Finally, a return to
form. I’m so excited to get back to the classics. This week, we had
the pleasure to watch Cinderella.
And I feel that this is a turning point for Disney. Up until this
point, most of Disney’s works are shorts. Considering the last near
decade Disney, it seems that Disney had firmly planted their flag
in the ground of shorts and anthology films. With Cinderella,
it becomes clear that they will also completely dominate the medium
of the animated feature for a long time to come.
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| Original Poster sourced via IMDB |
Summary:
In
case you somehow don’t know of the story of Cinderella,
the story starts with our titular heroine who is forced to be a
scullery maid for her abusive stepmother and stepsisters. A local
prince holds a ball to find a wife. Cinderella wants to go, but
is forbidden by her stepmother unless she fulfills some ridiculous
conditions (finish an ever growing pile of work and make her own
outfit.) Despite the hardship, she pulls through, only for her to be
attacked and forbidden from attending anyway. With the help of her
fairy godmother, she is able to attend. After enamoring the prince,
she realizes that her magic will run out and flees the ball, only
leaving a glass slipper. The prince searches the land for the woman
which fits the slipper and, despite her step family doing their best
to stop it, she is found, marries the prince and lives happily ever
after.
Like
some of the previous films, I didn’t hold this movie in high regard
before this last viewing,
primarily due to the amount of time since the last time I saw it.
Like those previous movies, I was pleasantly surprised. This is a
fun, whimsical experience. This movie was also a big breath of fresh
air considering the preceding onslaught of anthology films. Even
though there were some gems in the shorts and even though there was
nothing truly
awful, it’s so nice to get back to a form that you would expect.
Even still, it seems that the period of shorts was something Disney
needed
to go through, as I’ll discuss in a bit.
In
a lot of ways, Cinderella
feels like a spiritual successor to Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs.
It
returns to the traditional fairy tale setting; it focuses on
“disgraced” female protagonist; there’s a clear, strong
antagonist who happens to be the heroine’s stepmother. It isn’t
just the thematic connection between the two; the animation also
returns to the “realistic” human look. Cinderella,
unlike Snow
White,
is able to animate realistic people while not appearing washed out
and inhuman. I believe it comes down to the detail and color in the
faces; whereas Snow
White
was pretty fuzzy,
Cinderella
better
defined facial features.
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| Sourced via IMDB |
Cinderella
is
also interesting in the way it handles other humanoid characters.
Everyone seems to be on a sliding scale between a realistic human and
a cartoon person. One the far side of realistic, we get Cinderella
and the Prince and on the other side, we get the cartoony Drizella
and Anastasia,
who’s
appearance seems to be a callback to the cartoony humans of some of
the better shorts from the “package films.” In particular, they
call back to “The Legend of Johnny Appleseed,” “Pecos Bill,”
and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Through the use of this
dichotomy of humanoid depictions, the animators are able to convey
characteristics through more than just speech or action. Drizella and
Anastasia’s awkward nature is conveyed through through their goofy,
cartoony appearance, whereas Cinderella’s grace and beauty is
conveyed through her realistic depiction. What’s masterful is how
the two styles don’t clash, primarily due to the
other human characters depicting subtle transitions between these two
extremes.
From
a thematic standpoint, Cinderella
has a couple of interesting things going on. To
cover some of the lighter things, we can start with what Cinderella
borrows from Snow
White.
Like Snow
White,
Cinderella
makes a connection between the moral main character and their
connection with nature. While not as explicit as Snow
White,
who’s fake death summons bolts of lighting to smite her enemies,
Cinderella
does have the same amount of animal helpers. Her animal helpers, in
particular the rats, play a much more prominent role in the film,
forming a sort of B-Story where they
have to constantly outsmart this film’s “proto-Chesire Cat,”
Lucifer, in their many missions to assist Cinderella. I feel it’s a
great addition to this adaptation, lightening up what is, admittedly,
a pretty dark story. It also adds a lot of drama and tension to the
final scene, which would otherwise be a slightly boring and quickly
resolved misunderstanding, where Cinderella would just show up and
prove she’s the girl. As it stands, we now have a fun action scene
to show her animal friends working to free her from confinement.
Cinderella’s connection with nature reaches it’s strongest when
her fairy godmother shows up to get her to the ball. She turns all
these elements of nature into a temporary entourage, seemingly just
because she’s a good person who has had bad things happen to her
and nature wants to settle the score.
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| Sourced via IMDB |
There
also seems to be a theme of virtue being tied to hard work.
Obviously, Cinderella is our virtuous example and she works hard, but
this is also shown by the juxtaposition of her to her stepsisters.
They don’t do anything,
they always call for their mother’s help when anything happens and,
when they’re getting ready to go to the ball, they demand that they
get new clothes because their old clothes and accessories won’t
due. On the opposite side, Cinderella plans on making her own dress
after working hard. And even though the animals do it for her, they
use the same discarded clothing to turn her dress into something that
is more beautiful than either of the stepsisters can pull off. Snow
White
explores this theme a little on it’s own, with her cleaning the
dwarf house on her own just because she notices it hasn’t been
cleaned, but it isn’t as central to the movie is it is for
Cinderella.
Which
leads to our biggest
thematic element.
Cinderella
and
Snow
White
are tied in many ways, but their biggest connection is the central
message of each film, which is “What is the ideal woman?” The
central characters of both of these films are examples of what is
valued in a woman for a wife. And, by living into these examples, our
characters are shown to be virtuous, good and desirable by royalty.
What’s interesting about juxtaposing these two is that we can see
what is valued in the 30’s, when Snow
White
was made, versus the 50’s, when Cinderella
was made. For Snow
White,
her primary virtues are shown to be that she’s innocent, fair and
has the ability to raise a family, as shown by her taking care of the
dwarfs and making sure they live cleanly and that they’re taking
care of. She does fulfill domestic duties, but that isn’t shown as
a particular hardship. On the flip side, Cinderella is shown to
exemplify the dualistic nature of a woman, the domestic and the
noble. She works hard to take care of the house and fulfill her
domestic duties. The story specifically points out that this work is
hard.
Whereas things get done for Snow White because she is virtuous,
Cinderella is shown to be virtuous because she makes things get done;
a subtle distinction. Besides being a hard worker, though, she
is also shown to have a side that is, in some way, regal or noble. As
soon as she is freed from her chores, she is immediately able to get
herself ready for a ball. When she shows up, she is able to dance and
enamor the Prince with no no effort or previous experience. If she
were just the domestic without the noble, she would be some unknown
scullery maid, cleaning some house. If she were just the noble
without the domestic, she would be Anastasia or Drizella. By
successfully being in both realms, she is the ideal woman.
While
I knew that I would like this movie, just because it wasn’t another
anthology film, I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. The
animation was refreshing and shows a clear life of development from
old Disney to the new age of Disney that comes after this movie.
Thematically, the movie is interesting, exploring a woman’s role
in society. The movie is able to provide tension, even for a story I
already know. Overall, I feel that it was a good movie and well worth
the watch. Join us next week for Alice
in Wonderland.
-CJ
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| Sourced via IMDB |
Cinderella wasn’t
my favorite movie growing up, but I would watch it often enough when
over at my grandmothers house growing up. It was a pretty regular
occurrence that we’d watch a Disney movie then read the original
story it was based on and discuss similarities and differences
between the two. That being said, it’s been about eighteen or so
years since I last laid eyes on this movie.
Overall, Cinderella
feels like a better done Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
We see a return of the humanized
faces, but this time it’s incredibly limited. We only see the
humanized faces on Cinderella and the Prince, and this works
extremely
well. We’re not overloaded by rotoscoping this time, and there’s
a nice mash up of simplistic and detailed cartooned characters. One
thing that I was really thrilled about is that, even though we had
humanized faces again, there’s more detail in them. The faces have
realistic proportions,
the eyes are outlined and brightly colored and, there’s little
lines in the nose to show if it’s being scrunched up. All together
there’s a really nice feel to the quality of the animation, and
unlike Snow White,
there’s a good wall between the animation and the uncanny valley.
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| Sourced via IMDB |
Lighting
and shadowing have been brought back in a huge way here. I would
assume this would mainly be due to Disney having a proper staff and
budget for a film this time. This is one thing I’ve really missed
from films like Bambi and
Pinocchio, so I’m
really glad that we’re seeing it again. Everything gets a bit of
high light and low light
treatment, and this causes the characters to
fit in much better with their
environments overall, something that’s been missed from almost all
of the bundle films.
That
being said the one thing that does bug me about Cinderella are
the out-of-place styles. Styles seem to be all out of place in this
film. Hair Styles and dresses feel like they’re out of the 1940’s,
while the outlaying buildings and interiors look like old estate
homes and castles out of the 1800’s. Disney manages to make
everything fit in it’s own way, and it’s not to distracting if
you aren’t actively looking for it. However, once it is noticed it
can make for a strange feeling for the overall movie. It feels like
these characters shouldn’t be in this time frame, and I wish they’d
done some more work on fitting everything in one specific time.
Form
and movement is fantastically done in film, and it’s really the
first movie where I’ve felt like Disney hit the nail right on the
head. Form and movement are the two main ingredients to creating the
illusion of life. That’s not to say that prior Disney films haven’t
used these factors well, but Cinderella is the first film to
really make me step back and notice it in detail.
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| Sourced via IMDB |
Let’s take Cinderella and The Prince for example. As stated earlier, Cinderella and the Prince are the only two with humanized faces. They are also the most graceful of the entire cast of characters we’re given. Their movement is the most human of all the characters, and I believe this is one of the main reasons it’s easy to relate to them. They look like us, they move like us, they even have little bits of additional body language in them, that other characters lack. Along with these traits, the voices are also closer to our own. Instead of the stepsisters whiny and nasally voices, Cinderella’s is smooth and soothing. The princes is soft, yet has an air of authority.
Stepping
back from Cinderella and the Prince, let’s look at the supporting
characters and the step-sisters, Drizella and Anastasia.
Almost all of the background support characters have design hold
overs from shorts such as “The Legend of Johnny Apple Seed” and
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” They’re faces and bodies are
super exaggerated,
as are their movements. They’re close to walking slapstick
characters, but that works for this movie. If everyone had looked
like Cinderella and The Prince then this film would be one gigantic
muddled mess of rotoscoping, and it would just feel like watching an
hour of uncanny valley footage. Having cartoonish characters in a
world with more realistic ones makes for a much better overall
viewing experience,
and it injects the film with some great subtle comedy.
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| Sourced via IMDB |
In a league of of her own comes the evil stepmother, Lady Tremain. I’d forgotten just how intimidating and how ruthless Lady Tremain is. Her design borders on realism, but the lines in her face, and bright green eyes keep her more centered cartoon wise. That being said, one of the reasons she’s so frighting is her form and posture. Every time we see her on screen, she cuts a tall imposing figure. She’s always stiff, her head is tilted back so she can look down at Cinderella and the viewer. Her voice is sharp, and matches her character in every way possible. But even with all of that behind her, she moves with mechanical grace. Everyone of her movements is sharp, clean cut, and precise, and it’s absolutely amazing just how much you can dislike her from just watching her movements. Her voice actress Eleanor Audley (who would go on to play and model for Malificent in Sleeping Beauty) was a perfect fit for this role and she adds another incredible layer into making us really hate and despise Lady Tremain.
Unlike
prior films, Cinderella is one of the first films where we hit some
memorable songs, such as “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes,”
and “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!” The songs do feel a bit lacking for a
feature length Disney film, but I really don’t mind that. The movie
has a well done score to accompany
it, and I feel that this is all the movie really needs.
Pacing
is another field where Cinderella hits it’s mark. There’s some
fluff with the animal side-kicks around the start of the film, but at
least it’s enjoyable enough to watch. There’s plenty of time to
develop a bond with Cinderella and to really develop a dislike for
the rest of her family. We’re even given some time to bond with The
King and The Grand Duke. The little bits of interaction really help
flesh this movie out and make it more engaging to watch. Everything
else is well placed and balanced as far as events in the movie go.
The waltz at the ball doesn’t feel dragged out and the chase from
the castle brings back some elements of the headless horseman chase
from Sleepy Hollow.
Personally, I feel that the end build up of this film is actually one
of the better conclusions in any Disney film I’ve seen up to this
point.
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| Sourced via IMDB |
Lady
Tremain finally realizes that Cinderella
was the one dancing with the prince
the night before, and does her best to sabotage
any attempts for Cinderella to fit the glass slipper. There’s some
great footage of Lady Tremain locking Cinderella away, we’re given
a glimpse of Cinderella doing her hair in the mirror and from behind
her we can see Lady Tremain come up the stairs behind her. We see her
put a key in Cinderellas lock and as Cinderella realizes what’s
happening she turns just in time to see the door close behind her.
There’s something about that specific scene that catches my
attention. Maybe it’s the look of shock and horror on Cinderellas
face or maybe it’s just the way the scene is set and shot, but it
really does stick with me.
The
build up from here is great, the mice have to get the key from Lady
Tremain and free Cinderella before The Grand Duke can leave with the
glass slipper. Once the mice get the key, they’re faced with having
to haul it up several flights of stairs, and once they make it,
they’re then harassed
by Lucifer the cat. Things look hopeless until Cinderellas dog Bruno
comes to the rescue and even that takes it’s sweet time, which
helps the tension all the more. Cinderella is finally freed and makes
her way to try on the slipper, when she’s dealt one last blow by
Lady Tremain who trips the man holding the slipper causing it to
break. There’s a short moment of hopelessness until Cinderella
pulls out the second slipper from behind her back.
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| Sourced via IMDB |
Overall,
this movie is superb. It’s a huge leap from the bundled films we’ve
been subjected to, and it’s nice to see some classic Disney I know.
I really find it hard to find anything wrong with this film. It does
skim the uncanny valley for a few seconds on some close ups of
Cinderella and The Prince, but other than that, everything is very
solid. I really think Disney hit it out of the ballpark with this
film, and I’m looking forward to diving into the rest of the golden
age Disney films from here. Next week, we’ll be looking at one of
CJ’s favorite films Alice in Wonderland.
See you then.
-AJ
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| Sourced via IMDB |
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