Cinderella

The story of Cinderella cannot be traced back to just one culture. The basic story of Cinderella can be found in almost every ancient culture and society. One of the most popular versions is said to be that of Charles Perrault, written in 1697. It is from this version that Walt Disney created his animated masterpiece. This film is without any doubt is the quintessential American version of the tale. It was very important in the history of the Disney Studio, let alone in the history of animation. The American Film Institute, on its list of the greatest animated films, has "Cinderella" as #9. Where as the special feature of “Fantasia” for example is the animation, it is the story that makes “Cinderella” special. You also have entertaining characters and subplots to flesh the story out to feature length. There is suspense and an emotional roller coaster ride that the audience undergoes. As with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Pinocchio”, Walt Disney modernized the story of Cinderella to great effect.

The story has many good points such as the changes that Disney made for his version. First of all, Cinderella’s father dies at the start of the movie. In the Perrault version, Cinderella’s father is alive for the entirety of the tale but the stepmother controls him. By having the father die, it creates empathy for Cinderella. There is no human being who loves her. We immediately desire redemption for her and we haven’t even seen her yet in the movie. The film has multiple subplots that entertain us but also add to the overall story. The mice and cat subplot is a lot of fun. Who names their cat Lucifer by the way? That is one crazy stepmother. Ward Kimball must have had so much fun animating that cat. As a kid, I was quite jealous of the mice’s tunnels throughout the house. The sequence in the kitchen has great moments. I love the gag when Jacques picks his own tail. Gus congratulates him but the other mice react with somberness. Another hilarious moment in this scene is when Lucifer is looking for Gus under the three teacups. At one point, he lifts up the correct cup but he doesn’t realize it. Once his mind clicks, his reaction is way too funny and what adds to the humor of that moment is that his response coincides with the impatient yelling of the stepfamily. The humorous scene however causes an important story moment with the stepmother, Lady Tremaine, punishing Cinderella. We are introduced to the villain of the movie quite powerfully. In that scene, the stepmother is very cold and scary thanks to the live action modeling of Eleanor Audley (who is also the voice of the stepmother) and the animation of Frank Thomas. This vocal role by the way is my favorite from Audley even though she would later voice Maleficent. As to the teacup gags, they are reprised throughout the film and it comes to affect the story very much at the climax.

I have grown to like the subplot with the King and Grand Duke quite a bit. The first thing that we see the King do is throw his crown through the palace window. While it is funny, it immediately shows what his priorities are at this time in his life. His desire for grandchildren has more attention than his kingdom at the present moment. This relatable and noble desire shows that he is a good but passionate ruler. In his opening scene, he is established as a good father and that makes him a good king in our eyes. I am sure that he is not neglecting his kingdom but rather, he is just distracted. The King and Grand Duke scenes entertain the adults watching this movie because there are many would-be grandparents in the audience that can’t wait for their grandchildren. The King is the exaggeration of those people in real life society. The relatable angle of these scenes with the King creates humor. I also love how the Grand Duke can handle his eyeglass. You have the yo-yo moves as well as when he rolls the eyeglass along his handspan. I also love the line the King has about the cigars that he gives the Duke: “Better practice passing these out, eh?” I love how the events at the ball coincidentally play out exactly as the Grand Duke describes them. There is irony in that moment when the Duke concludes by saying that love at first sight only happens in fairytales. Another hilarious moment is when the King almost falls off the balcony trying to get the servants to adjust the lights to a more romantic feel. A twist that Disney puts on the story is that Cinderella doesn’t know that the man she has fallen in love with is actually the Prince. Other versions have Cinderella fully aware of the Prince as her love interest. This change in the story however creates plausibility. If Cinderella knew that her love interest was the Prince, the spell being broken would probably not have been such a concern for her. The Prince may have loved her no matter who she really was. Evidence of this can be found in the scene the next day when Cinderella discovers that it was the Prince she fell in love with. She is not concerned at all with her duties as a maid anymore. She has found a way out. It is because she doesn’t know the Prince’s identity that she leaves him at the ball. The quest is now to be reunited with him and that makes a lot more sense than if she knew that her love interest was the Prince from the start. Society today looks back on this film and sees a bad example of true love. The Prince has very little screen time and he & Cinderella fall in love over the course of one night. I defend the Disney version for two reasons. First of all, Disney was just following the original tale in this case. Secondly, animating a handsome male chararacter at this point in the history of the industry was extremely tough. It still is these days when animating traditionally. The Prince in "Snow White" also had limited time on screen for this very reason. Therefore, those who call out Walt Disney as having no understanding of true love should remember that there are no such things as talking mice.

Disney used many great cinematic devices and storytelling patterns to portray the well-known story of Cinderella. This creates originality. In “Snow White”, Disney constantly intercut between two stories leading up to the D. W. Griffith chase sequence. In “Cinderella” there is a story pattern of victory and defeat. The audience is taken on an emotional roller coaster ride. For as in initial example, Cinderella is given permission to get ready for the ball only to be given no time to do so. The mice creating the dress is a great sequence but it is followed by a frightening moment. The editing when the stepsisters destroy Cinderella’s dress creates a very dramatic and heart-wrenching scene. It is an example of the good use of timing in this movie. The subsequent moment when Cinderella retreats to the garden outside and weeps is also very emotional. Cinderella here gives up on her hopes & dreams and to see our heroine in this state in quite sad. She has gone through so much abuse that she doesn’t deserve and these story moments exist to make the appearance of the Fairy Godmother such a joyous and relieving moment. It is a good use of contrast. Also, because the mice made her a dress and because of this drama, we forgot the possibility of the Fairy Godmother coming to the rescue. The Fairy Godmother’s appearance represents the triumph of good over evil: it always happens in the end, even if it must happen through magic and miracles. Another good example of timing is during the song “So This Is Love”. I am sure that the time that the Prince and Cinderella spent together at the ball is short again because of how hard it was to animate the Prince but this short time that they spend together creates surprise for the moment when both we and Cinderella realize that it is midnight. The romantic song also contrasts the speed of Cinderella’s escape that happens immediately after. Cinderella experiences a defeat once again as she must leave her true love but the scene does end on a very positive note that will come to mean all the difference at the climax. I am sort of disappointed at how we don’t see Jacques and Gus get the key up all those final stairs. It is a big plot hole but perfect movies are rare, even from Walt Disney. At another moment of triumph, Lucifer uses the teacup to destroy the hope of the characters and the audience. Something previously established takes on a whole new significance. There are other moments of foreshadowing in “Cinderella”. For example, Cinderella losing her shoe has always been apart of the story since Perrault but the Disney version foreshadows this event when she loses her shoe as she delivers the breakfast trays. I like the reaction of the Duke when Cinderella appears, desiring to try on the slipper. He seems to recognize her and sees that her foot is a possible fit. When the Duke brushes past the Stepmother, we believe that everything will be all right and that Cinderella will be completely victorious. Then the unthinkable happens as the glass slipper breaks and this is yet another example of foreshadowing in the film. It is thrown around so much by everyone beforehand that its destruction becomes inevitable. It happens at the worst time too. We think that everything is resolved and the rug is pulled out from under us once again. It is another great change that Disney made. In all the suspense, we have forgotten all about the other slipper until Cinderella reveals it. She proves even before it is tried on her foot that she is the Prince’s true love. The other slipper was set up earlier and it was paid off as a great surprise to the audience. The Duke’s reaction to this revelation is humorous and joyous enough to make anyone smile.

There are other miscellaneous reasons as to why I am entertained by this animated film. Cinderella’s voice by Ilene Woods sounds so kind and motherly compared to other Disney Princesses. Gus’ role in the overall story is important because he is new to the house just like we are as the audience. Through Gus, we are introduced to the setting. The character of the Fairy Godmother is appealing in that she is forgetful. She is more grandmother than fairy. It is my favorite Disney performance from Verna Felton. The transformation of Cinderella’s dress as animated by Marc Davis is probably the best piece of work in the whole film. Walt Disney was very impressed by it, calling it his favorite piece of animation. Whenever you see a clip from the film on television or on a DVD, it is almost always this shot. I would say that it is defiantly a Disney hallmark shots. The story of Cinderella is a metaphor for Walt Disney’s career just like the story of Snow White. Walt Disney experienced many successes and trials before “Cinderella” became the success that it was. Just as Cinderella has an evil stepmother, Walt’s childhood relationship with his father was a little on the negative side. As Elias Disney tried to find success in life, he was quite controlling and strict. Walt could relate to Cinderella in other ways in that he came to Hollywood with nothing and as he began to get a foothold in the animation industry, selfish businessmen took advantage of him and betrayed him constantly. However, just as Cinderella has her animal friends to help her, Walt had friends and loyal employees during this time such as his big brother Roy and Ub Iwerks (both of whom were involved in this picture). Walt then created the first animated motion picture in Hollywood history and it became a smash hit. This can be likened unto Cinderella getting help from the Fairy Godmother so she could go to the ball and fall in love with the Prince. When Cinderella is locked in her room, it can represent the innitial financial losses of "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia" as well as what World War II did to his success. After “Bambi”, Disney and his studio had to rely on making training films and war related productions as well as compilation films once the war ended. The studio had not delivered a hit movie in years and if “Cinderella” had been a flop, the animation studio would have disappeared After the amazing success of “Cinderella”, Disney was able to make other animated masterpieces in the 50’s. He also was able to continue creating live action films with his first one, “Treasure Island”, being released the same year as “Cinderella”. The success of “Cinderella” also allowed Disney to enter television production, create his own distribution company and of course Disneyland. This animated film allowed Disney to recover from the hard decade of the 40’s. When you watch any Disney movie from 50’s to the present day, we have “Cinderella” to thank. This was the first Disney musical that employed songwriters from outside the studio, in this case from New York’s famous Tin Pan Alley. Before this, the songs in Disney’s films were usually accidental hits. The songs in Cinderella were meant to be commercially popular. Disney however did not sacrifice the story of the movie to feature the songs “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” establishes well our main character. The film immediately has the perfect focus of a heroine with hopes and dreams. She is also an underdog because she is forced to be a servant in her own house. “Sing Sweet Nightingale” is entertaining in that it starts out comedic, becomes beautiful and ends up comedic again. It also featured over dubbing which was very new at the time. Many of the songs in this film were huge hits in the early 50’s, especially “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”. That song was nominated for an Oscar as was the film’s sound and musical score. Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo as a phrase has become part of pop culture as well.

The American Film Institute rated “Cinderella” as the 9^th best animated film of all time and rightfully so. We live in what my high school English teacher called a “Disnified Society”. Whenever the story of “Cinderella” in mentioned for example, the Disney version is usually the first thing to enter peoples’ minds. It is my favorite film from 1950. “Cinderella” kept the Disney Studio going with its story, characters and subplots. It also has drama and suspense to entertain the audience. As the original underdog story throughout the world, only Disney could take it and make it original.

4.5 Stars