The debut of Disney’s Snow White reportedly created more carbon emissions in the UK than the car racing action film, Fast & Furious, a government report reveals.
The UK instituted emissions reporting for the film industry in 2019, and the latest records show that two of Disney’s films, Show White and The Little Mermaid, both of which were filmed at the UK’s Pinewood Studios, resulted in more carbon emissions than the film based on gas-guzzling race cars, according to The Guardian.
The paper took a jab at Snow White for its conceit of being “at one with nature,” but noted that its premiere ceremony featured “an artificial fairytale forest, complete with a full-size thatched cottage filled with models of furry animals.”
But the reports show that the emissions reported for Disney’s two films output more emissions than the annual emissions produced by the Birmingham and Luton airports. The films also produced more emissions than the annual total for the Blackpool Pleasure Beach and London’s O2 Arena.
The emissions reporting categories, called “scopes,” track three metrics: one covers fuels used to produce the film, another the creation of the electricity used during production, and the third, the indirect emissions which are generated by suppliers of goods and services.
Per the paper: “In scope one and two Snow White generated 3,153 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. The Little Mermaid generated 5,127 tonnes, to give a combined total of 8,279.6 tonnes. This compares with 7,829 tonnes for Birmingham airport in 2023-24, 6,243 for Luton in 2023 and 3,351 for East Midlands in 2023-24, according to their latest data.”
Disney insisted that the 2,600 tCO2e emissions for Snow White was “right in line” for a tentpole feature. But The Little Mermaid was double that.
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