There are several instances in film history in which two films with seemingly identical premises are released within several months of each other, sparking confusion among general audiences and comparisons from seasoned film pundits. Both Armageddon and Deep Impact told asteroid-centric stories in 1998, competing disaster films Volcano and Dante’s Peak debuted in 1997, both Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down used the “Die Hard in the White House” premise in 2013, and families interested in animated insect comedies had to choose between Antz and A Bug’s Life in 1998. Although Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is often considered to be one of the greatest animated films of all-time, the character herself belongs to the public domain, meaning that any studio can make their own adaptation. Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman were released just months apart in 2012, and both tried to tell the “untold story” of the “fairest maiden of them all.”
What Made ‘Mirror Mirror’ and ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ Different?
Both Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman attempted to strip away the mythology of the original fairy tale by adding components of a different genre. Mirror Mirror was essentially a romantic comedy aimed at an adolescent audience, as it starred Lily Collins as a younger Snow White who falls for the dashing Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer) after living in the company of dwarfs. Comparatively, Snow White and the Huntsman aimed to be a medieval action epic in the vein of 300 or the then-recent reboot of Clash of the Titans; Kristen Stewart plays a renegade version of Snow White, who has been abandoned in the forest, and wins the alliance of the Huntsman known as “Eric” (Chris Hemsworth), who helps her rebel against the crowd. If Mirror Mirror was a lighter, farcical adventure aimed at reintroducing the story to younger audiences, Snow White and the Huntsman embraced the striking visuals, romantic dichotomy, and dark fantasy components that may have appealed to fans of The Twilight Saga.
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Despite the fact that they were clearly aimed at two different subsections of the viewing public, there were a surprising number of similarities between Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror. Both films rested a majority of their marketing campaign on the Evil Queen, who served as the primary antagonist in both versions of the story. In Mirror Mirror, Julia Roberts was able to shed her persona as “America’s Sweetheart” by playing a narcissistic, snarky monarch who despises the pureness of heart that made Snow White so beloved. Snow White and the Huntsman featured Charlize Theron as a sultry, magically enhanced leader who wants to kill Snow White in order to clear the line of succession. Although both films received relatively mixed reviews from critics, they both earned acclaim for their aesthetic components; both received Academy Award nominations for Best Costume Design, with Snow White and the Huntsman also receiving recognition in the category of Best Visual Effects.
Mirror Mirror
- Release Date
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March 15, 2012
- Runtime
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106minutes
- Producers
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Ira Belgrade, Jimmy Lifton, Virginia Perfili
Did Hollywood Really Need Two Snow White Movies?
Despite attempts to be subversive, both films ended up finding success because of their respect for the character of Snow White. Collins was by far the least famous person in the main cast of Mirror Mirror, but it was her soft-hearted, charismatic performance that helped turn the fairy-tale adventure into a surprisingly honest coming-of-age story. Stewart was clearly the major draw for Snow White and the Huntsman, which became a surprising box office smash hit that made almost $400 million at the global box office; Stewart was absent from the sequel, The Huntsman: Winter’s War, which subsequently became a massive box office bomb.
Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman show there is still room for creative reinventions of fairy tales; these stories have existed for centuries for a reason, and storytellers with a perspective may be encouraged to try their hand at introducing them to a new audience. In an era where there are so many Disney live-action remakes that simply replicate the past, it is admirable that both Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman attempted to push the envelope of what exactly a Snow White movie had to be.
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