“The Witches” recently came under fire for offending people with limb differences, and now Warner Bros., the studio behind the Anne Hathaway-fronted film is offering up an apology.
Warner Bros issued a statement to Deadline saying the company is “deeply saddened to learn that our depictions of the fictional characters in ‘The Witches’ could upset people with disabilities” and that they “regretted any offense caused.”
They continued saying, “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. It was never the intention for viewers to feel that the fantastical, non-human creatures were meant to represent them.”
The movie, which is based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name and is a re-creation of the 1990 film starring Anjelica Huston, described the witches as having five fingers with long claws.
However, the new HBO Max film starring Anne Hathaway as the Grand High Witch, shows the witches with three long fingers instead.
Some viewers took issue with the film’s artistic license and voiced their feelings on social media.
Paralympic swimmer Amy Marren posted a letter online and also tweeted, “@warnerbrosUK was there much thought given as to how this representation of limb differenced would effect the limb difference community?!”
She continued saying, “Disappointed in the new Warner Bros film The Witches… I myself am a huge advocate of celebrating differences and especially limb differences. It’s not unusual for surgeons to try and build hands like this for children/adults with certain limb differences and it’s upsetting to something that makes a person different being represented as something scary.”
“Yes, I am fully aware that this is a film, and these are Witches. But Witches are essentially monsters. My fear is that children will watch this film, unaware that it massively exaggerates the Roald Dahl original and that limb differences begin to be feared,” she continued. “This opens up all new difficult conversations for those with limb differences and sets back what we are trying to achieve which is to celebrate who you are.”
— Stephanie Swaim