Once upon a time a Disney release was considered about as close to a sure thing, as far as box office success is concerned, as you could get.

But there’s been a stark shift in that attitude, mostly down to the House of Mouse and its live action remakes of some if its classics.

However none have suffered such a barrage of hatred and vitriol as this re-make of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But did it really deserve it?

When a queen gives birth in a snowstorm, she names her daughter Snow White. The princess grows up in the castle in the kingdom, where life is good. But tragedy strikes when her mother dies from a sudden illness.

The king’s mourning doesn’t last too long however, as he soon remarries a beautiful woman, who then becomes the new queen (Gal Gadot). The king then sets off with his army, only to never return, leaving Snow White (Rachel Zegler) in the care of the new queen.

It soon transpires however that this new queen is evil, and cares little for her people, and even less for Snow White.

This is proven when a bandit, Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), is found stealing food from the castle, as the kingdom’s people now found themselves starving.

Snow White allows him to escape, which the queen does not approve of, and decides that her step-daughter needs to go – permanently.

Luckily Snow White manages to escape, and she finds herself in the woods, where she comes across a cosy house, inhabited by seven dwarves. They are not sure about the new arrival at first, but soon find that her kind heart wins them over.

Meanwhile, the queen is insistent that Snow White needs be dealt with, making it her mission to find the princess, no matter what.

Director Marc Webb’s reimagining of the Disney classic animation is a film that failed way before it hit the screen.

It was ripped to shreds on so many fronts that it really didn’t stand a chance. First there was the casting of Zegler herself, who was recommended to Webb by none other than Steven Spielberg after working with her on his own remake, that of West Side Story.

But her casting soon received a backlash for the simple fact that she’s a young Latina woman, and therefore had no right to be Snow White.

And then there was the small matter, as it were, of the seven diminutive characters that previously shared the film’s title. The dwarf characters in the film – although never referred to as such in the film – were created by CGI, which didn’t go down well within the dwarf community.

Then there was a huge backlash due to differing political opinions between cast members, with Gal Gadot pro Israel, and Zegler pro Palestine, which led for calls for the film to be boycotted on both fronts. It also led to death threats aimed at Gadot. So far, so very un-Disney.

And to top it all off, Zegler posted “Fuck Donald Trump” on social media, which as the latest Disney princess, wasn’t necessarily the best message to deliver to the American public. She later apologised, no doubt with Mickey standing behind her twisting her arm, but by which point the damage had been done.

On its release the film suffered massive review bombing, which led to it receiving only one star (out of ten) on IMDB – it currently stands at two.

Of course all of these factors had a huge impact on its box office, which led to it being a massive bomb for Disney.

The fact of the matter is however, the film is actually pretty enjoyable. Zegler makes for the perfect Snow White, despite the audacity of being Latina, with that impressive voice of hers. The chemistry with the character Jonathan – a new addition, replacing the Prince of the original – is entertaining, and makes the film.

There are some really enjoyably new songs included too, provided by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, with the highlight being the incredibly catchy “Princess Problems”, which is far more memorable than anything from the wretched Wicked.

Webb, who has two Spider-Man films on his CV, does well in world building, giving it all a fairytale-like quality.

It looked like Zegler’s film career was over before it even begun, but her impressive turn as Evita on the London stage, has once again put her and her career back in the spotlight. Quite rightly too.

Snow White then is a victim of a myriad of issues, many of which have nothing to do with the final product, which it has to be said, is an entertaining remake. Yes it takes a few liberties with the source material, but it doesn’t deconstruct it to the point that it’s no longer recognisable.

If you take it on its own merit – and you should – you will find it to be the perfect family film, which is likely to bring a Disney smile to the faces of all that see it, young and old.