagged by journalists at the Cannes Film Festival, is the real problem. In it, there’s an image of a tall, willowy brunette in heels, standing next to a curvier, shorter woman in the same outfit who is holding her heels and looking confused. “What if Snow White was no longer beautiful and the 7 Dwarfs not so short?” the poster reads.

RELATED: This Woman Took A Picture Wearing Just Tights To Make A Powerful Statement About Body Image

Naturally, people weren’t OK with that.

Your body can actually do amazing things—this video is proof:

A teaser trailer released in March seems to perpetuate the thinking found in the poster. In it, a tall, thin Snow White comes home as two dwarfs watch her. She undresses and kicks off her heels. Suddenly, her legs become rounder. As the dwarfs look on in horror, a curvier Snow White lounges in a chair, burps, drinks something, and says, “Ah. Now I can breathe!”

However, the movie is presented by production studio Locus’ site as more of a body-positive tale. Snow White is described as a “normal girl born into extraordinary circumstances,” noting that she’s a princess who doesn’t fit into the celebrity world of princesses or their dress size. “She wants to stay true to herself but Fairy Tale Island is all about looks, it makes it hard not to want to be like the others.” Snow White is on a quest to find her lost father and, in the process, she learns “not only to accept herself but to celebrate who she is, inside and out.”

While she hasn’t made an official statement about the outcry, Chloe (who voices Snow White) defended the film to a New York Magazine editor who tweeted about it:

Apparently somewhere between the concept and the marketing, something was lost in translation. A representative for Locus did not have a statement for Women’s Health by deadline.

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