Disney Has An IP Problem

Written By Kevin Masundire

Rachel Zegler Snow White Live Action

Why brand recognition isn’t a substitute for good storytelling anymore.

I recently watched Disney’s Snow White, and I can honestly say it’s the worst movie I’ve ever seen. But not for the reasons most people on the internet are talking about.

For me, the real issue is how the film disrespects the art of filmmaking. I understand that studios are businesses, and movies are products—but there are fundamental rules each artform demands. Over the past few years, Disney seems to have completely ignored these rules.

As a child, I grew up watching Disney fairytales. They taught me how stories work—there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. There’s structure, progression, and emotional resonance. Each film started somewhere and ended somewhere. And in between, you learned something—about love, loss, courage, or friendship.

Good content hits three marks: it educates, entertains, and engages. Meet those, and you’ve got a movie. But now, Disney’s obsession with its IP is creating a different kind of problem: information overload. Because these stories are so well-known, the studio skips foundational storytelling steps, assuming the audience already understands everything. This leads to lazy exposition and a lack of emotional weight.

In filmmaking, we say “show, don’t tell” for a reason. Audiences don’t come to be lectured they come to experience stories. Visual storytelling is more powerful than dialogue; it’s emotive and memorable. And more importantly, “show, don’t tell” invites the audience to engage. It turns passive viewing into active participation. People love to figure things out.

But with a story like Snow White, where everyone already knows the basics, how much can you really show without rehashing what people expect? And more importantly, how do you keep them emotionally invested? This new Snow White rushes its world building. The first ten minutes feel crammed, as if the filmmakers assumed the audience already knows everything. There’s no space for character development. For instance:

• When Snow White’s mother dies, why does the king remarry so quickly?

• Who is the queen? What does she want? Why should we care about her?

• What does “fairest of them all” even mean in this context?

• Why does the king leave? Why does it matter?

• How and why is Snow White imprisoned?

• When a man steals potatoes, how desperate is the world he’s living in? Where’s the emotional weight?

Then we get to the infamous curse,Snow White can only be saved by a kiss of true love. But where was the setup for that? Are we supposed to believe a glance between two people equals true love? There are no emotional setups. No tension. No payoff. So by the time the film ends, you're left wondering: What the actual F am I watching, and why am I here?

The movie fails at the most basic requirement: being a movie.

This isn’t just a Snow White problem. I’ve seen the same issues in other Disney films, The Marvels being a recent example. These movies rely on viewers having seen previous Disney shows or films to make sense of what’s going on. And if you haven’t? Too bad. But that’s not how film should work.

IP or no IP, a story must stand on its own. A film must be built from the ground up with care, structure, and emotion. You don’t get a pass just because the audience knows the brand Filmmaking is an artform. It deserves to be treated like one.