Yes, My [Future] Kids Will Watch Cinderella

I think it’s fair that if you say the words “Disney Princess,” the first character people will associate with that phrase will be Cinderella. It’s her castle gracing the center of Walt Disney World in Orlando, her soundtrack is one of the most famous, and she was also one of the first Disney movies to get a live action remake. When I was younger, I didn’t hate Cinderella, but I never would’ve said she was my favorite (part of it may have been the bias that she was blonde and that’s why so many girls liked her, I don’t know). However, watching Cinderella as I’ve gotten older, I have so much more respect for her, and I have no problem stating that when my husband and I eventually have kids (again, no matter the gender), they will be introduced to Cinderella.

Cinderella was released March 4th, 1950 – 12 years after the release of Disney’s first princess movie, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. With a budget of $2.9 million, it ended up making $263.6 million at the box office, helping to recoup from previous box office losses Disney had suffered like Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi.

Our girl Cindy is around 19 years old when the story starts, and she’s seen in the opening scene waking up in her drafty attic bedroom that she’s forced to sleep in by her evil stepmother, Lady Tremaine, since her father passed away some years prior. Now when I was 19, my biggest concerns were surviving my freshman year of college, making friends in my new sorority, and learning how to study music properly. Cinderella at 19 is in a very similar situation to that of Snow White – her stepmother (and in this case stepsisters Drizella and Anastasia) is jealous of her beauty and gentle spirit, so she keeps her as downtrodden as possible with a patented mixture of very difficult chores (different from Snow, the Tremaines don’t appear to have ANY other servants besides Cinderella – is this on purpose??) and verbal and emotional abuse. Despite this dreary existence, Cinderella keeps her beautiful heart and gentle spirit, doing everything she’s told and being kind to the animals in the house with the outstanding exception of Lady Tremaine’s evil cat, Lucifer.

In today’s world, we might say, “Cindy, you are 19 years old. You are a legal adult. You do NOT have to take this BS from these horrible women just because your dad made a mistake in love before he died.” However, think about the setting of the film. It’s 17th century France. She is the only daughter of a man who passed away, leaving her in his second wife’s care. Lady Tremaine greatly abuses this power by treating Cinderella horribly. Cinderella doesn’t take this abuse lightly – she takes it because at this point in history, she has no choice. She could leave, but she’d have no inheritance, nowhere to go, and no social standing – she’d be homeless and would likely die on the streets. So she makes the worst of a crappy situation and tries to keep herself uplifted because she knows that as bad as it is in here, it would be worse on the outside.

We also have to talk about the romance here, or as I’ll be calling it from now on The Elsa Test. If you watch this movie carefully, Cinderella does not spend one moment of the beginning of this movie daydreaming about being rescued by a man. When the invitation to the Prince’s Reception comes, she’s excited not for the chance to meet Prince Charming, but for the chance to get dressed up and have a night off work to fully enjoy herself in a way that she hasn’t been able to in years. Fast forward past getting Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo’d by the Fairy Godmother, she shows up at the Reception and meets this crazy handsome guy who seems to really like her and pays attention to ONLY her ALL NIGHT – when was the last time that happened? Probably never. She doesn’t even realize he’s the Prince, she just knows this sweet guy helped her make an amazing memory. After she runs away and the spell breaks before she can even get home, she thanks the Fairy Godmother not for helping her find love, but for having the night of her life.

Before we get to the music, I have to talk about my favorite scene in the entire movie – the Cindy Sass. Towards the beginning of the movie, Gus the Mouse gets chased under a teacup by Lucifer the Cat, and an unknowing Cinderella takes the teacup up to her stepsisters and stepmother, not knowing that one of them is about to get an unwelcome surprise. Drizella is the unlucky one to get the cup, screeching to Lady Tremaine that Cinderella hid Gus under there on purpose. Lady Tremaine calls Cinderella into her bedroom for punishment, asking her if she has time for “vicious pranks.” Cinderella looks her stepmother in the eye and says “Oh, please, you really don’t think that I-” before being rudely interrupted. I LIVE for that moment every time I watch the movie because it’s Cinderella showing that she knows exactly what type of life she’s being forced to live, but she’s not just going to take it laying down. She has her breaking point, too, which makes her very relatable and respectable.

Yes, yes, now it’s music time. I listened to the soundtrack all the way through and picked out my three favorite songs to highlight here.

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes by Ilene Woods & Cinderella’s Mice Chorus Not only is this arguably the most well-known song from Cinderella, it’s probably one of the Top 5 most well-known Disney songs of all time. It’s so hopeful and can apply to so many people in so many different ways, and it’s your first look into Cinderella as a character to see how beautiful she is not just on the outside, but the inside as well. A dream is a wish your heart makes/When you’re fast asleep/In dreams, you can lose your heartache/Whatever you wish for, you keep/Have faith in your dreams and someday/Your rainbow will come smiling through/No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing/The dream that you wish will come true

The Music Lesson/Oh, Sing Sweet Nightingale/Bad Boy Lucifer/A Message From His Majesty by Ilene Woods, Oliver Wallace, Paul J. Smith, & Rhoda Williams This song is a key example of the differences in how Cinderella and her stepsisters are treated by Lady Tremaine. Drizella and Anastasia are upstairs in the music room with their mother in an ill-fated music lesson with Drizella [attempting to] sing and Anastasia [poorly] playing the flute. Cinderella is downstairs scrubbing the massive entry hall and singing the song from memory in her truly beautiful voice. This has always been one of my favorites because when Cinderella takes over the vocals, I was always entranced by the beautiful harmonies they created with her in the bubbles. Oh, sing, sweet nightingale/Sing, sweet nightingale/High above me/Oh, sing, sweet nightingale/Sing sweet/High above

Reception At the Palace/So This Is Love by Ilene Woods, Mike Douglas, Oliver Wallace, & Paul J. Smith What a sweet, romantic love song So This Is Love is. Both Cinderella and Prince Charming seem sweetly taken aback that they didn’t really know what love felt like, just what they expected it to be. I love the movie scene that goes with this song, with the two of them walking together in the garden and just enjoying being together. So this is love, hmmm/So this is love/So this is what makes life divine/I’m all aglow, hmm/And now I know/They key to all heaven is mine/My heart has wings, hmmm/And I can fly/I’ll touch every star in the sky/So this is the miracle that I’ve been dreaming of/Hmmm, hmmm/So this is love

Like I said after my last Princess Post, if you haven’t watched Cinderella since you were a child, do yourself a favor and go watch it now with more mature eyes. It’s a sweet, beautiful movie with a sweet, beautiful message and some really excellent music to boot. Thanks fo reading, and see you next week!