Review: Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs

There are a ton of cultural discrepancies involved in the production and distribution of the recent "Snow White" parody movie, Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs, and I mean a ton. It was produced by a Korean animation studio called Locus Animation. Despite having been around for roughly a decade according to their website, they have never produced an animated movie before this one. Even though the main characters look vaguely Korean and one uses ofuda talismans as an attack, the movie has a full cast of American voice actors. You may have heard of Red Shoes from the controversy it caused at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where numerous people complained about a billboard for the movie featuring a skinny and fat version of Snow White with the tag line "What if Snow White was no longer beautiful and the 7 Dwarfs not so short?" This billboard sparked anger from the western world about the princess body image issue over to the implication that being skinny is equivalent to being beautiful, a belief that is far more prevalent in eastern culture than it is in the west. The irony is that no one would have even known this movie existed if it didn't spark such a controversy. Smaller studios often have problems with their distribution budget. Like Charming, Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs never saw an American theatrical release, and it's a real shame because the movie is actually pretty decent.

The initial teasers for Red Shoes were incredibly offensive, such as a scene portraying the dwarfs spying on Snow White as she took off her dress and gasping in horror when she removed her shoes to reveal her plus-sized figure and another in which they brutalized her unconscious body in an attempt to remove the shoes. These scandalous ads got shut down after its leading actress, Chloe Grace Moretz, complained to the marketing team. The finished product was nowhere near as offensive as these teasers made it look. If nothing else, the artwork is gorgeous even if in some ways, it looks like every other CGI movie we've seen for the past decade. The animation supervisor is Jin Kim, who used to work for Disney and got hired by Locus after he moved back to Korea. I chose the Korean poster to headline blog post instead of the American one because it shows off some of the beautiful background art and expressive characters in a way that the snarky minimalist American version does not. It also doesn't hurt that Merlin is the first Asian prince I've seen in a fairy tale setting since Disney's 1997 version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. Chloe Grace Moretz acted her heart out as this plus-sized version of Snow White, and you can really tell by her genuine down-to-earth performance. This isn't the first time Snow White has been portrayed as a plus-sized princess. Credit for that goes to Camryn Manheim in the 2000 NBC miniseries, The 10th Kingdom. It is, however, the first time I've seen a plus-sized princess in animation, so it gets credit for that despite the fact Snow White is skinny and hot for the majority of time we see her on screen.

Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs is a twist on the classic "Snow White" fairy tale. In this version, Snow steals two poison apples from her evil stepmother in an attempt to rescue her father. Before she touches them, the apples turn into a pair of cute red pumps that make Snow White a taller, skinnier, and hotter version of herself. The "Red Shoes" version of Snow White has bigger eyes, longer eyelashes, and shimmery red lips and eye shadow. What impressed me about the movie is that unlike the initial promos, Snow White didn't particularly care about being skinny nor did she say anything to imply that she didn't think she was beautiful before. Her tastes in men are also unconventional. She doesn't particularly care about finding a prince and says that the dashing princes of the Fearless Seven aren't "her type." Snow finds her stepmother's shoes by chance in an attempt to rescue her father. After she sees her new look in the mirror and realizes that the seven dwarfs she encounters are willing to help her find her father because of her appearance, she decides to keep the shoes for a little longer than she was planning.

The dwarfs in this movie are cursed too. They start out as the Fearless Seven, warrior princes who make it their mission to rescue princesses. When they rescue a faery princess and decide to attack her because she has green skin, she curses them to look like little green dwarfs whenever another person lays eyes on them them. That last part is important because it allows us to see the main love interest, Merlin, in his handsome prince form with Snow White every time she looks away, allowing for a number of fantasy sequences and constantly reminding us that he isn't really a chubby green dwarf. The opening scenes of this movie have a lot of emphasis on how men judge women based on their looks but not vice versa. The Fearless Seven assume the princess they rescued is a witch because she looks like a witch, and Snow White's father assumes Regina isn't because she doesn't look like one. Regina uses  wears the shoes to take advantage of this even though she doesn't seem to care what the men in her life look like. Likewise, Snow White prefers the Fearless Seven's humble dwarf visages to their conventionally handsome human forms while they only help her for the promise of a kiss from a beautiful woman to break their spell. While this could be a social commentary that men are superficial, I think it's more of an insult to men's intelligence, implying that they are easily susceptible to traps.

Of course, Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs is far from perfect. The movie is hilariously lazy with its character names. It takes place on Fairytale Island, not a new enchanted kingdom like Corona or Arendelle. The Fearless Seven are named after other fabled heroes, such as Merlin, Arthur, and Jack. The Evil Queen's name, Regina, comes straight out of Once Upon a Time. When Snow White doesn't want to reveal her true identity while she has the magic shoes on, she settles for the name "Red Shoes," and nobody questions the fact that it's obviously a fake name. There's also a rival prince that nobody cares about named Prince Average, who tries to court princesses straight out of other copyrighted movies, including Ariel and Leia. Another big flaw with the movie was its musical sequences. The characters don't sing, but there is the occasional pop song montage sequence that brings the entire story to a halt. The songs in this movie felt every bit as awkward and out of place as they were in Charming. Finally, there's the most obvious factor, which is that this is a story we have all seen many times before. It did feel like I watch watching Shrek sometimes, but I enjoyed Shrek, so that's not necessarily a bad thing for me.

Overall, Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs is an enjoyable movie with an obvious message that's not nearly as heavy-handed as the advertising makes it look. If they had done a better job with their marketing, perhaps it could have seen a western release, allowing plus-sized princesses everywhere to have a character they could look up to. As it stands now, it will probably fall into obscurity due solely to the fact that it is an animated movie not produced by Disney. I feel a little sorry for Chloe Grace Moretz, who keeps losing opportunities to become a well-known princess actress. Her Little Mermaid project with Universal appears to be canceled thanks to Disney overshadowing it with their own. I wish more people could hear her adorkable performance in Red Shoes that was unlike any other animated princess I've ever heard. I think that if Locus didn't try so hard to make this movie an obvious Disney knock-off and used an actual Korean voice cast, it could have become more of a cult classic than the cultural mess that it turned into.


Coltisor de Rai said…
Have A Wonderful Week!
jem said…
Wow this movie really sounds better that what the publicity make it look also I like the message about the look.
ChristyK said…
Where did you get to see this movie? I missed it when it came out here in Korea and I really want to see it.
Anonymous said…
I watched the trailer and at the end it showed them learning to except themselves and learn to love each other for who they are. the message is real especially when it's coming from a place where fair skin, being skinny, investing in plastic surgery and having one of the largest yet the best plastic surgery done is a different thing. Americans can judge the american beauty standards if their not thick, if their too skinny, if their too fat, etc but most live up the quote true beauty is within. unlike korea or most asia, our beauty standards has always been high and it never really changed and thats why people dont acknowledge that. Beauty is very high thats why korea invest and has the best qualities for skin care that many americans has now, the best plastic surgeons, etc. and this message coming from korea is an actual good thing. the pressure of beauty in asia is way worse then what you people know of. maybe people dont like it because you guys already seen this, "fat girl, turns skinny but learns to love herslef" because it has already been portrayed in america! not korea/asia, and thats why this message isn't for you, but for others to know, such as korean students thinking they have to use their college money for plastic surgery to look beautiful when actually they were already beautiful. the pressure is real especially when ads for plastic surgery, and seeing pretty girls. I guess it was just worded wrongly but it deserves to be recognized, maybe not in america. and this has been worked on for the past 10 years, why do you guys always point out the little things, and not really understanding the meaning. its like someone who seem mean but actually does really kind and kind hearted things. i hope you understand, this is't hate, im just hoping for people who should understand from a different pov, and that we dont all live the same ways or within the same standards.

- me
Lisa Dawn said…
Hi Anonymous,

I personally thought it was a lovely movie with a lovely message, but it did spark some outrage online. Whenever things like that happen for something princess-related, I like to report it in my blog so people know what's going on and are able to decide for themselves how they feel. In this case, I can understand both sides. I wish more people had the chance to see this movie.
joongkidino said…
Hi there! I'm just wondering, where did you have the chance to watch this movie?I've been looking for it for sooo long. My local cinemas didn't released it and I' very disappointed by that.. Do you have any links or ways to watch the movie? Btw, your review is great!
EComm said…
Hi. I’m wondering where I can see watch this movie? I’ve been waiting for release since it was out in the film festival in 2017 :(
Leah said…
I'm not sure but I heard that Red Shoes would be released in Korea first and then in other countries several months later.
I've watched this movie 5 times, 4 at the cinemas and 1 from VOD.
Actually we have much more movie theaters which show a Korean version than those of English version. I prefer the English version, though.
I agree about the music. I like the songs but they burst in.

I recommend this movie
Anonymous said…
wish i couldve seen the movie.people with all their offensive bullcrap and taking things to heart are just plain out ridiculous ! ITS JUST A ANIMATED CARTOON YOU RIDICULOUS IDIOTS gosh people like that have no buisness even watching tv ..noone ever said its body shaming thats just something absolute idiots say because their not happy with thier own lives well guess what thats your problem and noone is stopping you from fixing that instead you complain and cry over an animated cartoon get a life and stop cry babying ..because of people like that ill never get to watch this movie that seemed to be pretty awesome !! thanks alot sad souls of the world and especially the ones who think everything is offensvie now a days WELL IF YOU THINK IT IS THEN DONT WATCH IT CRY BABY!!
Dillen said…
Lol i am so confused i have never even heard of this movie but it looks so good, why can't i find it anywhere is it going to re release in US?
Lisa Dawn said…
It has no release date listed so far for the US. :( I found a link on YouTube.
ChatNoir said…
wait, how do you watch this movie for free? i tried every streaming service that provides the movie for free, none lets me.
Anonymous said…
Loved your thoughts about the movie
Can someone help me out, how can I watch it? It will not be realised in my country
Thanks in advance
Anonymous said…
Where to watch Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs online:
ChatNoir said…
and guys once you open that link that anonymous person send you, do not be alarmed that its all in korean. let it fully load then scroll down to the english words you only understand lmfao. if you see 4 buttons that says link #__ click on any of them i clicked the first one and it will lead u to a different tab. let that load. and you'll be able to watch it! there will be random pop up ads so beware
Anonymous said…
You can watch this on
DisneyMinnie said…
I'm in love with this movie, though I agree with what you said above. It could have a better message and better quality, but it was overall super cute. If you want to watch it, watch it here:
Anonymous said…
Ironic how its negative response got it more attention that Charming lol I actually saw both Charming and Red Shoes because I was interested in seeing what a non-Disney company will come out with. Charming, though they had great songs and a good intention, was cliche to a fault while trying to be different and the voice acting was occasionally awkward. Plus, the side princesses were more interesting that the main girl so that's a downer. Red Shoes had a better voice acting and I think it was better in executing their message. The weird burst of pop songs was weird in that I was able to laugh at it in good humor, so it wasn't too bad for me. The way the characters were built actually reminded me a lot of how Rooster Teeth made their main characters for RWBY so I was actually fond that ripoff of fairytale aspect Red Shoe's characters but that's just me. As an overweight Asian, I appreciate the movie a lot and even if you aren't struggling with your weight/looks, if you ever want a light sweet story to watch, Red Shoes is a decent option.
The men only considering girl's looks part....while, yes, it is an insult to men's general intelligence, I'd argue that this is a big problem in many culture and nations to this day, and especially in Asian countries where the group mentality is stronger and people's looks tend to be similar due to similar ethnicity. The fact that Merlin as a representative male figure in the movie is Asian is a sign of that.
Unknown said…
Does anybody know where this movie can be watched?
Unknown said…
Does anyone know where I can watch this movie online? If so please leave a follow up comment!

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