Cinderella (1997) (TV)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Robert Iscove

Writers:

Robert L. Freedman (teleplay)
Oscar Hammerstein II (book)

Release Date:

2 November 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Romance | Fantasy | Family

Plot:

Updated version of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the classic fairy-tale, with an all-star, multi-racial cast.

Plot Keywords:

Fairy Tale | Stepsister | Glass Slipper | Fairy Godmother | Cinderella

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 16 nominations

Cast

Brandy Norwood	...	Cinderella (as Brandy)
Bernadette Peters	...	Cinderella's Stepmother
Veanne Cox	...	Calliope
Natalie Desselle	...	Minerva
Paolo Montalban	...	Prince Christopher
Jason Alexander	...	Lionel
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Queen Constantina
Victor Garber	...	King Maximillian
Whitney Houston	...	Fairy Godmother
Michael Haynes	...	The Coachman
Scott Fowler	...	Dancer #1
Noel Peters
Nathan Prevost	...	Dancer #2
Travis Payne	...	Dancer #3
Jennifer Lee Keyes	...	Dancer #4

Also Known As:

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:U | Australia:G | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

BrownHouse Productions

Trivia:

"There's Music in You", written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the film Main Street to Broadway (1953), was sung as the finale by the Fairy Godmother, Whitney Houston.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Lionel is announcing the Prince's upcoming ball, the Stepmother's headpiece is on the left. But while entering their home, it has moved to the right.

Quotes:

Cinderella: But shouldn't a man love you for who you are, in spite of everything?
Stepmother: How quaint. Tell me, Cinderella, What would you say to capture the prince?
Cinderella: I don't know. But whatever I'd say, we'd know in an instant we were meant for each other. Then he'd smile, and kiss my hand...
Minerva: That's so romantic.
Calliope: Oh, say it again, Cinderella.
Stepmother: Rubbish! This isn't about love, it's about marriage.

Movie Connections:

Featured in ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Impossible

Startling at first, but ultimately winning.

If there's anything to be criticized in the Cinderella story, it's the fundamental premise that Cinderella is passive...but then it's a one-plot story that doesn't give her the chance to "evolve" as Harry Potter does. But don't we all wish to have our problems solved and our dreams made to come true for us?

I love this updated version of the story because, at least for me and my family, it represents a double fantasy of the way the world should be. While the multi-colored cast might be jarring for those who knew the original version (which I saw as a kid), I thought it was brilliant. My kids don't look like me--my daughter is Chinese and my son is Guatemalan. So for them to see a black queen and a white king with an Asian son, who falls in love with the beautiful but misused black stepdaughter of a white woman with one black and one white daughter--neither of whom look remotely like her--isn't as un-real (or merely PC) as some people might think. For my family, it's an affirmation of modern reality. For my daughter to see a handsome Asian prince fall in love with a beautiful dark-skinned Cinderella is incredibly powerful.

Also, while I am not a huge fan of any one person in the cast, I thought they all performed wonderfully within the limits of the genre. Peters' "Falling in love with love" blew me away, because it actually gives you a moment of real sympathy for the stepmother--no one is wicked always, it seems to say, and heartbreak has hardened her heart against her beautiful stepdaughter. Instead of merely evil, she becomes tragic.

The costumes and sets were great--firmly placing this in the vaguely "old world" romantic place that fairy tales live--the pop stylings and characters of the actors instantly make this a period piece of the late 20th century--but that's just fine. Cinderella will be reborn many times in the coming generations.

It would be nice to see a subtle re-working of Cinderella with even more sympathy for the stepmother and sisters, and a little more complexity of character and plot to make the heroine and hero less two-dimensional--but then it wouldn't really be a children's movie, would it?