We have literally no idea. As far as we can tell, all this stems from the Daily Mail posting these photos and saying “Look, Disney replaced the Dwarfs with Magical Creatures because Peter Dinklage is Woke”. That claim is literally all there is to this story.
Really? You think they were actually acting in a field of unmown weeds? I don’t. I think it was either a posed publicity photo or a fake.
Agreed. That photo screams “practice session” to me. The weird mishmash of costumes looks like people putting on whatever was around while the director figures out blocking for the scene. Some of the people might have been random people on the set roped into it. Any arguments based on that photo are worthless without more info.
But then there is also no reason to be wearing costumes. Maybe you could justify them wearing the costumes the CGI characters wear. Or just wearing normal clothes. But weird costumes definitely suggest there were other plans than what we wound up with.
BTW, I agree with Miller that there is no way that Peter Dinklage forced Disney to change anything. Hell, he wasn’t even talking about what we saw in the movie trailer. He was talking about how “those Dwarves who live in a cave” in some Snow White pic. He didn’t even seem to know it was Disney.
However, the reaction to the photo definitely could have resulted in Disney changing tactics. Heck, it could have been a feeler to see how audiences would react. And the hype about Dinklage’s remarks could have also played a factor.
Note that the original Daily Mail article didn’t have just a single photo, it is a gallery of a couple of dozen plus a video clip.
It never occurred to me to think of an open field to be “unmown weeds”. Do you think the opening of Little House on the Prairie was unmown weeds, too?
Worst. Lawn. Ever.
There are 25 items total, one of which is the video, a few others are pictures of Dinklage and other random stuff, and then the majority are stills from the video.
And the video ends with:
WE!
PAY!
CASH!
FOR!
VIDEOS!
WE PAY CASH FOR VIDEOS!
DAILY MAIL
The clip shows Zegler walk down a field, with the seven people following her, then they kinda split off, she turns around, they cheer.
I don’t see any filming equipment around in the shot that Daily Wire got.
It really does seem like they’re practicing blocking or something for a scene rather than actually shooting. Zegler scratches her nose at the end of the clip, which I assume she wouldn’t do if she was on camera.
The Daily Mail article says, “Disney announced”. Did Disney ever announce that? I tried googling, and every reference i found pointed back at that Daily Mail article.
They have done the same thing with a remake of Time Bandits.
“We can’t give short people jobs and employment, that would be demaining to them!” 
We’ve gone through this same cycle multiple times. Forty to fifty years ago it was about nearly all roles for Black actors being as servants and criminals. More recently, it was about Arab roles being as terrorists.
Each time, there is an outcry about taking jobs away from the actors, including an outcry from the affected actors. And then eventually we realize that the solution isn’t to just continue the status quo, but to create roles for these actors that don’t trade on stereotypes.
We’re evidently still at step 1 with dwarf actors.
Have you watched Time Bandits?
I’ve seen the original movie, haven’t seen the show.
I understand a major complaint of the show is that by casting normal-height actors, the thieves have lost the humor and “quirkiness” that made the original so great. And that’s the problem - a dwarf by his nature was seen as quirky. In the movie, they fit with the child actor because they were perceived as being child-like themselves. Do you see how that could be a problem for a dwarf actor trying to get a regular role, or a dwarf just trying to integrate in society?
Do you see any parallels to the historical portrayal of Black and Muslim characters in movies?
Is that out already?
I’ve long wanted to see that outfit be used but not digitally replaced in a parody movie.
Point of clarification that actually supports your argument - the Daily Mail article states it is NOT Zegler, but a stand-in. So this doesn’t look like it was ever part of the film, by the Mail’s own reporting.
New trailer is out, in theaters Mar 21:
Negative articles:
Too bad Disney didn’t buy the Star Trek franchise. Then we maybe could have had Snow White and the Seventy Worfs, which would definitely have been a more interesting twist on the story than this.
It occurs to me the the mirror is kind of a dick.
In the mirror’s defense, it must get pretty damn tiring having some narcissist ask you over and over and over again, “Am I the fairest of them all?! Well, am I, am I??!!”