“Cinderella” is one of Walt Disney’s most popular, and most important films. Based on the centuries old story, it is a beautifully made film, with wonderful characters, an eternal story, and classic songs, which brought the studio back to the kind of film that made them world-wide successes.
The famous tale has a couple with a child, Cinderella, but with the passing of the mother, the father remarries. With the passing later of the father, the true character of the stepmother, Lady Tremaine, and her two vain daughters Anastasia and Drizella, becomes apparent, eventually making Cinderella a servant in her own household. The character of Cinderella is that of an incredibly kind, giving human being, and even with the treatment that she gets from her “family”, she doesn’t degrade herself by stooping to their level.
The animals all love her: the birds, the family dog Bruno, the house mice, led by Jacques, and the new member of the household Gus, or as he thinks of himself “Gus Gus”, a roly-poly innocent. Only Lucifer, Lady Tremaine’s cat, is an enemy, and rather diabolical.
World War II changed everything in the United States, including Hollywood. All the studios were made part of the war effort, contributing patriotic films, training films, and supporting the cause. For the major studios this wasn’t as big a deal, since their output was of multiple productions a year. The Disney studio was in many ways an independent studio, with their films being released by RKO. Accordingly each film was of great importance for the solvency of the studio. For the Disney studio the war was essentially stopping the production of their feature films, cartoon shorts still in production, but the years of work on a single production not possible with the other wartime activities, not allowing for the time needed to develop and produce a single story full length film. Technically, the war had already hurt the studio, since the profits of “Pinocchio”, “Fantasia” and “Dumbo” (and later “Bambi”) were affected by the war, that was already in progress in Europe before the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 12/8/41 got the United States involuntarily involved.
The studio would do omnibus films, films that were made up of multiple parts, it being easier, and cheaper, than producing a one story animated film, which takes much more involvement by many people, while a smaller production could get more easily produced. Accordingly the films of the 1940s are of at least two or more stories. “Saludos Amigos”, “The Three Caballeros”, “Victory Through Air Power” (the only feature film that was totally for the war effort), “Make Mine Music”, “Fun And Fancy Free”, “Melody Time” and “The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad”, all reflections of the difficulties of making a feature length animated film at the time for the studio. All these films did reasonably well, but not on the level of the big five, the one story films produced from 1937 till 1942.
With “Cinderella”, the studio was about to make their first full-length animated film since 1942, and it was a major undertaking. Choosing such a classic story made for an excellent choice, though “Alice In Wonderland” was also in production and might have been completed earlier. It’s best that the more universal story of “Cinderella” ended up being released first, having the same kind of appeal as their first animated film “Snow White”, especially since “Alice” would only do OK at the box-office when released in 1951. Might it have done better if it had been released before “Cinderella”? We’ll never know.
The opening shows the story of the families, and how Cinderella has ended up where she has, with our real introduction to her being when the birds wake her up. She is seen to be as pure as a human being can be, and somehow not bland in the least. The defining of her character is beautifully done, showing her to be a great person, who cares for others, and the audience is on her side immediately.
The mice are adorable, and are very protective of their friend and benefactor. Despite Cinderella not having a real family with her step mother and sisters, she is part of a much greater family within the household. Her dreams are told to us immediately with “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes”, one of the greatest songs of all time, which also has the same beautiful ideas that are part of “When You Wish Upon A Star”, the anthem of the Disney studio.
The cruelties by the step sisters, and most of all the step mother, are handled in a way that only repulsion can be felt for them. There are no redeeming qualities in the sisters, though their buffoonish behavior is humorous, but the wicked stepmother is pure evil, leaving no room for ambiguity .
The King is shown to be a very forceful, but still likeable character, and the Duke is the poor soul who has to tend to his highnesses’ mood swings. The King wants his son to be married, but his son has not found the right girl, which means the King is going to find it for him. The Duke has to make sure that everything goes well, with his fear of failure and what that would mean to the fickle King, being the source of much humor. The Prince isn’t really fleshed out, but the story is about Cinderella, and somehow it never hurts the story.
Mary Blair’s color and styling is very much apparent, and would be much more pronounced in “Alice In Wonderland” and “Peter Pan”. She made an impact on the Disney look of the time that is unmistakable, and unbelievably beautiful.
The songs are by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman, the first time the studio went for “Tin Pan Alley” composers,
“Cinderella” is the song in the title sequence, which, like the next song “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes”, clearly defines our heroine, in a wonderfully melodic, exquisite song. “In the sweetest story ever told.”
“A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes” as mentioned before is utter perfection. It beautifully sets up Cinderella’s thoughts on her life, as well as establishing her importance to the creatures who live in the house.
“Sing, Sweet Nightingale” begins as the step sisters are doing their music lessons, with their fully wretched, piercing voices. We go through the house and find Cinderella singing the same song beautifully, while she’s cleaning the floor. The bubbles from the soap she’s cleaning the floor with has her voice begin to multiply, matching the visual bubbles with her image, Cinderella singing with herself. The sequence becomes a magical, enchanting, visual feast, with the layers of her voice being reflected by the layers of the bubbles going all over the screen. This use of overlapping the same vocals of one singer was quite a novel idea in 1950, and it is rather revolutionary in concept, as well as execution. It’s in a class by itself.
“The Work Song” is when the mice sing about making a dress for Cinderelly, a joyous number showing her friends doing all they can to make her fairly ordinary dress be more lavish and beautiful. Unfortunately they use items that are throw-aways from the step sisters, which ends up backfiring, but during the song it is a beautiful expression of the love her real family has for her.
“Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” is one of the greatest moments in Disney animation, as well as being one of the most magical. It is so beautifully presented, that it is easy to take for granted how much artistry is being presented on screen. It is a fully realized world being created, with the powers of the Fairy Godmother being a visual feast, as well as an emotionally euphoric moment. This is screen magic at its very best, and reportedly Walt Disney’s favorite sequence of his films. It’s obvious as to why: it’s what he did throughout his career, perfectly visualized.
“So This Is Love” is a wonderfully romantic moment, one of the most romantic in animation. The song is gorgeous, and the visuals match “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” in grandeur. There is something very poetic about the presentation, with Ilene Woods and Mike Douglas giving exquisite performances. I can still remember seeing it for the first time on the big screen, and thinking how special that scene is.
There is a color palette to “Cinderella” that is very unique. The look of the film is unmistakable, and looks like no other film of the studio. There is a pinkish/red to the film that totally belongs to this film, which I can still remember seeing on the big screen, starting with the opening scenes. When I went on 1/13/10 to see “The Princess And The Frog” in the theater for the first time, I remember the opening scenes in Charlotte’s room used the very same pinkish/red in that scene; it is unmistakable. It took a few seconds for me to realize what seemed so familiar in the color, but as soon as I did I noticed that they used it a few times in the film, one classic referring to another classic.
The voices are perfect, and though most of the actors aren’t household names, they are very experienced professionals:
Ilene Woods plays Cinderella with incredible grace and humanity. There are few characters in film as God-like as Cinderella. She is a great role model, but with Ilene Woods she is made to be real. Some have said, over the decades, that she’s too goody-2-shoes, but I’d say that those are people that possibly don’t believe in the potential goodness in all of us. Cinderella is an extremely sympathetic character, especially since she hasn’t caved in and felt self pity. She is amazingly strong. Ilene Woods was most of all a singer, who’d only had a small part in one film. Songwriters Mack David, Jerry Livingston and Al Hoffman were friends of hers, and asked her to do a demo of two songs they’d written, never letting her know that it was for “Cinderella”. After Walt had heard it, and they tried to get the right sound for Cinderella, Walt realized that they already had the perfect choice with Ilene, and she got the role. She gives a wonderful performance as Cinderella, and this would be her only animation voice, as well as her last role, deciding to raise her family, and away from showbiz, essentially her only acting role. She passed away on 7/1/10 at the age of 81.
Eleanor Audley is positively evil as Lady Tremaine, and it is a fantastic performance. The wicked stepmother is really despicable, but she is also impossible to take your eyes (and ears) off of. It is one of the greatest villains ever in animation, and in no small way because of the great actress behind her. Eleanor Audley had an unbelievably powerful voice, and she could make the slightest phrase have great meaning. As an actress she didn’t get to really be more than a supporting actress, somehow. As a voice actress she has two of the greatest roles in animation history, Lady Tremaine and Malificent in “Sleeping Beauty”, the greatest villainess of all time, animation or otherwise. Both of those characters also LOOK like Eleanor Audley, though their evil aspects are from the performance, not that Miss Audley looked evil (to suggest such a thing would make Miss Audley give you an appropriate stare, with those incredible eyes!). She had many roles in films and television over the decades, most famously appearing as Eddie Albert’s mother in the classic TV comedy “Green Acres”, hilarious as the mother who cares more for her daughter-in-law than her own son, because he’s chosen to live in the country. She would also appear in a “Swamp Fox” episode for Disney, and have a small role in the 1968 comedy “Never A Dull Moment”, as a patron of the museum who talks to Leo Joseph Smooth (Edward G. Robinson), her last Disney role. She passed away on 11/25/91 at the age of 86. Eleanor Audley is simply an immortal.
Verna Felton plays the Fairy Godmother, one of the most adorable, kind, and wonderfully loveable characters in the Disney canon. She is sweet, thoughtful, and, unfortunately, a little absent-minded. If Clarence is a reflection of George Bailey, then the Fairy Godmother is a reflection of Cinderella. Felton was a wonderful actress, and could play villains and wonderfully sweet characters. She plays the head elephant who gets the other lemming elephants to go against Mrs. Jumbo and Dumbo in “Dumbo”, as well as the Queen Of Hearts in “Alice In Wonderland”. That she could play the Fairy Godmother, as well as Merriweather in “Sleeping Beauty” shows her incredible range. Verna Felton did many films and television productions over the years, starring in “December Bride” in the 1950s, as well as its spinoff “Pete And Gladys” (both with Harry Morgan). Verna Felton’s final Disney production was as the mother elephant in “The Jungle Book”. Verna Felton is one of the most important Disney voices ever. She passed away on 12/14/66, one day before Walt Disney would pass away, at the age of 76.
Jimmy MacDonald plays BOTH Jac and Gus Gus, which means he’s essentially talking to himself for much of the picture. Both characters are total delights, and there’s a sweetness to their characters that’s very genuine. It’s such a fine line to cross into cloying or irritating characters, and the studio always knew the boundaries perfectly. Obviously the voice of Jac is sped up (like Chip and Dale), as well as the other mice, though I don’t think it is done to Gus Gus. Gus Gus is a joy, with his incredible dopiness, being balanced with his sweetness, always trying to help. Jimmy MacDonald was a veteran at the studio, taking over the voice of Mickey Mouse in “Fun And Fancy Free”, Walt Disney ending up being too busy to continue to supply the voice of the most important character of the studio. He was also the voice of Humphrey The Bear, another immortal dopey. Jimmy would continue to do Mickey until 1968 (Mickey’s 40th anniversary), passing away on 2/1/94 at the age of 84.
Luis Van Rooten plays the King AND the Grand Duke, so he is essentially talking to himself for much of the film also. The King is funny, stubborn, petulant, and rather extreme in his mood swings. This causes great consternation to the poor Duke, who has to answer to the King’s every whim. The Duke is nice enough, but a bit snooty, and gets panic stricken when things go wrong. Both are beautifully realized characters, and that both are performed by the same actor is something that generally only animation can make possible. Ironically this was Luis Van Rooten’s only animation voice work (it has to be remembered that radio was huge at the time, so almost all actors did a lot of radio programs), a veteran character actor who did many films and TV shows over the decades, like appearing in the 1951 Kirk Douglas classic “Detective Story”. Luis Van Rooten passed away on 6/17/73 at the age of 66. This was his only Disney film.
Don Barclay plays the Doorman, and other than a voice in “Alice In Wonderland” these are his only animation voice works. He was a veteran character actor, doing many films and television shows over the years. He played the henchman of Admiral Boom (Reginald Owen) in “Mary Poppins”, firing the canon at the appropriate times, his last film being a small part in “Bedknobs And Broomsticks”. He also played Santa Claus in the second Disney television show, “The Walt Disney Christmas Show” in 1951, only seen in the commercial at the opening of the show. Don Barclay passed away on 10/16/75 at the age of 82.
Lucille Bliss plays Anastasia, the red-haired step sister, a character of great negativity, and humor, since she has no idea of how ridiculous she and her sister are. They are both really difficult characters. If you consider the other character that Lucille Bliss was playing starting in 1949, the title character in Jay Ward’s first series “Crusader Rabbit”, it shows you the great range of Miss Bliss, playing the virtuous, noble character of Crusader, and the detestable Anastasia. Bliss contributed voices to “Alice In Wonderland” (the Sunflower and the Tulip in “You Can Learn A Lot Of Things From The Flowers” segment), “Peter Pan” (a mermaid) and “101 Dalmatians” (TV commercial singer), along with the Donald Duck cartoon “How To Have An Accident At Work” (Donald’s son). Considering that she passed away on 11/8/12, at the age of 96, it’s amazing how her Disney work only occurred during that long ago 10 year period.
Rhoda Williams plays Drizella , the brunette, the other obnoxious, selfish step-sister, who is also rather hilarious in her foolish behavior. Williams was a character actress, appearing in many films (like “National Velvet”) and television productions, but this was her only animation voice, also doing Disney’s Carousel Of Progress. She passed away on 3/8/06 at the age of 75.
William Phipps plays Prince Charming, coming off quite pleasant, even if he has comparatively little screen time. Phipps was a veteran actor, doing many projects over the years, but he never did any other animation voice. He also appeared in two episodes of “Texas John Slaughter” and an episode of “Daniel Boone” for Disney.
Mike Douglas does the singing voice of Prince Charming for “So This Is Love”. Douglas had started out as a singer, and this was early in his career. Eventually he’d do television, and have his own talk show in the late 60s and through the 70s. This was his only Disney project, though he had a number of episodes of his talk show that centered around Disney subjects.
Earl Keen plays the sounds of Bruno the dog. Keen was a dog impersonator, and his sounds are very effective and believable. There were a number of actors and actresses at the time that did such imitations, especially useful for radio and animation.
June Foray does the sounds of Lucifer, the malicious, and rather funny cat, who doesn’t know when to stop pushing his luck. It is fascinating to find out that June Foray played his voice, since she isn’t given on-screen credit, and a name as famous as June Foray is really surprising accordingly. She wasn’t known then as she’d be later, but she was already a veteran of animation by 1950, playing a few Disney voices during this time, before becoming one of the most sought voice actresses of all time. She didn’t do as much for the Disney studio as she would for studios like Warner Brothers and Jay Ward, but she had a few contributions over the years. She just passed away on 7/26/17 at the age of 99.
Thurl Ravenscroft plays one of the voices. Mr. Ravenscroft, with his wonderful deep voice, was a natural for animation, and his history with the Disney studio is quite long. Among the voices he supplied for Disney animated films are sounds for Monstro the whale in “Pinocchio”, singing in the classic song from the Halloween themed Donald Duck cartoon “Trick Or Treat”, and the Russian cat in “The Aristocats”. Probably his biggest Disney role is that of Paul in “Paul Bunyan”, the 1958 cartoon. Of course he sang the songs in Dr. Seuss’ “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”, among his many animation contributions. He was also the voice of Tony The Tiger for decades, an unforgettable characterization.
Betty Lou Gerson does the narration that opens the film, which is very involving and establishes the story perfectly. It isn’t obvious from listening to her, but that soothing voice of Miss Gerson would play one of the greatest villainesses of all time 11 years later, as Cruella DeVille in “101 Dalmatians”. These were her only two Disney projects, and she wouldn’t do another animated project until the end of her life. She was a supporting actress, who did many projects, including the nurse in the 1958 Vincent Price film “The Fly”. After her husband passed away she did a voice for the animated film “Cats Don’t Dance in 1997, just before her passing away on 1/12/99 at the age of 84. “If she doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will!”
The music for the film was done by Disney veteran Paul J. Smith, and the conducting by Disney veteran Oliver Wallace. It’s easy to take for granted the backround music in animation, since songs usually leave the biggest impression, but the power of the emotions being brought out by the music is so important to the effect the film has on the audience. The final two scenes of the film demonstrate this perfectly.
The ending of “Cinderella” is one of the greatest ever put on film. The King has sent the Duke out to fit every eligible maid in the kingdom, with Cinderella imprisoned in the attic by her wicked stepmother. Lucifer tried to stop the mice from getting the key to Cindy, and Bruno has to come to the rescue. During all this the step sisters are being tried for the glass slipper, with the poor shoe-fitter having a hell of a time with the abuse he gets from the sisters trying to force the slipper on their enormous feet (they seem to be at least a 14 and a half). After both are (painfully) not found to be the owner, the Duke asks if there’s any other eligible lady, with Lady Tremaine stating no, when suddenly we hear Cindy coming down, calling that she’d like to try the slipper. The Duke observes Cindy’s obvious charms, and enthusiastically returns to try the slipper on her, with the shoe-fitter walking over with the slipper. The music here embellishes all the emotions of a positive conclusion, but then Lady Tremaine maliciously, and “innocently”, trips the shoe-fitter, sending the glass slipper flying through the air, shattering when it lands.
The music is incredibly powerful, tragic, with an end of the world type of sadness, the Duke trying to pick up the numerous broken glass pieces, crying “This is terrible. The King, what will he say? What will HE DO?”, putting his hands around his neck, as if he’ll be strangled or executed. At this point Cindy says,
“But perhaps, if it would help…”
The Duke (dejected): “No no, nothing can help now, nothing.”
Cinderella: “But you see (taking the glass slipper out of her pocket) I have the other slipper.”
The music at this point is one of the most joyous pieces ever written, with an incredible ecstasy of everything having been resolved for good. The shock on Lady Tremaine is priceless, the mice cheering, and the Duke knowing that he has found the Prince’s bride. The music quiets down with closure.
We then see church bells ringing, and beautiful wedding type music accompanying Cinderella and the Prince exiting the church, having just been married, and going into the coach. A reprise of “A Dream Is A With Your Heart Makes” begins, as we see everyone, including the mice, in their beautiful wedding outfits, ending in a freeze of Cinderella and the Prince, the book from the opening being seen again, and slowly closing.
That ending is one of the most joyous endings ever put on film, and it is especially quick in how it goes from incredible tragedy, to a perfect resolution of EVERYTHING. There are few films that resolve their story as quickly, and as dramatically, as “Cinderella”. In animation the only other one I can think of is “Dumbo”, with Dumbo jumping off, losing the magic feather, and Timothy desperately, and at the last minute, convincing Dumbo he can do it, with his soaring, and everything being resolved. The way the music is used at the end of “Dumbo” and at the end of “Cinderella” is something very difficult to accomplish, since it takes time to tell a story, and to wrap up all the lose strings. In these two stories, and films, they fall into place to be able to do it, but it is very rare. It also causes an incredible flood of emotions in an extremely short amount of time, for a euphoric, and a rollercoaster of emotions that is very rare to accomplish. I’ve seen that ending hundreds of times, same as “Dumbo”s. It’s as good as it gets.
I would first see “Cinderella” on 8/30/77 with “The Boatniks”, again in Christmas on 1981, and finally in the last reissue in Christmas of 1987. It would come to video in 1988, which I remember was a very big deal for this classic to finally come to home screens. I’ve found Cinderella to be one of the characters that women most adore of the Disney characters, and it’s easy to see why. She is the epitome of what we all should be, and it’s rare that a female character is as strong as she is. Cindy is special.
“Cinderella” was a huge hit when it was released in 1950, becoming the first big hit that Walt had had since their work before the war made them have to scramble to accommodate their patriotic responsibilities, and be able to finally resume telling full-length stories as only they could. “Cinderella is an all-time classic.
“Have faith in 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.”