THE WITCHES Remake Faces Backlash From Disabled Fans: Warner Bros Issue Apology
The recent Robert Zemeckis remake of The Witches recently premiered on HBO Max and immediately was met with backlash. Why you may ask? Well it has to do with a serious change to the original story for this remake.
The movie makes a significant change to the source material in regards to the witches' taloned hands. In the book, the villainous women are described as having five clawed fingers, but the film depicts them with missing middle fingers on each hand, similar to the limb abnormality ectrodactyly.
The issue stems from the perception that The Witches is "linking disability or physical impairments to evil characters."
Warner Bros. issued a response to Deadline, stating that they are “deeply saddened to learn that our depiction of the fictional characters in The Witches could upset people with disabilities” and “regretted any offense caused”.
“In adapting the original story, we worked with designers and artists to come up with a new interpretation of the cat-like claws that are described in the book,” they added. “It was never the intention for viewers to feel that the fantastical, non-human creatures were meant to represent them.”
