Cinderella was my favorite Disney Princess from ages four to six (until the Little Mermaid came out). I also loved Snow White, but my friend, Erin, had already claimed her. Joke is on Erin, I was still Snow White for Halloween one year. I had a Cinderella birthday cake. My mom found me a Cinderella costume that was a real dress, not a plastic sack with a matching mask (80s store-bought costume options were the worst). I still have my Cinderella collector plates. I spent way too much of my toddler years trying to make a magic wand appear out of thin air. Most importantly, I named my dog Gus-Gus. He was technically the “family dog”, but Gus was my dog, damn it. He even had the same appetite as that portly, little mouse.
I could go into the entire history of Disney and this film. However, I’ll just sum up. In the 1940s, the company was struggling, barely surviving on government propaganda projects like World War II cartoons and Saludos Amigos. They tested for more ambitious styles of animation in their shorts like the Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad (Katrina van Tassel looks like Cinderella’s American cousin) and anthologies of shorts synced to music. Cinderella saved the studio, making it the most lucrative film in about a decade.
It’s interesting that Disney didn’t tell Cinderella before since it’s probably the most popular fairy tale. Maybe Walt didn’t want to look like was copying Fleischer pictures who put Betty Boop in the titular part. And for those of you who just giggled at the words “Betty Boop” and “titular” together, we could probably be friends.
Why did this Cinderella save Disney? First of all, this film is a work of art. The animation is glorious. The shadows of Lady Tremaine’s window moving along Cinderella as she walks into the room. The bubbles singing alongside Cinderella. And, of course, the dress transformation. All of it is beautiful.
Second, the music. Cinderella is not my favorite Disney soundtrack of all time. Still, no one can deny that Biddi Boddi Boo is a banger. The voice of Cinderella, Ilene Woods, gave the character a warm voice full of hope, a great contrast to Snow White’s ear splitting soprano.
Third, the mice. Despite not really knowing what they are saying, children have quoted Jaq and Gus for decades. Like so many Disney sidekicks meant to give the animators a break from drawing difficult human figures, the animals have more personality than some of the people. They are comic reliefs who also move the story along. Even if Jaq and Gus are terrible at crafts and almost cut another mouse’s tail off, they are heroes.
The one thing no gets right in their memory about this version is that Cinderella is just sweet and placid. Yes, she doesn’t fight or start anything with her step-family, but she is surviving. The movie is full of her being a normal teenage girl. She complains that she has to get up early. She calls out Lucifer the cat on his bullshit and was even going to swat him with a broom. She tries to stand up for herself with her stepmother. She throws a little shade on her step-sisters’ musical abilities. So what if the prince doesn’t get to have much of a personality. It’s not his story. And Cinderella is more rounded than lots of viewers give her credit for.
Finally - her dress isn’t blue. It’s a shimmery silver with blue reflections. Get it right, mass produced Disney princess merchandise!
