Review: Cinderella (DMC #12)
Hello, all our fellow Disney fans! Thank you for continuing to join us on this journey. This year marks the 70th anniversary of Disney’s Cinderella, and today we present our thoughts on this twelfth film in the challenge. Read on for our recap, or scroll through it to get right to our review.
Synopsis
Cinderella and her widowed father live together in a lovely chateau, but her father wants his daughter to have a mother figure, so he marries Lady Tremaine. Lady Tremaine and her two daughters, Anastasia and Drizella, join the household, but when Cinderella’s father dies, the Tremaines’ cruelty is revealed. Lady Tremaine forces Cinderella to be a servant in her own household. Despite this, Cinderella remains kind and hopeful that her dreams for a better life will come true. The mice, birds, and other animals Cinderella has befriended are determined to help her make that a reality. Meanwhile, at the royal palace, the King is frustrated that his son, the Prince, has still not found a woman to marry. To fix this, he and the Grand Duke organize a ball and request that all eligible maidens attend. When the invitation to the ball arrives at the chateau, Lady Tremaine agrees to let Cinderella attend…if she finishes her chores.
Cinderella is given excess chores, however, and has no time to fix her dress for the ball, so the mice and birds finish the dress for her. Cinderella is overjoyed at the results, but when the step-sisters discover their discarded accessories in Cinderella’s outfit, they tear the dress apart. Heartbroken, Cinderella runs to the garden while Lady Tremaine and her daughters leave for the ball. Cinderella is soon comforted by her Fairy Godmother who transforms a pumpkin into a carriage and Cinderella’s ruined dress into a ballgown, complete with glass slippers. She warns Cinderella that the spell will only last until midnight. At the ball, Cinderella goes unrecognized and meets the Prince. She and the Prince dance and fall in love, but the clock strikes midnight before they even exchange names. Cinderella runs from the ball, but leaves behind one of her glass slippers. The Prince is determined to marry the woman who wore the glass slippers, and the King orders the Duke to locate the woman whose foot fits the glass slipper. When the Duke arrives at the chateau, Lady Tremaine realizes that Cinderella was the mystery girl from the ball and locks her in her room. Cinderella’s animal friends are able to rescue her, and even though Lady Tremaine causes the Duke’s glass slipper to shatter, Cinderella reveals she has the other slipper, proving she is the one. She and the Prince are reunited and are happily married.
Thoughts Before Watching
Megan: Cinderella might not have been one of my favorite princesses when I was a kid, but I am so excited to finally return to one of the recognizable, full-length animated features that is not a compilation of shorter stories!
Kevin: Cinderella was one of my least favorites, but not because it was a princess movie. I usually recall that I was utterly bored by it, in part because of the relationship between Cinderella and the prince, and also because I didn’t understand why Cinderella didn’t stand up to her step-mother. The Fairy Godmother was probably the most interesting to me, with the mice a close second. The wicked step-mother and step-sisters were, well, wicked, and I didn’t really think much of their characters apart from that. I also somewhat remember the Duke being a fun character, though not entirely why. But I really have to say that after the last few weeks of watching some rather underwhelming films, I just could not wait to get back to something that had more of a story to it. Suffice to say I am actually really excited! I can’t remember when I last watched this movie, but I watched the live-action remake with Megan when it came out a few years ago, and I particularly enjoyed that one. With that perspective in mind, I’m curious how I’ll come away with a fresh look at the animated version.
Thoughts After Watching
Kevin: I’m completely surprised! Maybe I’m just eager for something new after several weeks of package films, or this was just genuinely better than I remembered. In any case, this was entertaining. The humor was wonderful and the visuals were stunning. And that soundtrack is so catchy that I’ve been replaying pieces like “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” and “The Work Song” over and over in my head since we finished the movie last night. Frankly, I’m just going to step back for a moment and applaud Disney for this. Compared to what came before it, Cinderella is a welcome breath of fresh air. We said in previous reviews that it looked achingly apparent that the studio wanted to get back to this style, and they delivered spectacularly.
70 years ago, Cinderella saved Disney.
Megan: Here’s a bit of history for you—if it weren’t for Cinderella, Disney might not have made it to be the studio it is today. After the so-so war era movies that got the studio out of debt, they needed a big hit. Thankfully, Cinderella did the trick. The movie was so successful it helped fund the production of many of the films that would come after it, like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and Sleeping Beauty. It also gave Disney the funding needed to step into television and begin building Walt Disney World (perhaps that is why Walt Disney World features Cinderella’s castle?). This article from Decider dives into the details of that history. It’s definitely worth a read if you’d like to learn more!
A return to form.
Kevin: Like The Little Mermaid would do nearly four decades later, Cinderella breathed new life into the Disney studios. The animation here is fantastic! In our review of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad, I mentioned that the animation looked closer to that of the studio’s earliest films than some of the other package films. Cinderella takes that style and blows it out of the water. The visuals are the best they’ve ever been at this point. For the characters themselves, I loved watching Jaq and Gus running around and trolling Lucifer, another great character design whose personality shines through in the animation. (Side note: as cat-owners, we both thought Lucifer’s mannerisms in his first appearance were very accurate.) One particular standout to me is the scene where Cinderella is cleaning the floor, and we see her reflected in the bubbles. Also, “Sing Sweet Nightingale” is a perfect accompaniment here, both beautifully done in the way Cinderella sings it and the comical version done by the step-sisters.
Kevin: But, as usual, there are still some flaws with this movie.
Megan: Agreed. While we’re on the topic of that iconic scene with the bubbles…
How to be a Disney Princess in five words or less.
Megan: Cinderella is the second Disney Princess we’re introduced to, and with only Snow White and Cinderella as examples, it would seem that the key to being a princess is this: cook, clean, and befriend animals. We won’t see another iconic Disney Princess again until Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, and even she does little to change this formula (while we may not see her cook or clean, it’s implied that she helped around the cottage). It’s then a long wait until Ariel and Belle start to change this—their best friends are still animals (or, in Belle’s case, you could extend that to enchanted objects), but at least their primary actions on screen are more exciting and adventurous than cooking or cleaning.
As a young girl who grew up idolizing Disney Princesses, I find it a bit problematic that girls are shown cleaning and doing domestic work while boys never are. In the case of Cinderella, the male cat Lucifer makes messes which the female Cinderella then has to clean up. Even the female mice tell the male mice to “leave the sewing to the women.” It’s subtle, but the troubling message is still there—cooking, cleaning, sewing, and other domestic duties are jobs for women, even when the men make the messes. I think that’s one of the reasons why Snow White and Cinderella quickly fell to the bottom of my list of princesses when I was a kid. Sure, I loved animals and thought being able to talk to them would be cool, but what kid wants to root for a hero who does chores all the time? Now that I’m an adult, I have to wonder, how much of that was me being a kid who hated doing chores, and how much of it was growing up in a culture that devalues housework and so-called “women’s work”? It’s hard to say since culture permeates everything, but I can say that I’m glad Disney has since moved away from princesses whose only virtues are linked to their domestic chores.
“I woke up like this” and princess perfections.
Megan: I’m not sure how you experienced the “I woke up like this” sensation that swept the internet a few years ago, but from my vantage point it looked to me like people were trying to insist (or joke) that they truly woke up looking absolutely flawless. In this case, Cinderella and many of the other early Disney Princesses would serve as perfect examples of the “I woke up like this” meme. After a bit of research I now know that the trend was initially supposed to highlight what women really look like when they wake up, which is more akin to Anna from Frozen. I realize that animating hair can be a challenge, but how in the world did it take Disney until 2013 to animate a woman with her hair out of place in the morning? I mean even Rapunzel, though she has to “brush and brush and brush and brush” her hair, appears with not a hair out of place before she brushes it. Cinderella at least wakes up in braids instead of a tangled mess of hair, but as someone who has slept with braided hair I can attest it never looks that flawless when you wake up after sleeping on it for a full night. Talk about some unattainable beauty standards…
Megan: In addition to their flawless hair and perfect appearances, the early Disney Princesses lack any true character flaws. They are pulled directly from the pages of their fairy tales, given a Disney gloss, and set on their way without much nuance in their character development. If we are to give Cinderella a flaw, it is perhaps that she is too kind, and lacks the ability to assert herself (only once does she advocate for herself, arguing that the invitation to the ball also applies to her), but she never escapes her situation by overcoming said flaw. In fact, one could argue that Cinderella has no true character change at all. Externally, sure, she goes quite literally from wearing rags to riches (and then briefly to rags again before she’s once more dressed in finery when she marries Prince Charming). Yet in terms of an internal change she doesn’t really have one. While Grumpy was the only character to change in Snow White, I can’t quite think of a single character who experiences a change in Cinderella. (Not unless you dive into the animated sequels, in which case I believe Anastasia does have a change of heart.) I think the reason Disney made so many changes to Cinderella’s story for the live action remake was that today’s audience expects more depth from characters, even if they are animated.
Dude, at least buy her dinner first!
Kevin: For me, most of this movie’s flaws are in the romance. It’s well known that the romances in Disney princess films are not meant to be realistic. They are fairy tale adaptations after all, and I can imagine it’s sometimes hard (but not impossible) to squeeze a ton of deep character development into a 1.5 hour long movie. Still, up until the Disney Renaissance era, the romance of early Disney couples is based on very little apart from physical appearances and hyper-idealistic first impressions. Cinderella fits that mold precisely. While the main story is truly about Cinderella dealing with her circumstances more than it is about her relationship with Prince Charming (his actual, official name by the way; Snow White’s prince is literally just called “The Prince”), the budding romance between the two is punctured when you realize that nothing. actually. happens. The two aren’t introduced to each other, at least to the audience, by talking. We see their courtship unfold through the comical observations and narration of the King and the Duke.
Kevin: As funny as their exchange is, this missing element between Cinderella and Charming makes it hard to root for their romance. It also doesn’t help that the Prince is a bland character (though I hear the sequels flesh him out).
Megan: True. I mean technically the mice have more lines than Prince Charming.
Kevin: During their dance at the ball, Cinderella and Prince Charming sing “so this is love” and, later on, the two are about to kiss right as the clock strikes midnight. Mere seconds later, Charming admits he didn’t even get her name… um, what?!
Megan: I’m sorry, Prince Charming, but you can’t marry a girl you just met.
Prince Charming: But it’s true love!
Megan: Oh yeah? What’s her FIRST NAME?!
Kevin: Didn’t your parents ever warn you about strangers?! I’m sorry, but no, Cinderella and Charming, you don’t love each other—you don’t even know each other! Y’know, I realize the whole thing between Anna and Hans in Frozen was partially to poke fun at this kind of thing, but at least they knew each other’s names and a bit about each other’s lives before they got engaged (momentarily putting aside Hans’ villainy ‘cause I’m making a point here). The movie culminates with Cinderella and Charming getting married—and, as far as the audience knows, during their second date no less! (Possibly not even a date, I think they just went straight to the wedding.) The romance in Cinderella just moves way too quickly that it’s the most disappointing part of the whole film.
Saved by the Fairy Godmother!
Megan: Flaws aside, I do have to celebrate that Cinderella PASSES THE BECHDEL TEST!!! I know, I was shocked that a film from 1950 would actually manage it, but it is all thanks to the Fairy Godmother. Her brief, magical appearance includes the only conversation between two female characters that is not about a man. They talk about the ball, her dress, transforming pumpkins and animals, and okay, yes, I think they do briefly mention the prince, but he is not the center of their conversation—getting Cinderella to the ball is. Also, unlike Dumbo where women only talk to each other to tear each other down, this conversation between Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother is one of women supporting women. I initially thought for sure this film would end up in the same category as Dumbo because of Cinderella’s step-mother and step-sisters constantly tearing her down, but thank goodness the Fairy Godmother appears! I think she is my favorite character: a woman, with (magical) power, who supports other women. Bibbity, bobbity, booyah!
Special thanks to the Duke for keeping it real.
Megan: I’d like to take a moment to appreciate the Duke. This is the guy who insists to the King that his notions about how the prince will meet his true love are “a pretty thought for fairy tales, sire, but in real life…” He may not be self-aware enough to realize he is in fact sitting within a fairy tale, but I love that he calls out what the audience is thinking both here and later when he tries to reason with the King that the glass slipper Cinderella lost “could fit any number of maidens.”
Kevin: Completely agreed here. I now remember why I thought the Duke was a fun character; he has the best lines and he’s certainly the most relatable. 2007’s Enchanted was probably the most “on-the-nose” when it came to making fun of past Disney films, but it’s wonderful that Disney poked fun at themselves even back in the ‘50s.
Minds have been changed.
Kevin: While the romance is dull (despite being the most iconic part), I’ve come away liking this movie so much more than I originally did, or thought I could. Everything else that happens before it is fun to watch, and the comical duo of the King and the Duke moves the ballroom scenes forward. I won’t say that this is something I will intentionally watch again and again, but I would be just fine every time I see it.
Verdict
Megan: 6
Kevin: 6
Final Score: 6
What did you think of Cinderella? Who’s your favorite character? Tell us in the comments below!
