Disney Princess Review - Cinderella
Hello I'm ZeldaQueen, and if there's snark, I'll take it.
Now, when we think of popular fairy tale themes, what's the first thing we think about?
Besides that?
That's the ticket! The rages-to-riches tale of Cinderella is by far and wide a vastly popular tale, told in most countries and stretching all the way back to the first century BC. The tales range from grisly to heartwarming and are known by pretty much all children. So, it stands to reason that Disney would make a movie about it. Made in 1950, Disney's Cinderella has become quite the classic. Let's have a look!
Following up from Snow White, we start off with a narrator giving us an exposition dump via reading from a book. We find out that, much like Snow White, Cinderella grew up with only her father and no mother and, while not a princess, she still lived in a large house and was clearly upper crust. And, like Snow White, the dad married a woman who turned out to be crazy evil to her stepdaughter. Boy, fairy tale single fathers can really pick 'em. I mean, our first glimpse of the lady is her glowering out the window with her equally evil-looking daughters. Ah well, at least the story explains that the reason he wasn't able to protect Cindy from the stepmother is because he died. I mean, it's not good that he died, but it's not like he just disappeared and for all we know, he's just sitting around not helping his daughter.
Anyway, rocks fall and the dad dies and Cinderella's stepmother quickly makes Cinderella a servant in her own house. Much like Snow White, Cinderella takes this in stride and spends most of her time singing cheerfully about dreams and love as she slaves away. Maybe there is some support group for stepdaughters forced into servitude and this is step four of the twelve-step recovery plan or something. I don't know.
Besides cooking and cleaning, Cinderella spends her time befriending the weirdly human-like mice and birds, making little dresses and hats and outfits for them. She also rescues a particularly fat one from a trap and names it "Gus". Gus and his friend Jacques spend most of the movie as the Cute Animal Sidekicks of Cindy, alternately helping her out and causing her more trouble, mostly as she has to rescue them from the stepmother's evil cat, Lucifer. Yeah, subtle naming there.
Meanwhile, in the castle, the king appears to be having a midlife crisis of sorts. He's furious because his son won't get married and he (the king) wants grandkids, dammit! The king explains that he's sad and lonely since the prince has grown up and away from him and he wants to hear the "pitter patter" of little feet again. The king decides to arrange for the prince to find a wife by throwing a ball for him and inviting all eligible maidens. That very night. Damn, I usually need a week to plan to go anywhere. How do these people manage?
Back at Cinderella's place, it's Music Time! Hooray! The stepsisters are having a music lesson and singing very badly (because wicked people can't carry a note) and Cinderella is washing the floor while singing prettily. And is interrupted when Lucifer decides to leave dirty paw prints all over the place, the little bastard. The king's messenger arrives at the door and delivers the invitation to the ball and the stepsisters promptly go apeshit. Cinderella asks if she too might attend, since she is technically an eligible maiden, and the stepmother says yes, if she is able to get all of her chores done and get a dress ready in time. Unfortunately, while Cinderella does have her mother's old dress, it looks like she'll have no time to alter it, what with waiting on her stepfamily and all. The mice discuss this in song and decide to fix up the dress themselves. Hijinks ensue as Gus and Jacques steal a pearl necklace and cloth from the stepsisters' discarded things and nearly get caught by Lucifer.
Alas, the stepmother is a devious bitch. When Cinderella shows up at the door that night in her new, pretty dress, shit hits the fan as the stepmother points out to her daughters how familiar certain bits of the dress are. A few minutes later, Cindy is in rags and the stepfamily is out the door. Poor Cinderella seems SOL until the fairy godmother arrives to help her out in her most dire hour. Hooray! Not sure why the godmother didn't make an appearance when Cinderella's father died. Or when she was being abused and humiliated by her stepfamily. Or when she was forced to do chores for everyone. Ah well, the script hath commanded it, and so it is! Through the infamous "Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo" song, the godmother whips up a pumpkin carriage, horses from white mice, and turns Cinderella's dog and horse into a driver and footmen. Erm, why not use the horse to pull the carriage? Eh, whatever. Off to the ball! Just remember to be back by midnight!
At said ball, we see that the King is frustrated, the Grand Duke is nervous, and the Prince (who we never get a name for, so let's just go with "Prince Charming") is bored out of his mind, mainly because of the endless parade of pretty but bland girls. The King complains that the Prince isn't "cooperating" and I'm kind of curious about who the hell thought up this arrangement for matchmaking. Basically, the girls are called up one at a time, curtsey for the Prince, he bows in return, and they walk off. They don't talk to him, don't have a dance, and don't in any other way interact. Small wonder he doesn't see any he wants for a wife! I'd find it endlessly dull myself!
All of this changes when Cinderella arrives on the scene. The Prince instantly falls for her because...she's beautiful and bland, I guess. Anyway, he's head over heels for her and goes over and asks her to dance. Oh, now he thinks to try that? The King sees this and is over the moon. He orders the Grand Duke (who, hilariously, has unknowingly narrated the whole thing and dismissed it as "a pretty plot for fairy tales") to see to it that no one interrupts the dancing. The stepfamily meanwhile are befuddled by this mysterious maiden. The stepmother starts to recognize her, but is blocked by the Grand Duke. Good on him.
By now, Cinderella and the Prince have fallen in love. Look, just go with it. They spent more time together than Snow White and her prince, at least. They finally start to talk about how happy they are, how beautiful Cindy is, what's her name and where she's from, etc, but get cut short as the bell strikes midnight. Cinderella runs off and loses her shoe on the stairs, apparently in too much of a hurry to just pick up the damned thing and go on her way. Ah well, the plot hath demanded it remain behind for the Prince to find and make the famous proclamation - he'll marry whichever maiden whose foot fits the slipper. I'm...guessing he's going first come, first serve here, because really? There's only one girl in the kingdom with that particular shoe size?
Anyway, Cinderella makes it home and finds that the other glass slipper was left for her, even though her dress, carriage, and other various magical items have turned back. She thanks the Godmother for the lovely night out and goes back to being a servant. Moving onward to the next morning (I must say, the plot does move quickly in this movie), the stepmother is rousing her lazy daughters because the Grand Duke is going around, fitting the slipper and has been doing so all night. You know, if they wanted to be time efficient, they could have made all of the girls left at the ball at midnight sign their names or something, so that they'd know who the mysterious maiden definitely wasn't. I mean, if she left at midnight, she logically wasn't still there at the end...oh screw it, it's a fairy tale. Anyway, Cinderella goes all dreamy when she hears that the Prince is searching for her and goes off to get dressed up, accidentally letting the stepmother catch on that she intends to try on the slipper as well. The stepmother, surprisingly intuitive for a Disney villain, puts two and two together and figures out who that mysterious maiden at the ball was. She promptly locks Cinderella in her room and pockets the key. Ouch. Cue a rather sad bit where Cinderella pounds on the door, begging to be let out and crying, as the mice, dog, and horse work together to save her. Yes, yes, we all know there's no way Disney wouldn't give Cinderella a happy ending. The voice actress for Cindy's really good though.
Downstairs, the stepsisters are trying on the slipper and are failing miserably, because bad people have big feet in addition to being tone deaf. Must be some genetic thing. Cinderella goes running downstairs and, desperate to ruin her happiness with one simple dickish move, the stepmother trips the Grand Duke and causes the glass slipper to shatter on the ground. The Grand Duke starts weeping as it looks like he'll never find the maiden...only for Cindy to procure the other slipper and put it on her foot, pretty much removing any doubt at all over whether she's the one or not. Really, this is a huge crowning moment of awesome for Cinderella. The stepfamily's faces when she says "But I have the other slipper" are priceless. Of course, we see Cindy and the Prince getting married and ridding off for their happily ever after, cue the book closing.
This movie was a step up from Snow White by way of length and complexity of plot. Disney worked a lot more on their human animation in between and it shows. A lot of the characterization, especially for the King and the Grand Duke, are pretty cute. I personally found the animals a tad annoying though, especially with their squeaky voices and heavy accents. Plotwise, despite the tweaks to characters, it still was clearly adhering to the tale of Cinderella, perhaps a little too slavishly. One of the complaints you often hear about it is how little personality the main couple have and how Cinderella is basically a doormat. To be fair, that's a little harsh on Cindy, especially when you consider that there's not much she could have done. Ultimately, whether or not this strict interpretation is better than the looser adaptations or not is up to the viewers. I personally think there's something to be said for more variety, but that's just me. On the villain front, the stepmother really is a devious bitch and it's hard not to hate her.
On the production front, the artwork was beautiful (really, I have a soft spot for the classic artwork of Disney) and the music was also very nice, though not very erm...hummable, shall we say? Let's just point out that not many of the songs besides "Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo" have made it to popular culture, especially in comparison to later Disney songs, and leave it at that. As for the voicework, I found Cindy's voice a step up from Snow's. It was very sweet and gentle and comforting. The stepmother's voicework is also noteworthy as being loveably despicable. She doesn't screech and isn't nasal or conventionally "evil" sounding. Really, it's like a female Bond mastermind, complete with an evil cat.
Bottom line, Cinderella is a Disney classic, with the usual fairy tale plot holes and unfortunate implications. Despite that, they sure don't make 'em like they used to.
Note: Cinderella is property of Disney. That is all
Back to Medival-Pirate Reviews
Now, when we think of popular fairy tale themes, what's the first thing we think about?
Besides that?
That's the ticket! The rages-to-riches tale of Cinderella is by far and wide a vastly popular tale, told in most countries and stretching all the way back to the first century BC. The tales range from grisly to heartwarming and are known by pretty much all children. So, it stands to reason that Disney would make a movie about it. Made in 1950, Disney's Cinderella has become quite the classic. Let's have a look!
Following up from Snow White, we start off with a narrator giving us an exposition dump via reading from a book. We find out that, much like Snow White, Cinderella grew up with only her father and no mother and, while not a princess, she still lived in a large house and was clearly upper crust. And, like Snow White, the dad married a woman who turned out to be crazy evil to her stepdaughter. Boy, fairy tale single fathers can really pick 'em. I mean, our first glimpse of the lady is her glowering out the window with her equally evil-looking daughters. Ah well, at least the story explains that the reason he wasn't able to protect Cindy from the stepmother is because he died. I mean, it's not good that he died, but it's not like he just disappeared and for all we know, he's just sitting around not helping his daughter.
Anyway, rocks fall and the dad dies and Cinderella's stepmother quickly makes Cinderella a servant in her own house. Much like Snow White, Cinderella takes this in stride and spends most of her time singing cheerfully about dreams and love as she slaves away. Maybe there is some support group for stepdaughters forced into servitude and this is step four of the twelve-step recovery plan or something. I don't know.
Besides cooking and cleaning, Cinderella spends her time befriending the weirdly human-like mice and birds, making little dresses and hats and outfits for them. She also rescues a particularly fat one from a trap and names it "Gus". Gus and his friend Jacques spend most of the movie as the Cute Animal Sidekicks of Cindy, alternately helping her out and causing her more trouble, mostly as she has to rescue them from the stepmother's evil cat, Lucifer. Yeah, subtle naming there.
Meanwhile, in the castle, the king appears to be having a midlife crisis of sorts. He's furious because his son won't get married and he (the king) wants grandkids, dammit! The king explains that he's sad and lonely since the prince has grown up and away from him and he wants to hear the "pitter patter" of little feet again. The king decides to arrange for the prince to find a wife by throwing a ball for him and inviting all eligible maidens. That very night. Damn, I usually need a week to plan to go anywhere. How do these people manage?
Back at Cinderella's place, it's Music Time! Hooray! The stepsisters are having a music lesson and singing very badly (because wicked people can't carry a note) and Cinderella is washing the floor while singing prettily. And is interrupted when Lucifer decides to leave dirty paw prints all over the place, the little bastard. The king's messenger arrives at the door and delivers the invitation to the ball and the stepsisters promptly go apeshit. Cinderella asks if she too might attend, since she is technically an eligible maiden, and the stepmother says yes, if she is able to get all of her chores done and get a dress ready in time. Unfortunately, while Cinderella does have her mother's old dress, it looks like she'll have no time to alter it, what with waiting on her stepfamily and all. The mice discuss this in song and decide to fix up the dress themselves. Hijinks ensue as Gus and Jacques steal a pearl necklace and cloth from the stepsisters' discarded things and nearly get caught by Lucifer.
Alas, the stepmother is a devious bitch. When Cinderella shows up at the door that night in her new, pretty dress, shit hits the fan as the stepmother points out to her daughters how familiar certain bits of the dress are. A few minutes later, Cindy is in rags and the stepfamily is out the door. Poor Cinderella seems SOL until the fairy godmother arrives to help her out in her most dire hour. Hooray! Not sure why the godmother didn't make an appearance when Cinderella's father died. Or when she was being abused and humiliated by her stepfamily. Or when she was forced to do chores for everyone. Ah well, the script hath commanded it, and so it is! Through the infamous "Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo" song, the godmother whips up a pumpkin carriage, horses from white mice, and turns Cinderella's dog and horse into a driver and footmen. Erm, why not use the horse to pull the carriage? Eh, whatever. Off to the ball! Just remember to be back by midnight!
At said ball, we see that the King is frustrated, the Grand Duke is nervous, and the Prince (who we never get a name for, so let's just go with "Prince Charming") is bored out of his mind, mainly because of the endless parade of pretty but bland girls. The King complains that the Prince isn't "cooperating" and I'm kind of curious about who the hell thought up this arrangement for matchmaking. Basically, the girls are called up one at a time, curtsey for the Prince, he bows in return, and they walk off. They don't talk to him, don't have a dance, and don't in any other way interact. Small wonder he doesn't see any he wants for a wife! I'd find it endlessly dull myself!
All of this changes when Cinderella arrives on the scene. The Prince instantly falls for her because...she's beautiful and bland, I guess. Anyway, he's head over heels for her and goes over and asks her to dance. Oh, now he thinks to try that? The King sees this and is over the moon. He orders the Grand Duke (who, hilariously, has unknowingly narrated the whole thing and dismissed it as "a pretty plot for fairy tales") to see to it that no one interrupts the dancing. The stepfamily meanwhile are befuddled by this mysterious maiden. The stepmother starts to recognize her, but is blocked by the Grand Duke. Good on him.
By now, Cinderella and the Prince have fallen in love. Look, just go with it. They spent more time together than Snow White and her prince, at least. They finally start to talk about how happy they are, how beautiful Cindy is, what's her name and where she's from, etc, but get cut short as the bell strikes midnight. Cinderella runs off and loses her shoe on the stairs, apparently in too much of a hurry to just pick up the damned thing and go on her way. Ah well, the plot hath demanded it remain behind for the Prince to find and make the famous proclamation - he'll marry whichever maiden whose foot fits the slipper. I'm...guessing he's going first come, first serve here, because really? There's only one girl in the kingdom with that particular shoe size?
Anyway, Cinderella makes it home and finds that the other glass slipper was left for her, even though her dress, carriage, and other various magical items have turned back. She thanks the Godmother for the lovely night out and goes back to being a servant. Moving onward to the next morning (I must say, the plot does move quickly in this movie), the stepmother is rousing her lazy daughters because the Grand Duke is going around, fitting the slipper and has been doing so all night. You know, if they wanted to be time efficient, they could have made all of the girls left at the ball at midnight sign their names or something, so that they'd know who the mysterious maiden definitely wasn't. I mean, if she left at midnight, she logically wasn't still there at the end...oh screw it, it's a fairy tale. Anyway, Cinderella goes all dreamy when she hears that the Prince is searching for her and goes off to get dressed up, accidentally letting the stepmother catch on that she intends to try on the slipper as well. The stepmother, surprisingly intuitive for a Disney villain, puts two and two together and figures out who that mysterious maiden at the ball was. She promptly locks Cinderella in her room and pockets the key. Ouch. Cue a rather sad bit where Cinderella pounds on the door, begging to be let out and crying, as the mice, dog, and horse work together to save her. Yes, yes, we all know there's no way Disney wouldn't give Cinderella a happy ending. The voice actress for Cindy's really good though.
Downstairs, the stepsisters are trying on the slipper and are failing miserably, because bad people have big feet in addition to being tone deaf. Must be some genetic thing. Cinderella goes running downstairs and, desperate to ruin her happiness with one simple dickish move, the stepmother trips the Grand Duke and causes the glass slipper to shatter on the ground. The Grand Duke starts weeping as it looks like he'll never find the maiden...only for Cindy to procure the other slipper and put it on her foot, pretty much removing any doubt at all over whether she's the one or not. Really, this is a huge crowning moment of awesome for Cinderella. The stepfamily's faces when she says "But I have the other slipper" are priceless. Of course, we see Cindy and the Prince getting married and ridding off for their happily ever after, cue the book closing.
This movie was a step up from Snow White by way of length and complexity of plot. Disney worked a lot more on their human animation in between and it shows. A lot of the characterization, especially for the King and the Grand Duke, are pretty cute. I personally found the animals a tad annoying though, especially with their squeaky voices and heavy accents. Plotwise, despite the tweaks to characters, it still was clearly adhering to the tale of Cinderella, perhaps a little too slavishly. One of the complaints you often hear about it is how little personality the main couple have and how Cinderella is basically a doormat. To be fair, that's a little harsh on Cindy, especially when you consider that there's not much she could have done. Ultimately, whether or not this strict interpretation is better than the looser adaptations or not is up to the viewers. I personally think there's something to be said for more variety, but that's just me. On the villain front, the stepmother really is a devious bitch and it's hard not to hate her.
On the production front, the artwork was beautiful (really, I have a soft spot for the classic artwork of Disney) and the music was also very nice, though not very erm...hummable, shall we say? Let's just point out that not many of the songs besides "Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo" have made it to popular culture, especially in comparison to later Disney songs, and leave it at that. As for the voicework, I found Cindy's voice a step up from Snow's. It was very sweet and gentle and comforting. The stepmother's voicework is also noteworthy as being loveably despicable. She doesn't screech and isn't nasal or conventionally "evil" sounding. Really, it's like a female Bond mastermind, complete with an evil cat.
Bottom line, Cinderella is a Disney classic, with the usual fairy tale plot holes and unfortunate implications. Despite that, they sure don't make 'em like they used to.
Note: Cinderella is property of Disney. That is all
Back to Medival-Pirate Reviews