Disney Classics Marathon :pound_symbol:12
When I was a little kid my grandmother picked me up at kindergarten or later at Elementary School about two days a week. Some days we would go to the local video ranting store (something like Blockbuster) and I was allowed to choose one movie from the kids section. Well, I always loved movies, but on those special days I mostly decided between two very specific ones. One was Don Bluth‘s "Thumbelina" and the other one Disney’s "Cinderella."
"Cinderella" or "Aschenputtel," as it’s called in German, has always been one of my favorite fairytale‘s growing up and definitely my favorite Grimm one. So naturally, I loved the movie too pieces.
Well, the story of "Cinderella," much like the original "Snow White," actually goes back to Ancient Greece and the tale of Rhodopis, a Greek slave whose shoe is one day stolen by a bird and dropped into the lap of an Egyptian King, who sets out to find her and marries her in the end.
Versions known to us however are mostly the European ones. Mostly "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault and "Aschenputtel" by the Brothers Grimm.
"Aschenputtel," like many Grimm takes on fairytales is a lot darker than the Perrault version and why both share similarities, it’s the French one that mostly inspired Disney’s adaptation.
After the war and the package movie era, the Walt Disney Company went back to what inspired their first movie, a classic fairytale with a Princess (or soon-to-be one) as a protagonist, an evil Stepmother and a Prince who falls in love with her. It worked the first time and after years of mild success, "Cinderella" worked its magic and Disney was back to old glory.
The story again follows a simple fairytale structure. A lovely and kind heroine is tormented by her evil stepfamily, her only friends are the animals (mostly mice) living in her house, but with the help of her Fairy Godmother she can go to the royal ball, meet the Prince and marries im in the end.
The story is so popular it has been adapted and modernized countless times before, musicals were created and even a teen movie franchise. It’s timeless in literally every sense.
Now, there are some aspects to break down here.
On a technical level this movie is simply gorgeous. The artwork is lovely, the animation delicate and beautiful and the soundtrack one of Disney‘s most memorable ones.
The characters are introduced very well (I never noticed that the prologue already shows Lucifer as a kitten and Bruno as a puppy). Cinderella is sweet and kind, Anastasia and Drizella jealous and mean-spirited, Lady Tremaine remains one of the most memorable and sinister villains Disney has ever created and the mice serve as comedic sidekicks. Like in "Snow White," the Prince, only named "Prince Charming" does not get the benefit of a personality (that oddly doesn’t happen until Cinderella 3).
For whatever weird reasons the King and his Grand Duke are given more screentime than the Prince, and serve mostly as the comedic relief during the film‘s second act.
Which brings me to the little issue of the mice, mostly represented by Jaq and Gus. Now, don’t get me wrong here. They are adorable and funny and serve the plot well, but as the comedic side characters they almost take over the entire film, getting more focus than Cinderella, which is just an odd filmmaking decision and probably due to the fact that they are supposed to get the attention of even the youngest children in the audience (the fairies in "Sleeping Beauty are a whole different topic though).
And now let me talk about Cinderella or rather defend her character.
These days Cinderella, as she is portrayed here gets a lot of criticism for being to passive, anti-feminist and just a pretty face that gets married off. Countless movies try to "correct" that aspect, even Disney themselves tried it with their 2015 remake and the recently released dumpster fire or "Girlboss" Cinderella took it to a whole new cringeworthy level.
First off, "Cinderella" is a fairytale and plot is the main focus here, not character development. It mostly exists to entertain and tell certain morals to children. Which it does. And second, I don’t think Cinderella is that passive. She doesn’t go around punching people, sassing back at her stepmother or sing songs about she doesn’t need a man to be happy, but she shows a different kind of strength. She endures a lot of pain, while never losing her kindness and optimism. She is strong within, doesn’t let her circumstances break her and when she gets the chance to leave this life, she does. She fights back within her means. She goes to the ball when given her chance, ignoring her Stepmother‘s warnings. She tries to break through the door when being locked up. She is shown to be annoyed at her situation and frustrated, but has no realistic chance to escape.
Let’s also not forget the circumstances. It’s the 15th century (I think?), she is shown to live in this big house, with no other people or village around, what was she supposed to do? Run away with no money, food or anything really? And think about it, she was isolated since childhood, lost both parents and was conditioned to work for her stepmother. Breaking out wasn’t that easy. Unlike other adaptations that add more to her surroundings.
She also doesn’t go to the ball to meet the Prince and marry him, girl just wants to have a good time for once.
So, don’t tell me Cinderella is weak when she shows so much strength.
Rant over.
I still love this movie a lot. It gives me a cozy feeling that reminds me of early childhood and a certain believe in magic and a form of optimism that adulthood mostly can’t preserve. I do prefer other Disney films today, but this one still holds a special place in my heart.
Favorite Character: My girl, Cinderella. I also adore Lucifer the cat for some reason.
Favorite Song: Sing, Sweet Nightingale
Favorite Moment: The whole transformation, mostly the dress
7.5 out of 100 stars.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-09-08T05:03:03Z
[4.1/10] How is a movie this iconic also this bad? You’d have to have been locked in a tower for the last seventy years not to know about the glass slippers, the evil stepmother, the pumpkin carriage, the charming prince, bibbidi bobbidi boo, the mean stepsister, the stroke of midnight, the fairy godmother, the towering castle, and all the other pieces of Cinderella ephemera that have become holy within the “culture of Disney.” Surely a movie so woven into the fabric of American animation has some claim to greatness, or at least some redeeming qualities.
The unfortunate response is that I am hard-pressed to think of any. This is a boring, annoying, overlong waste of celluloid that must possess some bewitching charms I am mysteriously immune to. It’s a strange combination of a fairy tale, a funny animal cartoon, and a wacky comedy where a dad tries to marry off his son to the first pair of X chromosomes he can find in the hopes of collecting a couple of grandchildren before he kicks the bucket. It is a loud, dull, tonally off-balance movie below the studio’s usual standards in almost every respect.
Its positives are few. There are a couple of good setups and payoffs, whether it's the title character's pre-established propensity to lose her footwear, or the classical rivalry among the dog, cat, and mice reaching a crescendo in the climax. As random and almost schizophrenic as Cinderella feels at times, it at least has the good sense to plant a few seeds that it intends to harvest by the end of the movie.
What’s more, Cinderella herself, why still a little generic, has a little extra sass and pathos to her. It’s not much -- usually just a light mocking tone or fumbled request for a dress from her spritely benefactor -- but it’s enough to give her a personality. And however nonsensical it may be, the eponymous princess-to-be producing the other glass slipper generously counts as a mildly clever twist as the movie teases the audience before the final payoff. Those are, sadly, the only elements in the movie that rise above the level of “reasonably competent.”
The songs here are dull and unmemorable, with even the brain-beating repetition of childhood viewings and Disney “brand deposits” failing to elevate to a point beyond “Yeah, I think I vaguely recall that one.” They’re repetitive and humdrum, with tepid melodies and dimestore lyrics.
Likewise, the animation is surprisingly unexceptional. None of it sinks to the level of bad. There’s even a few bits, like CInderella’s bubble brigade or famous dress transformation or her dance with the prince, that stand out as worth taking note of. But for the most part, everything we see is either flat and uninteresting or standard issue cartoon over-exaggeration. There’s none of the superlative designs or movements in preceding releases like Pinocchio or later ones like Sleeping Beauty. For a studio known for its wondrous animation, “capably done” is an insult.
But the biggest malady is that it’s not clear what the movie really wants to be. Nominally, it’s the story of a preternaturally good-hearted young girl overcoming the oppression of her step-family to see her vaunted dreams come true. That’s the film’s best mode, if only because Cinderella is the closest thing to a real character in the movie, so seeing her struggle and ultimately win the day, however threadbare that story may ultimately be, is the most compelling thing in the picture.
But there’s still tons of problems with that story. The biggest is that Cinderella’s step family is cartoonishly awful and evil. Maybe that’s OK considering that this is a cartoon, but it becomes tough to really empathize with Cinderella and her problems when they seem so over the top and ridiculous. Likewise, the prince is basically a concept rather than a character, with little more than a dance and a “Wow, she’s hot!” moment to make the two a couple. There’s no there there to any of this, just broad strokes ideas that Cinderella’s in bad straits and yearns for some kind of salvation.
The force of that predicament is watered down by the fact that it’s counterbalanced by a goofy storyline where the king harrangues his poor duke/advisor to help him plot to marry off his son. It’s yet another hopelessly dumb and over the top element in the movie, with bed-jumping swordplay and mustached ninnies changing color and a zany threats to send the duke to meet his maker if he doesn’t sufficiently see to the success of the king’s wacky scheme.
Even that is preferable to the scads of pointless filler in the form of zany mouse adventures that permeate the film. There’s a weird timidness to Cinderella, as though the studio was afraid a straight fairytale wouldn’t sell and so tried to pack-in what amounts to a series of Tom and Jerry-style shorts into the picture. Why this tale needs a pack of rodents trying to swipe corn pellets from chickens, or teasing and evading a malevolent cat, or heaving a key out of the strange backside pocket of Lady Tremaine is beyond me.
They’re a big part of arguably the movie’s greatest sins -- most of the characters are just plain annoying. The mice, with their squeaky garbled voices and half-english are a collection of irksome half-wits who aren’t fit to wipe the paws of better cat-and-mouse teams. The step sisters are at least supposed to be pestersome, but exceed the bounds of “annoy the protagonist” into the unfortunate land of “annoy the audience.” The king and his advisor are charmless wackos. Even in Disney’s more scattershot releases, there’s usually fun figures to latch onto, but Cinderella is all but devoid of characters worth appreciating, let alone embracing.
Maybe the power of the central idea is just too strong to be weighed down by all that cinematic detritus. If there’s an animating idea to the Disney company, it’s that if you wish for something with all your heart, and stay good and true to who you are despite hardships, then magical things can happen. It’s an appealing notion, one that may justifiably linger beyond imbecile vermine and bland tunes.
But all these decades later, when that idea has been deconstructed and rebuilt and subverted time and time again, it’s just not enough on its own anymore. We need the fantastical figures, the splendid animation, the melodies, movements and magic that defined the studio’s legendary output. All Cinderella can offer is fifteen minutes of something decent over the course of a seventy-five minute film. Regardless of when the studio’s fairy godmothers cast their spells to try to turn this shabby production into a winning feature, the clock has long since struck midnight.