Cinderella [G]

Relive the classic tale of beautiful maids, evil stepmothers, selfish stepsisters, friendly animals, princes, and glass slippers. Join the girl from the ashes in her journey to achieve her own happy ending. This just shows that a little faith can go a long way.

And we’re back with Disney. I haven’t been in the best mood today so I needed something light and happy to lift my spirits. Cinderella, one of my all time favourite fairy tales, did the trick.

“Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a tiny kingdom. Peaceful, prosperous, and rich in romance and tradition. Here in a stately chateau there lived a widowed gentleman and his little daughter Cinderella. Although he was a kind and devoted father, and gave his beloved child every luxury and comfort, still he felt she needed a mother’s care. And so he married again. Choosing for his second wife, a woman of good family with two daughters just Cinderella’s age. By name, Anastasia and Drizella. It was upon the untimely death of this good man, however, that the stepmother’s true nature was revealed. Cold, cruel and bitterly jealous of Cinderella’s charm and beauty, she was grimy determined to forward the interests of her own two awkward daughters. Thus as time went by, the chateau fell into disrepair. For the family fortunes were squandered upon the vain and selfish stepsisters while Cinderella was abused, humiliated and finally forced to become a servant in her own house. And yet through it all, Cinderella remained ever gentle and kind. For with each new dawn she found new hope that someday her dreams of happiness would come true."

We all know how the story goes.

This is a later Disney film and, as such, the animation is much sharper and clearer. I find particularly with Cinderella that music plays a very big part. There is music in every scene, not just characters singing songs, but instrumental too. And it’s the instrumental music that paints the picture of the scene, really. Like in the scene at the beginning where Jack the mouse in distracting Lucifer the cat so his friends can go and get breakfast. When Jack is sneaking up on Lucifer you can hear two quick notes played by a clarinet, which sounds like someone sneaking. If you close your eyes and listen to that, you can see in your mind’s eye, someone sneaking up on someone else. It’s very Fantasia. Without a doubt, Cinderella is one of my all time favourite stories, not my favourite Disney movie though, that my friends would have to be Beauty and the Beast. Cinderella is pretty close to it though. It’s a timeless classic with a real fairy tale ending that makes me smile every time.