You
know the palace in the Disney logo that stands as a symbol of magic and dreams
–it comes from this movie and there’s a reason for that. Cinderella is the quintessential fairy tale. It’s the one we think
of most when we hear that
term. It’s a good story with a valuable moral and despite its simplicity, is an
icon. Though it was very famous before this adaptation in 1950, most of us have
Disney to thank for introducing us to the story.
Cinderella was another of the
few Disney movies my family had
on video when I was a kid and there’s so much I remember about it. Which does
kind of go without saying, this is where a lot of fairy tale stock characters,
and clichés originate: the love at first sight, the evil stepmother, the gushy
dance, the wedding, and happily ever after –a phrase which also instinctively
brings back memories of this film’s ending. But is there more to this movie
apart from a construction that’s memorable just because it’s so basic?
To
refresh your memories, the story is about Cinderella, a young woman who lives
with her stepmother the Lady Tremaine, and two step-sisters. She is forced to
be their servant,
constantly mistreated, ignored, and abused. The king arranges a royal ball so
his son the prince can find a bride. Cinderella as an eligible lady is allowed
to go, but her step-family sabotages her every move. However the night of the ball, her
fairy godmother appears and creates a coach out of a pumpkin and a fine dress.
She meets and falls for the prince but has to leave before the spell wears off
leaving behind only a glass slipper. The prince issues a decree to find her not
counting on multiple women having the same shoe size and …you know the rest.
There’s no point not spoiling this story because you all know it. Even on the
off chance you don’t know it, you know stories like this and the beats that
play out. But yeah, some concessions should be given for the fact that this
story is an original and that at its core is pretty good. The conflict is
pretty good, the characters are pretty good, and the moral is really good. And
it isn’t like this film doesn’t take liberties. Like many fairy tales, Cinderella is actually kind of dark with
aspects like toe removal that obviously have to be cut for a Disney film (ironically Cinderella doesn’t
have any toes to begin with).
There are added detours that are really hit and miss. The scenes with the King
and the Duke are great. They’re an alright pair and their comedy makes for a
nice contrast to the serious story while still connecting with the film
overall. But the mice don’t always work. Early on there’s an elongated scene of
them trying to get some cheese while evading the cat Lucifer. It’s cute, but it
doesn’t connect at all with anything significant so it feels pointless. There
are more than a few of these Tom & Jerry routines and they do distract a
bit, despite being fine in their own right. I do however like the scenes of the
mice making the dress for Cinderella and their rescue of her from the tower.
They shows how much she means to them, how they’ll come together for her -the
benefits of her kindness. That being said, the fact she makes little clothes
for them is weird, a sure sign that being kept in that tiny tower is driving
her mad. It’s not enough she talks to them!
But
speaking of Cinderella, I never got the unfortunate notion that she was just a
damsel in distress and a poor role model of a character for girls. In fact
she’s one of the few Disney princesses who really earned her happy ending. She
worked tirelessly slaving for her stepmother and sisters, enough that I feel
she deserved to fall in love with the prince. Unlike Snow White who took it
upon herself to fulfil a role of domestic servitude, the domestic role was
forced on Cinderella. But with a good degree of optimism she pulls through. I
never saw the movie as being about a woman in her place waiting for a prince.
To me, it always seemed to stress that hard work and kindness will eventually
pay off, which is a comforting moral for kids. In that way it made Cinderella
very relatable, and when I saw this movie as a kid, it was still a time when
boys weren’t expected to
relate to girls. But Disney himself related to her. It was his favourite fairy
tale, and I can just imagine this theme of being rewarded for hard work really
sticking with Disney through all his years as a struggling artist and
businessman. Cinderella’s also kind and good-natured, but she has an attitude
that can be seen in some of her interactions with the family. Hell, she has a
character. Not a fully-realized one admittedly, but much more than Snow White
or Aurora (we’ll get to her). She takes action when she needs to, tries hard,
and if you need more proof she’s not a bad female role model, she’s not
obsessed with marrying a prince. Yeah, go back and watch the film again. Before
she meets him, she never once indicates a desire to marry the prince. In fact
she never even mentions him. She has her song about “A Dream is a Wish Your
Heart Makes” but never reveals what that dream is, and when she’s all excited
to go to the ball, she has no idea the prince will spot her and fall for her.
Her excitement could easily just come from the opportunity to get out, dance
and be merry, to have a nice evening, an escape if only temporary from her
squalor of an existence. It’s more about feeling on equal footing with her
step-sisters and all the other eligible women than miraculously winning the
prince’s heart. That however is exactly what she does.
While
I’ll defend Cinderella, her prince is pretty boring. Not only does he look
almost exactly like the prince from Snow
White but he has just as little character, falling for a pretty face
without even knowing her name. He is really just the prize. Why he couldn’t go
out to find Cinderella himself, I don’t get. I’ll give Kenneth Branagh’s 2015
remake this, it did make the prince a more interesting character –not to mention
Richard Madden was just born to play a Disney prince. The Fairy Godmother’s
fine, the King and Duke are fine, Drizella and Anastasia are fine (if a little
too forcefully “ugly”), and Jaq and Gus are fine. I really liked that duo as a kid but now I wonder
if their personalities were designed to mimic Warner Brothers characters like
Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig. But they’re Disney’s first comic relief duo and are
okay. Lady Tremaine though is great. She’s not quite as instantly off-putting
as the Queen from Snow White but
she’s still plenty intimidating. The scene where Cinderella enters her chambers
and she’s draped in shadow in her bed with Lucifer like a Bond villain, gave me
chills when I was younger. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character look more
intimidating while lying in bed in a nightgown. Her thin design gives her an
always devious look and her facial movements make for some intricate levels of
anger, irritation, and cruel satisfaction. Eleanor Audley gives her voice the
right amount of malice with an air of calm and power. And of course her actions
maker her a pretty great villain, how she treats Cinderella and the lengths
she’ll go to ensure her as little happiness as possible.
While
I generally prefer this film over Snow
White, I will say the former looked better. Which isn’t to say the
animation on Cinderella is lacking,
but it’s just not as striking. At times it feels like there’s a limited colour
palette. But that may be due to the time period chosen to set the film in. The Cinderella story’s been around for a
long time and I think it was very interesting that Disney chose to set their
telling in the nineteenth century (and is it just me or did the King look a lot
like Otto von Bismarck?). I like that, because it’s different next to so many other
fairy tales that feel obliged to go for a medieval setting. It just doesn’t make for
the most interesting animation. The best looking part of the film is the scene
where the Fairy Godmother appears. It’s also the scene that gives the movie its
Disney magic. The songs are decent. “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” is irresistibly
catchy, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” and “So This is Love” are just
standard but could be worse. And I don’t know why, but I don’t find the Mouse
Work Song irritating. Maybe it’s because I like the importance of that scene to
the relationship the mice have with Cinderella, but those high-pitched voices
just aren’t that grating to me. For now.
Cinderella should be watched
again. It is a pretty standard fairy tale but if you can look past things like
the rapid love at first sight, the whimsical animals and singing, evil
stepmother, all those clichés, and realize they weren’t quite the tropes then
that they are now, you’ll see the true worth of Cinderella. The fact that it has behind it a very good moral of
kindness, patience, perseverance, and hard work, and how they may pay off. And
that far from being a poor character for girls, or for that matter children to
identify with, Cinderella is a character worth rooting for. She toiled for people
who hated her but kept her good spirit throughout. Who else in the land is more
deserving of a happily ever after?
Next Week: Alice in Wonderland (1951)
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