Cinderella (1950)

Non-spoiler brief review:

The “ultimate little girl princess fairy tale” has always been my initial thought when I think of the movie Cinderella. When I was a little boy, and as I grew up, Cinderella really didn’t show up on my radar. Sure, I knew the storyline from the movie’s general popularity, but I would say I grew up discounting it as not a “guys” movie. I don’t think I actually watched the movie until probably my 20s. I just watched it for the second time recently to write this review. Having said that, I can still say that in my
opinion, Cinderella is probably the ultimate princess fairy tale.

However, as a much more grown and mature adult (grin), I now see that this
great Disney 2D animation feature from 1950 is far deeper than just a simple princess
fairy tale and offers a lot of entertainment for any audience. At the very beginning, a young Cinderella is orphaned and must live with her evil stepmother and her mean stepsisters. The movie very quickly jumps forward in time, and we see that Cinderella has grown up being their servant. The bulk of the movie centers around the king of the land searching for a bride for his son.

For Parents:

Other than the usual smoking tobacco found in movies of this time period, it is a very kid-friendly/family-friendly movie.

My overall review(with spoilers):

I wish more movies, especially kids’ movies, would be filmed the way this movie is filmed. This movie has a definite fairy tale feel from the beginning, as it begins by opening the pages of an ornate book telling the story of Cinderella. We’re given a thorough yet brief intro as the narrator informs us that a kind father passes away, leaving his daughter with her stepmother and two daughters, who are all jealous of the beautiful Cinderella. Not only that, they squander her father’s fortune, and his stately home is almost in ruins. Cinderella has become a servant forced to take care of her stepfamily day and night as they lazily go through life.

As with many of these Walt Disney 2D features, there’s a side-story of cute loveable (and not so lovable) animal characters going alongside the human story. We’re introduced to birds and mice whom Cinderella is friends with, and can even talk to. For me, the mice are a story unto themselves and almost steal the show with their comedy and antics. I can picture some dad back in the 1950s, begrudgingly going to see this film with his wife and daughters, thinking it will just be a cheesy fairy tale, but being pleasantly surprised by the antics of the mice, dog, and their enemy: the stepmother’s cat Lucifer.

Towards the beginning, we also meet my personal favorite character a mouse named “Gus Gus”. He a stray but is welcomed into the family by Cinderella and the other mice. Gus Gus has a heart of gold, but is a bit of a bull in a China shop, who narrowly escapes injury or death many times, along with his pal Jaque, who tries to keep him out of trouble.

As the story builds, we find out that the King wants really wants grandkids. We’re introduced to this zany man as he tries to get his son, the prince, married off! The prince has no interest in an arranged marriage, but his father organizes a ball and invites all the young ladies in the kingdom. When the invitation arrives at Cinderella’s home, the stepsisters are ecstatic. Cinderella reminds them all the young ladies are invited, meaning she’s also included. Lady Tremaine (the stepmother) tells Cinderella she can only go if she’s finished with all her work. The stepmother has obvious plans to keep Cinderella busy and thus ruin her chances of marrying the prince. Well, Cinderlla’s animals friends save the day! Since she has no time to make her own ballgown, they make her a beautiful dress from odds and ends the stepsisters threw out.

As for the stepsisters, well, let’s just say they’re mean girls x 10. They, including their mother, seem to have no mercy, grace or heart. The stepmother makes the Grinch look like a friendly neighbor! Well, Cinderella shows up just in time to leave for the ball. Upon seeing her beautiful gown, the step-witch(cough mom), entices her girls to rip and ruin Cinderella’s beautiful dress. So, they’re off to the ball in hopes of meeting the prince, leaving a very sad Cinderella behind.

From this point comes the things of legend as far as animation goes. I almost don’t want to spoil this in case there is someone reading this who has yet to see this movie. I will say that our heroine, Cinderella, just barely manages to escape her prison with the help of her animal friends. However, how will she go to the ball? Enter the Fairy Godmother. A sweet, older-looking lady, the Fairy Godmother gives Cinderella everything she needs to go to the ball in style. I’ll just say go watch this scene if you don’t want to watch the whole movie: it’s worth it to see how she saves the day. Of course, there’s a catch. And that catch is Cinderella must be home by midnight, or the spell she cast will end, and her carriage, horses (transformed mice), and all will resume their normal appearance.

So from here, Cinderella goes to the ball and meets the Prince. Of course, she is late to the ball and arrives after the Prince has met all the other young ladies. It’s love at first sight at its finest, and they dance the night away. Cinderella finally realizes it is almost midnight and runs away without telling the Prince her name. The King sends a team after her, but they are unable to catch her as she finally makes it home. Ah, however, in her rush she left a glass slipper at the palace. The next day, the king sends out his men to find the lady who can fit into the slipper. Of course, once again, the mean girls have found a way to imprison Cinderella and prevent her from trying on the slipper (the Stepmother has her suspicions), but her animal pals find a way to help her escape. She’s able to try on the slipper and…as, the saying goes, they lived happily ever after.

Bottom Line: This is another great classic movie from Walt Disney and will probably always be one of their best films. I would recommend this movie to anyone as it has everything you’d want in a wonderful, whimsical, and funny fairy tale. Disney was hitting on all cylinders when they created this work of art. I haven’t mentioned it yet, but like the other 2D features, this movie is just as great in color, animation, sound, and story. I would easily give it a 9.5 out of 10, and I’m sure many would give it a 10.

You can easily find Cinderella on streaming services like Amazon and Disney+. You can also purchase it on Blue-Ray/DVD here.