Cinderella (1950)
Based on the 1697 fairy tale Cinderella by Charles Perrault.
Intro song (“Cinderella (Main Title)”). When Cinderella is a young girl, her widowed father marries Lady Tremaine, a widow with two daughters of her own. He dies shortly thereafter. Lady Tremaine, jealous of her stepdaughter's beauty and determined to forward her own daughters' interests, orders Cinderella to become a servant in her own château, overburdening her with chores. Despite this, Cinderella remains kind of heart. In the morning, she awakens (“A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes”) and begins obediently doing her chores whilst taking care of the animals that live in the château, making friends of them, mainly two mice named Jaq and Gus as well as a dog named Bruno. She also protects them from being eaten by her stepmother's cat Lucifer, who makes her duties even harder in retaliation. Cinderella's stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella, also take advantage of her meekness, mocking her and adding to her workload.
One day, the local King becomes impatient for his son, the Prince, to provide him with grandchildren. Despite the objections of the Grand Duke, the King invites all the eligible maidens in the kingdom to a royal ball, so that the Prince will choose one as his wife. Later that day, while Cinderella is cleaning and her stepsisters are taking singing lessons (“Oh, Sing Sweet Nightingale”), the King’s invitation arrives. Wanting to attend, Cinderella requests permission from Lady Tremaine to attend, who allows it but only if Cinderella finishes all her chores. She also finds a dress of her late birth mother's to fix up. Her stepmother and stepsisters, afraid Cinderella will upstage them at the ball, deliberately keep her busy with no time to spare to fix up her dress. Jaq, Gus, and the other animals decide to fix up the dress for Cinderella, using beads and a sash discarded by the stepsisters (“The Work Song”). However, when Cinderella attempts to go to the ball with her family, her stepsisters recognize their belongings and angrily tear the dress into rags, before leaving Cinderella behind.
A distraught Cinderella runs out to the garden in tears, kneeling on a stone bench. There, she is met by her Fairy Godmother, who has come to help. She transforms Jaq, Gus, and two other mice into four white horses, a pumpkin into a coach, and Cinderella's old horse Major and bloodhound Bruno into a coachman and footman, respectively (“Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”). The fairy godmother also gives Cinderella a shimmering ball gown and glass slippers, but warns her that the magic will all end on the stroke of midnight.
Cinderella arrives at the ball, and is not recognized by her stepsisters, though her stepmother believes something is familiar about her. The Prince is instantly smitten by Cinderella, so the King orders the Grand Duke to make sure the romance goes without a hitch. The Duke prevents anyone from interfering as Cinderella and the Prince dance a waltz and wander out to the palace grounds, falling deeper in love (“So This Is Love”). However, when Cinderella hears the clock tolling midnight, she runs away before she and the Prince can exchange names. Despite the efforts of the Grand Duke, Cinderella flees the palace, losing one of her glass slippers on the staircase. The palace guards pursue, but when the magic ends on the stroke of midnight, Cinderella and the animals revert to their former appearances and hide in the woods. Cinderella discovers the other glass slipper is still on her foot, and takes it home with her.
The Prince promises he will marry none but the girl who fits the glass slipper. Elated, the King orders the Grand Duke to try the shoe on every girl in the kingdom until he finds a match. When the news reaches the chateau, Cinderella is shocked to realize it was the Prince she met. Hearing Cinderella humming the waltz from the ball, Lady Tremaine realizes the truth and locks Cinderella in her attic bedroom. While the stepsisters unsuccessfully try on the slipper, Jaq and Gus steal the key back from Lady Tremaine. As they take the key to Cinderella, Lucifer attempts to stop them by trapping Gus and battling the other mice. The birds summon Bruno, who scares Lucifer out of the house, and a freed Cinderella hurries to meet the Grand Duke. In a last effort to prevent Cinderella from overshadowing her daughters, Lady Tremaine causes the Grand Duke’s page to trip and break the glass slipper. Cinderella reveals she has the other slipper, which the Grand Duke places on her foot, much to Lady Tremaine's shock. Cinderella and the Prince are married, and share a kiss as they set off in a carriage for their honeymoon (“A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes”).
TRIVIA
Technology
To save time and money, the entire movie was first shot in live action, and then the footage was edited frame-by-frame. This way, all the layouts, scenes and the cutting were planned beforehand which reduced the costs of animating. The animators were also instructed to draw from a certain directorial perspective to avoid difficult shots and angles. However, all of this limited experimentation and imagination since these might necessitate changes and cost more money.
Music
Cinderella was the first animated feature to have its music released as an album with special attention paid to the music sequences.
Notable Scene(s)
Cinderella’s dress transformation by the Fairy Godmother