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Cinderella is a 1950 film based upon the original fairy tale by Charles Perrault.

Summary

Cinderella is a dreamer who is trapped within a step-family who doesn't love or appreciate her. Enslaved by her evil stepmother and stepsisters, Cinderella dreams of going to the ball and meeting the Prince. With the help of a few mice friends and her fairy Godmother, Cinderella's dream comes true.

Plot

A wealthy widowed aristocrat lives in a beautiful chateau with his beloved daughter, Cinderella. Eventually, the man decided that his daughter needed a mother's care. His second wife, Lady Tremaine, was a widow and had two daughters, Anastasia and Drizella. Plain and socially awkward, these stepsisters are bitterly envious of the beautiful and charming Cinderella. The family lived happily for some time, until the untimely death of Cinderella's father. Afterwards, Lady Tremaine revealed her true nature; she was cold, cruel, and jealous of Cinderella's beauty in comparison to her own daughters. Cinderella was forced to work as a maid, and the family fortune was squandered by her stepsisters. Cinderella grows into a beautiful, kind young woman. Every morning, she is required to wait upon her stepfamily, and perform numerous chores throughout the house. Assisting her are the animals living in the barn, the mice and birds who live in and around the chateau. One morning, she finds a mouse in a trap. She frees him, and names him Gus. Later, the mice are chased by Lucifer, Lady Tremaine's cat. Gus is forced to hide in a teacup on a tray meant for Cinderella's sisters. Assuming that Cinderella meant it as a prank, Lady Tremaine punishes Cinderella with extra work. Meanwhile, at the royal palace, The King is frustrated that his son, Prince Charming has refused to marry. After speaking with the Grand Duke, the King decides to hold a royal ball, with all the kingdom's eligible maidens in attendance. Presumably, the prince would find a potential wife among the maidens. While Cinderella is working, a letter is delivered to the home announcing the ball. She delivers the letter to her stepmother, who excitedly tells her daughters. Upon hearing that every maiden must attend, Cinderella asks for permission to go as well. Lady Tremaine allows her to go if she meets two conditions: she must have a suitable dress, and she must finish all her work. However, Lady Tremaine and her daughters create so much work for Cinderella, that she is unable to makeover an old ball gown of her mothers for a dress. Much to Cinderella's surprise, the mice have done it for her, using discarded items of Anastasia's and Drizella's. Cinderella dresses, and goes downstairs, shocking Lady Tremaine. However, Lady Tremaine subtly encourages her daughters to ruin the dress after discovering that Cinderella is wearing a sash of Anastasia's and beads belonging to Drizella. In tears, Cinderella runs to the garden, while her stepfamily leaves for the ball. In the garden, at the point of giving up her dreams, Cinderella meets her Fairy Godmother. The Fairy Godmother assists Cinderella in going to the ball. She makes a coach out of a pumpkin, a coachman and footman out of Cinderella's horse, Major, and dog, Bruno. 4 mice become the horses, and finally, Cinderella is given a blue ball gown and glass slippers. Before leaving, the Fairy Godmother warns Cinderella that the spell will end at the stroke of midnight, meaning that her dress and everything else will change back to the way they were. At the ball, no one recognizes Cinderella. However, she is able to catch the eye of the Prince. The Prince rejects every girl, until he sees Cinderella. The two spend the evening together, and fall in love. However, at midnight, Cinderella is forced to flee to her coach and away from the castle, inadvertently dropping one of her glass slippers, as the spell is ending. The prince does not know her name, but finds a glass slipper that she left behind. After the Duke tells the King of the disaster, they plan to find Cinderella with the slipper they recovered during her exit. The next morning, news comes from the King proclaims that the Grand Duke will visit every house in the kingdom to find the girl who that danced with the prince, fits the glass slipper, so that she can be married to the Prince. He is trying on a glass slipper on the foot of every maiden. When this news reaches Cinderella's household, her stepmother and stepsisters prepare for the Grand Duke's arrival. Cinderella, overhearing the news, begins dreamily humming the song from the palace ball the previous night. While preparing for the impending visit, Lady Tremaine realizes that Cinderella was the girl at the ball, and so Lady Tremaine locks Cinderella in her room. Meanwhile, the Grand Duke arrives and begins the task of fitting the shoe on Anastasia and Drizella. However, both girls' feet are too large. Upstairs, the mice are able to free Cinderella after stealing the key from Lady Tremaine. But before they can deliver it they are ambushed by Lucifer. The animals alert Bruno, who scares Lucifer out of the house. Cinderella rushes downstairs and is able to stop the Grand Duke before he leaves. The Grand Duke orders that Cinderella be allowed to try on the slipper, but Lady Tremaine trips the servant carrying the slipper, causing it to break. The Duke laments over the broken slipper, Cinderella then reveals that she is carrying the other slipper, much to the joy of the Grand Duke. Delighted at this indisputable proof of the maiden's identity, much to Lady Tremaine's horror, the Duke slides the slipper onto her foot, which fits perfectly. Soon after, Cinderella is taken to the palace, where she marries the Prince at their wedding surrounded by confetti tossed by the King, the Grand Duke and the mice.

Characters

Differences between the Movie and the Original Fairytale

Coming Soon

Songs

Theatrical Trailers

Home Video Trailers

Trivia

  • Future talk show host Mike Douglas was the singing voice of the unnamed Prince in this film.
  • The sequence in which Cinderella's rags turn into a magnificent ball gown, animated by Marc Davis, was Walt Disney's favourite piece of animation ever to come out of the studio.
  • In the Special Edition Trailer, the voices for the beginning of the scene where Cinderella tries on the slipper has been redubbed.
  • In the CBS television special AFI’s 10 Top 10, the movie was named the ninth Best Animated Feature of all time.
  • Not only is the name of the Prince never revealed, he is nowhere in the film mentioned as "Prince Charming".
  • Ilene Woods beat exactly 309 girls for the part of Cinderella, after some demo recordings of her singing a few of the film's songs were presented to Walt Disney. However, she had no idea she was auditioning for the part until Disney contacted her; she initially made the recordings for a few friends who sent them to Disney without telling her. In 2003, she was awarded a Disney Legend award for her voicework on the film Cinderella
  • When the film was released on the Platinum Edition DVD, Cinderella's hair was colored yellow-blonde instead of strawberry blonde like it was originally, and her ball dress was recolored blue instead of white, presumably to match the merchandise.
  • This is the first of three films to not kill the main villain, other two being Pocahontas and Frozen.
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