The Walt Disney Co.’s live-action, controversy-bedeviled “Snow White” opened in theaters with a sleepy $43 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates.

Disney executives might feel more aligned with the dwarves known as Grumpy or Bashful rather than one called Happy after a Sleepy box office start for “Snow White.” The studio’s live-action remake of 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” opened slightly behind expectations at the international box office with $44.3 million from 51 markets. …