Cinderella (1950)

Written by Ken Anderson, et al.
Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, & Wilfred Jackson

It’s been well over 20 years since I’ve seen Cinderella, but to be quite honest, watching this film was like welcoming an old friend into your home. Is it because, after six “package films”, I was anxious to get back into a full-length narrative? Is it because Cinderella is such a timeless story that one doesn’t have to work very hard to follow the plot? Or is it because my Red Team for Flashback did a variation on the story?

Yes. Yes to all of it.

Gorgeous animation by the brilliant Marc Davis

Cinderella, to my delight, still holds up remarkably well after nearly 70 years. The animation is detailed, the backgrounds are exquisite, and the momentum of the story is brisk (although there are some subplots that I could do without). After a fraught decade, Cinderella was a much needed tour de force for the Studio.

The character of Cinderella is realized so wonderfully here. Gone is the passive damsel in distress of Snow White; instead, Cinderella routinely fights against the hand she’s been dealt: she puts up with a lot, but she doesn’t take it laying down. Her breakdown before the ball is perfection, as she has clearly been driven to the absolute brink.

Lady Tremaine chews the scenery and figuratively clutches her pearls

Equal in characterization to Cinderella is Lady Tremaine. Cold, calculating, and cruel, she’s animated to perfection, and even the vocal performance (deliciously delivered by Eleanor Audley) is exactly right. The reaction shot of her when Cinderella pulls out the other glass slipper was a little ridiculous, but by that point, the film is about 60 seconds from ending.

Where’s Prince Charming?

On the other side is Prince Charming. I seem to recall him being in the film much more than he was...I was surprised when he shows up for only two scenes (and I could have SWORN that it was he who put the slipper on Cinderella at the climax, not the Duke). Likewise, I don’t recall the King being quite so ruthless at marrying off his son; indeed, one could make the argument that the King might be just as ruthless as Lady Tremaine.

There were also characters that were given a lot of characterization that, ultimately, didn’t need it. I’m talking, of course, about the mice. Don’t get me wrong, I love the mice (I remember that Jaq was my favorite as a child), but watching the film now, I just kept wanting to get back to the human characters. This over-reliance on the animal characters actually creates a timing problem for the climax of the film, which isn’t addressed: it clearly is taking a long time for Jaq and Gus to get the key up the stairs to Cinderella. The audience is meant to believe that it is taking this much time to have the Duke try the slipper on two pairs of feet. When given more than a casual thought, however, that timing doesn’t make a lot of sense. I don’t know what the better solution is, but it starts to fall apart a bit once someone thinks about it.

Another random question is, why, if the spell ends exactly at midnight, do the slippers end up staying behind? I understand it from a plot perspective, but that question is left unanswered, and I’m genuinely curious. 

Overall, Cinderella is just the boost the Studio needed, and it shows. It’s a gorgeous, exquisite film, it begins to mature and develop the concept of a “Disney Princess”, and it definitely belongs in the Animated Classics lineup.

FINAL GRADE: A-