When Cinderella's cruel stepmother prevents her from attending the Royal Ball, she gets some unexpected help from the lovable mice Gus and Jaq and from her Fairy Godmother.When Cinderella's cruel stepmother prevents her from attending the Royal Ball, she gets some unexpected help from the lovable mice Gus and Jaq and from her Fairy Godmother.When Cinderella's cruel stepmother prevents her from attending the Royal Ball, she gets some unexpected help from the lovable mice Gus and Jaq and from her Fairy Godmother.
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 6 wins & 9 nominations total
- Cinderella
- (voice)
- Jaq
- (voice)
- (as James Macdonald)
- …
- Lady Tremaine
- (voice)
- Fairy Godmother
- (voice)
- Fairy Godmather - Live Action Reference
- (as Claire DuBrey)
- Drizella
- (voice)
- King
- (voice)
- …
- Doorman
- (voice)
- Anastasia
- (voice)
- Prince Charming
- (singing voice)
- Birds
- (voice)
- Lucifer
- (voice)
Summary
Featured reviews
*** (out of 4)
Very charming animated feature from Disney about the abused Cinderella who is kept from a Royal ball by her wicked stepmother. Thankfully, with the help from some birds and mice, Cinderella manages to get to the ball where she's a hit with the Prince. Cinderella isn't the most original Disney film when you consider that the story had already been filmed before and I'm sure most little girls already knew of it. With that said, as familiar as the story is, the movie still makes for an entertaining 74-minutes. I think the biggest reason for the success is that the story itself is one I'm sure most little girls dream about and I'm sure many can connect with the lead character. I think the film remains entertaining for boys as well thanks to the supporting players including the mice who easily steal the picture. The battles between the mice and the overweight cat were a lot of fun and there are some terrific sequences with the two including one where two of the mice try to get some jewelry but the cat isn't going to turn them over without a fight. Another great sequence happens towards the end when Cinderella is trapped in an attic and the mice must come to her rescue. The vocal performance are all extremely good with Ilene Woods standing out as the title character. The animation is at the highest level, which you'd expect from Disney. Again, I think this falls well short of being a "great" film but there's no doubt that it's fast, fun and contains some memorable characters and a charming story.
Artistically, the animation art has a rather glossy modern look despite the fact that it's an old, old story from 1697, a classic children's fairy tale that has been done countless times as either a film, a play or a ballet. But this version will charm Disney fans young and old with its imaginative use of animation and a splendid collection of tuneful songs.
A highlight is the 'Cinderella Work Song' in which the mice make a dress for the mistreated Cinderella, full of inventive comic touches and accompanied by the intricate blend of song and animation. Add to that 'So This Is Love', 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes' and 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo' and you have a charming version of the Charles Perrault story.
For villainy, the stepmother and her black cat (Lucifer) are two of the most brilliantly animated creatures in the film. The cat reminds me of a naughty black cat I once owned. The scene where the stepmother is stroking the cat as she gives Cinderella a list of chores is striking in its use of shadow and menace. Along with some dark touches, there is always a bubbling sense of humor, particularly in this sequence.
Cinderella herself comes across as a pleasant heroine with a sense of humor herself, lifelike in her movements and one of Disney's more successful human figures. Disney's artists did greater art work in other films but this is a well-structured work, a great combination of music and clever animation. The pace is fast, even allowing for extended scenes of the mice and their shenanigans for the sub-plot. And Lucifer, the cat, makes a wonderful foil for their tricks.
The Disney touch is evident in every scene and makes this charming blend of comedy, music and romance a film with timeless appeal.
Even though CINDERELLA's story is predictable, it provides such thrilling melodrama that one shares the concerns and anxieties of the titular heroine and her animal friends. Both the wicked stepmother and her dreadful cat Lucifer present a formidable menace that threatens the dreams and aspirations of Cinderella and the mice. It is this menace that provides the story with a strong conflict that holds the viewers' interest. The film's suspense, however, is nicely balanced by a serene sweetness, especially in the musical numbers. It is in these segments that reveal the appealing personalities of Cinderella and her friends, moving the viewers to care for them. Overall, Walt Disney's CINDERELLA is wonderful family entertainment that has held up remarkably well after half a century.
It DOES look good. The backgrounds are subtle and consistent; the colours are pure without being too bright. The animation varies a bit. I'll swear that some of the humans are rotoscoped - but then, the rotoscoped humans (including Cinderella herself) aren't full-blooded characters in the script, so this approach works well enough. It's really the animals that make the movie. I think the studio had never quite used animals in this way before, as totems rather than sidekicks. The mice, for instance, are the creatures who draw us into the story; but they are really representatives or allies of the more colourless Cinderella. The cat, Lucifer, is a kind of witch's familiar to the Wicked Stepmother. (The cat is brilliantly conceived and animated - one of the best feline creations of all time. The supervising animator was Ward Kimball and he modelled it on his own cat. I wonder how he put up with the animal.) This approach allows the animals to steal the show without drawing our attention from the main story. Their actions are of maximum interest only in the light of the main story.
Among the supporting cast the notable humans are the King and the Grand Duke. The King is a one note character - he wants grandchildren and appears to have no other desires at all - but the note is struck in a pleasing fashion. The Grand Duke is a put-upon character who deserves to be lifted out of his sphere as much as Cinderella does. (Although he, of course, is richer.)
"Cinderella" is Disney's return to features after an eight-year hiatus, and neither with it nor with any subsequent movie would he recapture the raw brilliance of his early years. Moreover he made things hard for himself by picking "Cinderella". She's a passive heroine and there's not much anyone can do about that. (Maybe I'm wrong on this score - I haven't seen the recent "Ever After".) Nonetheless it is remarkable how successful Disney was in bringing this unpromising story to life, without cutting across the grain of its spirit.
We have Cinderella who is a beautiful girl enslaved by her wicked step mother and ugly step sisters. She cleans and cooks for them without ever receiving thanks. The only friends she has in the world are the mice in the attic that are so charming and musical. When the ladies receive an invitation to the King's ball to find a lady for his son, the prince, a.k.a. Prince Charming, they all get excited, Cinderella overhears the exciting news and asks if she could come too. Her step mother makes a false promise and says if she does her chores and such, she can come too. Of course, she doesn't keep her promise and destroys a beautiful dress she and the mice made for the ball. Leaving poor Cinderella behind, a wonderful thing happens, Cinderella's fairy god mother appears and creates a beautiful dress and carriage out of things from around the house and even makes the mice and horses into elegant horses and a driver for the carriage. When the prince sees Cinderella at the ball, he has fallen hard for her. All the ladies are jealous, including her step mother and sisters. But Cinderella must return home at midnight when the spell is broken, all she leaves behind is her glass slipper. The next day the prince is on a hunt to find this girl who fits the slipper and is making a stop at Cinderella's house where her step mother has found out about her night and locks her in her room.
Can she escape in time to tell the prince that it was her at the ball? You'll just have to find out. Trust me, this is a true Disney classic with beautiful animation and classic music that is so charming. You can't help but fall in love with this masterpiece. A dream is a wish your heart makes, this movie captures everything a girl could want.
9/10
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIlene Woods suffered from Alzheimer's disease in the later years of her life. During this time, she did not even remember that she had played Cinderella, but nurses claimed that she was very much comforted by the song "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes".
- GoofsOn the palace clock, the Roman numeral 4 is written as "IIII" instead of "IV". However, historically, 4 in Roman numerals was written "IIII". The subtractive system in Roman numerals in which 4 is written as "IV" is fairly recent.
- Quotes
Cinderella: [singing] A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep. In dreams you will lose your heartaches. Whatever you wish for, you keep. Have faith in your dreams, and someday, your rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true.
- Crazy creditsIn lieu of a cast list, the opening credits specify "with the talents of" followed by nine names: Ilene Woods, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Claire Du Brey, Rhoda Williams, James MacDonald, Helene Stanley, Luis Van Rooten, and Don Barclay. However, only seven of these persons provided voices for the animated characters (according to studio records) and are listed in the cast. Both Stanley and Du Brey were live action models to help the artists animate the humans. They were placed in the miscellaneous section.
- Alternate versionsIn the 1988 video, instead of the original RKO logo, the film opens with the complete Walt Disney Pictures logo, with the Walt Disney Pictures theme replacing part of the title song. For the 1995 video, the portion of the song was restored, but a Buena Vista credit replaced the RKO logo. (The 1995 laserdisc used the original RKO logo; the familiar blue logo appears before and after the film, but not replacing any part. In the 2012 Blu-Ray/DVD, the familiar blue logo wasn't used at all and the original RKO logo was restored.) For the 2005 DVD, the movie opens with a shortened Walt Disney Pictures logo accompanied by the part of the song that played with the RKO logo.
- ConnectionsEdited into Robin Hood (1973)
- SoundtracksBibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo
(1949) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman
Performed by Verna Felton and chorus
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- La cenicienta
- Filming locations
- Château de Chambord, Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France(prince's castle)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,900,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $93,141,149
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,300,000
- Dec 20, 1981
- Gross worldwide
- $96,383,387
- Runtime1 hour 14 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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