With Disney's 12th animated theatrical release, Cinderella, a new era begins. Gone are the days of experimentation and packaged cartoons. Apart from Snow White and Pinocchio, Cinderella is the only the third film (up to this point) to encapsulate my definition of a "classic" Disney film. That's not to say it's only the third movie I have legitimately enjoyed and if you don't believe me, read about Bambi!
So, what exactly is a "classic" Disney film? Well, that's something of a complicated question, but I'll do my best to describe what it means to me. First, "classics" must have a full-length story complete with conflict, intrigue, and compelling and realistic (enough) characters. Love Bambi as I do, the narrative is somewhat shaky and it took adulthood to truly appreciate the nature of its storytelling. To me, this is the only measure in which Bambi does not meet expectations. Second, the animation has to have a certain detail and beauty about it. There's nothing out there quite like the work Disney animators can create when they're at the top of their game. Dumbo, sadly, doesn't meet expectations in this category, which I understand was purely a money thing. Third, it's a gut feeling. My favorite Disney movies are the ones I grew up watching (or can now imagine myself having watched as a kid, Tangled, Princess and the Frog, and Wreck-it-Ralph for example). There needs to be a longing for simpler times. Honestly, it's the nostalgic feeling I get from Disney creations that really makes me love the characters, the movies, the parks, etc. as much as I do.
The story of a young woman being held back by circumstance, in this case an evil stepmother, is no doubt a relate-able one and could account for just one of many reasons that it has held up through the ages, aside from the three good reasons I gave above that is... Or, perhaps it's the film's ability to creating lasting images. I was struck throughout this viewing session by just how many sequences and moments I remembered quite vividly. There's the scene where Cinderella cleans the floor on hand and foot only for Lucifer to leave behind his dirty paw prints, Anastasia and Drizella ripping Cinderella's dress to shreds, Cinderella's mice being turned into horses and then back, the list goes on. Then again, I may have seen Cinderella more than the average person, but I'd like to think they're memorable either way. Let's put the theory to test, how many of you can recall the moment when the mice and birds are assembling Cinderella's dress for the ball? I'd guess most of you! You can see a screencap of the moment below.
As I mentioned back with Snow White, I took a course on fairy tales that allowed us to examine several different fairy tales across their many translations and Cinderella happened to be just one of them, so I have some familiarity with its origins and thus its variations. If I recall correctly, one has her father very much alive. But Disney chose to give Cinderella some companions, who helped to fill in the scope of her life and in some ways, their existence parallels her own. And parallel storytelling is always cool in my book. Cinderella, for all intents and purposes, is treated by her stepmother and stepsisters with the same amount of reverence as a mouse. Okay, maybe a little more than that. After all, Anastasia is none-too-pleased to discover a mouse under her teacup. The mice, though, do have a lot in common with our titular heroine. They, too, are constantly punished and chased about the house (in this case by Lucifer) and, from what we see, forced to do their own share of daily chores. So, for the duration of the film, Cinderella's story is intercut with adventures of the mice, namely Jack and Gus, which expands on the origin story to give the audience a broader view of life in the house. Plus, it shows us all of the really cool mouse-sized secret passages, photos of which I cannot find.
Quick sidebar regarding the mice, during my first Disney Parks outing at age 2, I was introduced to the mice from Cinderella and was apparently deathly afraid that I would be eaten. In my defense, just imagine looking up at the person holding you and seeing only its mouth. If I had a picture of the moment readily available, I would gladly display it to prove my point. However, judging by the below photo, it's quite obvious the mice are plotting evil.
Speaking of building on its predecessors, in earlier scripts for the film, Prince Charming was supposed to have played a larger role in the story. This was to have included an opening sequence of him "hunting" a deer only to reveal that he and the deer were truly friends playing around. For one reason or another the scenes were inevitably cut and he was reduced to nearly the same token-prince-sized role as Snow White's. I, for one, would have liked to see him have a bigger role. First, it would have helped to see that he had a legitimate personality - hopefully, one unlike his seemingly crazy dad. Secondly, if we had seen him befriending a deer, well, at least we'd know he was less likely to judge Cinderella for talking to mice. Imagine that revelation! I can't help but wonder if this lead to Prince Phillip's role being as integral as it was in Sleeping Beauty. More on that later.
The last thing that I want to mention before drawing this blog to a close is that Once Upon a Time really needs to get back to Cinderella's origin story. The only morsel we've been given this season was a brief glimpse of poor Gus before he was torn apart. RIP Gus. We hardly knew ye. And I will say that watching this movie gave me plenty of great story ideas, so I'm pretty sure the people at Once can step up their game. Like what if all of Cinderella's mice were human servants that had been turned into mice as punishment by the evil stepmother? Also, remember that time Rumpelstiltskin made Cinderella's fairy godmother go poof? Yikes.
Anyway, it's great to be back to watching movies I consider "classic." As it happens Cinderella has always been one of my mom's two favorite Disney movies (you'll have to wait on the second title!) and, by association, one of mine.
Next week/still this week (technically I'm in week 13) I have Alice In Wonderland, which hopefully comes complete with images from my own imagining/set design of the tale.
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