Reviewing: The Cinderella Trilogy
She’s one of Disney’s most famous princesses. Walt Disney World’s castle at the Magic Kingdom and the official logo that plays at the start of every Disney film are both attributed to her. With these three animated films, you’ll get the full story of how she ended up with her happily-ever-after. But be warned - the timeline really gets convoluted before the end.
Cinderella (*****)
In which a woman enlists the aid of household rodents to thwart a relative’s plot to save the family from financial despair
I can’t believe Disney waited over a decade from “Snow White” to give us another flawless fairy tale movie.
Well, I guess I can. A lot went on in that decade, not the least significant part being World War II. Disney was really thrown off-balance, losing a lot of his team members and his market. The whole company got thrown out of whack, which resulted (in my opinion) in a heap of mediocre films. But 1950 rolled around, and along came Cinderella, re-affirming Disney’s place as a company of master storytellers. Walt had wanted to make a film about Cinderella for years, and his company was finally becoming financially stable enough for him to push for another full-length feature. It’s a shame that it took so many half-baked movies to get us this masterpiece, but it was a very tumultuous time.
Enough history - let’s get into it. There’s a lot to say about this movie, but the first thing I’ll say is that it is a BEAUTIFUL film. The artwork and style of so many of the shots are stunning, particularly the dance of the Prince and Cinderella. Each shot could be a painting. The animators made a two-dimensional world so classy that you wish you’d gotten your own invite to the ball. Cinderella herself is really well done. The way she moves and reacts is incredibly human, as are her facial expressions from time to time. It’s hard not to like her immediately because she doesn’t behave like a caricature. She behaves like a person does, and as a result you really feel for her when bad stuff happens.
There’s a lot of side-plot in this film that you may not remember. A good chunk of the movie has to do with Cinderella’s mouse friends Jaq and Gus doing battle with the evil cat “Lucifer” - and while we’re here, let’s take a moment and acknowledge what an awesome name that is for a cat. You’d think that these extended sequences would detract from the main plot, but you hardly even notice that you’ve taken a detour. Part of this is because the comedy and timing of these segments is so darn good, but it’s also because each segment remains rooted in the central plot in one way or another. When Jaq and Gus are finally thwarted by Lucifer in their attempt to get the key to Cinderella towards the end of the film, the dramatic tension hits with full potency because of their constant rivalry throughout the story. You just want to cry out, “Aw, it’s that stupid cat!!”
Incidentally I usually want to say that about any cat I see but that’s another thing.
The story is elegant and unhurried, but it gives you crucial information in blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments. For example, do you remember that Cinderella had no idea she was dancing with the Prince? When the clock strikes midnight, Cinderella remarks that she never even got to meet the Prince. What this does for us is strengthen our belief (or suspended disbelief at least) that Cinderella’s really found true love. She doesn’t love this guy just because he’s royalty. The movie actually shows her walking in kind of lost, and the Prince goes and finds her. They get to talking, dance a bit, and spend a romantic evening together. Their love is pure because it’s wholly innocent. She’s not a gold digger, she’s just falling in love with a sweet guy she met at a party. It’s a small detail, but it’s crucial.
The music is terrific, the fairy godmother scene is pure magic, the laughs are plentiful, and the story is beautiful. I’ll leave this review with my now-favourite line from the movie.
Grand Duke: But your Highness, this slipper may fit any number of girls!
King: That’s HIS problem.
Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (**)
In which a Fairy Godmother grants wishes to mice now
This movie is three short stories - two of them suck really bad, but one is actually kinda neat.
What I can’t stand about these direct-to-video Disney films is the thing they do where there’s a scene set to a cheesy empowering song sung by some offscreen girl we never get to meet. “Bambi 2” did this more than once and I had to sit through at least two songs in the same vein this time around. The songs STINK. There’s no way around it. They’re just bad, and they’re bad enough on their own to make me say skip this movie purely on the basis of those songs.
The first two stories in this movie are also pretty bad. The first shows us Cinderella’s first real day as a princess, where there’s a lady telling her how things SHOULD be done and our princess finally decides to just be herself instead. It’s a moral that’s been beaten to death a million times, and this story doesn’t bring anything new to the table. The second story is the classic “be careful what you wish for” trope, where Jaq becomes human and ends up regretting it. Again, it’s an exhausted cliche and the filmmakers didn’t take it in any interesting directions.
There WAS a bit though that made me scratch my head. In the festival scene in this story, there look to be electric lights and a working Ferris wheel. What year is this? I thought we were in the late medieval period or perhaps the Renaissance...but Ferris wheels weren’t invented until 1893. And you’re telling me they have multicolored electric lights?? That just threw me off. Further, Cinderella is a French fairy tale, but there’s a bit in this story where Jaq explains that a saying of his is FRENCH, which is why the Grand Duke doesn’t understand it. So where the heck are these guys??
The final story is the only one worth watching. It’s about Anastasia, one of the two step-sisters, and her quest to find love. What’s interesting about it is the dynamics that are at play. Cinderella is involved, so we see her response to witnessing someone who’s wronged her get humiliated. Anastasia has been shown to be a crummy person, but now we get to see a different side of her as she falls in love. This love puts her at odds with her own sister and mother. That’s a story I actually care to see. Sure, this is a kid’s movie and they don’t do a WHOLE lot with it, but there’s enough to keep your attention and actually make you ponder the situation. For the first two stories, you could have written the script yourself blindly and arrived at the same ending without even trying.
So yeah, skip this. Especially because the next Cinderella film is about to turn this franchise’s timeline upside down and left-side-right.
Cinderella III: A Twist In Time (**1/2)
In which time and chronology become meaningless and the entire trilogy is thrown into disarray
The chronology of the Cinderella franchise is more complicated than Avengers: Endgame.
First, I’ll try to explain it as concisely as I can. First, there’s the original 1950 film Cinderella. Immediately after that, watch Cinderella III, because it happens right after. Lastly, watch Cinderella II, because it’s an alternate timeline that would’ve happened if Cinderella III had not.
Do not under any circumstances watch these movies in their original order (I, II, III). Otherwise, you’ll have to deal with the following.
In Cinderella II, Anastasia finds love in the arms of a sweet baker guy, simultaneously becoming a nicer person. There’s a sweet bit where the baker gives her a flower that’s kind of beat-up, having only three petals. Also, Cinderella meets Prudence, the castle supervisor or something like that. Then Cinderella III kicks off, and it seems right off the bat that the events of the previous film have been completely ignored. Anastasia is a grouch again, and she wants to marry the Prince. The baker is nowhere to be found. So I said to myself “Okay. Cinderella II never happened. I guess that’s what we’re going with.” Except if it never happened, then why are they calling this film the THIRD? That implies that the second one is canon!
Fast forward a little bit, and the evil Stepmother has reversed the final minutes of the first film by stealing the Fairy Godmother’s wand. The Godmother is turned to stone right before time is reversed. So theoretically, when the Stepmother reverses time, wouldn’t the Godmother be free again - and still equipped with her own wand? Why doesn’t she show up and help Cinderella fight this? Don’t worry about that, though - here’s the real conundrum. Cinderella makes her way to the castle to try and find the Prince, and guess who she bumps into.
Prudence.
So it seems that the characters of Cinderella II are canon, but the plot itself is not. It’s a bit of a stretch, but I guess it’s okay. Prudence doesn’t play a major role in this movie anyway, so maybe it was just a cameo appearance.
But then the real crazy bit happens. Anastasia finds that hypnotizing the Prince into loving her isn’t as easy or fun as she thought. She sings a little song to herself about it, and then sets a few flowers down on a balcony ledge outdoors.
Get this. The wind blows, and most of the flowers are blown away, except for one. Several petals fly off, leaving us with the exact same flower that the baker gave her in the sequel.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!
Is this the universe’s way of saying “the baker and Anastasia are meant to be together”?! Is it just a random coincidence? Does it mean the sequel actually happened??
But it couldn’t have happened!! The beginning of this film PROVES that the events of Cinderella II could not have happened yet!! At the very least, I thought, Cinderella II was going to happen canonically AFTER this film ended. But then WHY CALL IT CINDERELLA II???
So the film ends, and Cinderella has won. The Godmother is restored, and asks Cinderella if she’d like the events of this film to be undone so that she can pick up where she left off. If Cinderella had said yes, we could assume that Cinderella II would happen according to plan. But instead, they decide to keep things the way they are, and the movie ends.
And then the credits roll - and get this - we see a painting of Anastasia meeting the baker.
WHAT KIND OF SICK JOKE IS THIS?!
So the way I see it, Cinderella II is a future timeline that never actually took place. It was supposed to happen, but it never happened because Cinderella III happened instead. But the universe knew that the sequel was supposed to happen, which is why we saw that three-petalled leaf show up.
But man, that is hard detective work to make a kid go through. How are kids expected to follow along with this timeline?? This is insane.
Overall, this was fun. Would watch again.
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