Cinderella (1950 film)

This article is about the animated film. Cinderella is a 1950 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and is based on the fairy tale "" by Charles Perrault. However, "Cinderella stories" can be found in cultures throughout the globe. This is the twelfth feature in the Disney Animated Canon. The film had a limited release on February 15, 1950 by RKO Radio Pictures. Directing credits go to Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske and Wilfred Jackson. The songs were written by Mack David, Jerry Livingston and Al Hoffman. Songs in the film include "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes", "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo", "So This is Love", "Sing, Sweet Nightingale", "The Work Song " and the opening credit song "Cinderella".
 * For the main character, see Cinderella (character).
 * For the 2015 live-action film, see Cinderella (2015 film).

The film was a massive critical and commercial success upon release and reinvigorated the Disney company when they were nearing bankruptcy after a loss of over $4 million from the then failures Pinocchio, Fantasia and Bambi. The film's "classic" status and success continues to this day.

Development
Made on the Cusp between the classic "golden age" Disney animations of the 1930's and 1940's and the less critically acclaimed productions of the 1950's, Cinderella is a representative of both eras.

Cinderella was the first full-bodied feature produced by the studio since Bambi in 1942; World War II and low box office returns had forced Walt Disney to produce a series of inexpensive package films such as Make Mine Music and Fun and Fancy Free for the 1940's. Live action reference was used extensively to keep animation costs down. According to Laryn Dowel, one of the directing animators of the film, roughly 90% of the film was done in live action model before animation, using basic sets as references for actors and animators alike.

Both Helene Stanley (Cinderella's live action model) and Ilene Woods (Cinderella's voice actor, selected from 400 other candidates) heavily influenced Cinderella's styling and mannerisms. Stanley was the live-action model for Anastasia Tremaine as well. She would be so again for Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and Anita Radcliffe in One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Animators modeled Prince Charming on actor Jeffery Stone, who also provided some additional voices for the film. Mike Douglas was the Prince's singing voice while William Phepps acted the part.

In earlier drafts of the screenplay, the Prince originally played a larger role and had more character development than what he ultimately received in the final version of the film. In one abandoned opening, the Prince was shown hunting a deer, but at the end of the sequence, it was to be revealed that the Prince and the deer were actually friends playing a game. In an alternate ending, after the Duke discovered Cinderella's identity, she was shown being brought to the castle to be reintroduced to the Prince, who is surprised to learn that Cinderella was actually a modest servant girl instead of the princess he thought she was, but the Prince's feelings for her were too strong to be bothered by this and he embraced her; the Fairy Godmother was to reappear and restore Cinderella's ball gown for the closing shot. Walt Disney himself reportedly cut the alternate ending because he felt it was overlong and did not give the audience its "pay off", but the scene would later be incorporated in the video game, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.

Other deleted material included an abandoned song that was tentatively titled the "Cinderella Work Song", which was part of a fantasy sequence that was set to take place after Lady Tremaine told Cinderella that she could only attend the ball if she finished her chores and found a suitable dress. In this abandoned sequence, Cinderella imagined herself multiplying into an army of maids in order to deal with her massive workload, all the while pondering what the ball itself would be like; the sequence was cut, but the title was applied to the song the mice sing when they work on Cinderella's dress. Additionally, there was a scene that took place after the ball in which Cinderella was seen returning to her home and eavesdropped on her step family, who were ranting about the mystery girl at the ball, and Cinderella was shown to be amused by this because they were talking about her without realizing it. Walt Disney reportedly cut the scene because he thought it made Cinderella look "spiteful" and felt the audience would lose sympathy for her.

For the first time, Walt turned to Tin Pan Alley song writers to write the songs. The music of Tin Pan Alley would later become a recurring theme in Disney animation. Cinderella was the first Disney film to have its songs published and copyrighted by the newly created Walt Disney Music Company. Before movie soundtracks became marketable, movie songs had little residual value to the film studio that owned them and were often sold off to established music companies for sheet music publication.

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" became a hit single four times, with notable versions by Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters. Woods beat exactly 309 girls for the part of Cinderella, after some demo recordings of her singing a few of the film's songs were presented to Walt Disney. However, she had no idea she was auditioning for the part until Disney contacted her; she initially made the recordings for a few friends who sent them to Disney without her knowledge. Reportedly, Disney thought Woods had the right "fairy tale" tone to her voice.

Interestingly, almost 30 years before he made "Cinderella" into a feature-length animated film, Walt Disney already made a short film of it as the last of the Laugh-O-Gram series, as a Roaring 20's version. This short is included as an extra on the Cinderella Platinum Edition DVD.

During production, Walt Disney pioneered the use of double tracked vocals for the song "Sing Sweet Nightingale," before it had been used by artists in studio recordings such as The Beatles. When Ilene Woods had completed the days recording of "Sing Sweet Nightingale", Walt listened and asked her if she could sing harmony with herself. She was apprehensive about the idea as it was unheard of; though she ended up singing the double recording, including second and third part harmonies. Ilene Woods reveals the innovation in an interview.

Plot
Cinderella is the much-loved child of a widowed aristocrat. He decides to remarry, believing his beloved daughter needs a mother's care. Ultimately, Cinderella's father marries Lady Tremaine, a proud and confident woman with two daughters who just cinderella's age from a previous marriage: Drizella and Anastasia. The plain and socially awkward stepsisters are bitterly envious of Cinderella's beauty. After Cinderella's father dies, Lady Tremaine reveals herself to be a cold and cruel tyrant who shares her daughters' jealousy of Cinderella's charm and beauty. She and her daughters take over the estate and begin to abuse and mistreat Cinderella, ultimately forcing her to become a scullery maid in her own home, while also squandering off the fortune until there was nearly nothing. Despite this, Cinderella remains a kind and gentle woman, befriending the animals in the barn and the mice and birds who live around the chateau. For with each dawn she found new hope that someday her dreams of happiness will come true.

One day, Cinderella and the mice find a new mouse (whom she names Octavius, or Gus for short) caught in a mouse trap. She gives Gus some new clothes and informs Jaq to warn Gus about Lucifer. The two mice spy on Lucifer as Cinderella starts her chores. When Cinderella is giving breakfast to the animals, Lucifer chases Gus and he hides under Anastasia's teacup. Cinderella delivers breakfast to her stepfamily. When Anastasia opens her teacup and finds Gus, she screams to her mother about it. Lady Tremaine punishes Cinderella with extra chores.

At the royal palace, the King and the Grand Duke organize a ball in an effort to find a suitable wife for Prince Charming. Every eligible maiden in the kingdom is requested to attend. Cinderella asks her stepmother if she can attend, since she is still part of the family. Lady Tremaine agrees, provided if Cinderella finishes her chores and finds a nice dress to wear. With Cinderella too distracted with extra chores, her animal friends, led by Jaq and Gus, fix up a gown that belonged to Cinderella's late mother. They go downstairs and scoop up Drizella's old beads and Anastasia's old sash after they throw them on the floor, escaping with them before Lucifer catches them. The animals finish Cinderella's dress just as the carriage arrives. When Cinderella comes down wearing her new dress, Lady Tremaine compliments the gown, pointing out the beads and sash. Angered by the apparent theft of their discarded items, the stepsisters rip the gown into rags. Heartbroken, Cinderella runs outside to the garden.

At the point of giving up her dreams, Cinderella's Fairy Godmother appears and bestows upon Cinderella a new ball gown with glass slippers. She also transforms a pumpkin into a carriage, the mice into horses, Major the horse into a coachman, and Bruno the dog into a footman. Cinderella departs for the ball after her godmother warns her that the spell will break at the stroke of midnight. At the ball, the Prince rejects every girl until he sees Cinderella. The two fall strongly in love and dance alone throughout the castle grounds. Her stepfamily thinks there's something familiar about her, but are unable to make the connection before the Duke closes the curtain to give the couple some privacy.

As the clock starts to chime midnight. Cinderella flees to her coach and away from the castle, dropping one of her glass slippers by accident. The Duke sends the guards to stop them, but Cinderella and the animals hide from them. After her gown turns back into rags, the mice point out that the other slipper is still on her foot. Back at the castle, the Duke tells the King of the disaster. He also reveals, however, that the Prince will not marry anyone except the owner of the slipper, and set out to find her.

The next morning, the King proclaims that the Grand Duke will visit every house in the kingdom to find the girl whose foot fits the glass slipper, so that she can be married to the Prince. When news reaches Cinderella's household, her stepmother and stepsisters prepare for the Duke's arrival. Overhearing this, Cinderella dreamingly hums the song played at the ball. Realizng that Cinderella was the girl who danced with the Prince, Lady Tremaine locks her stepdaughter in the attic.

When the Duke arrives, the mice steal the key to Cinderella's room but before they can deliver it, they are ambushed by Lucifer. With the help of the other mice, birds and Bruno, they chase him out the window and Cinderella is freed. As the Duke prepares to leave after the stepsisters unsuccessfully try on the slipper, Cinderella appears and requests to try it on. Knowing the slipper will fit, Lady Tremaine trips the footman, causing him to drop and shatter the slipper. Cinderella then produces the other glass slipper, much to her stepmother's horror. Delighted at this indisputable proof of the maiden's identity, the Duke slides the slipper onto her foot and it fits perfectly.

Cinderella and Prince Charming celebrate their wedding and lived happily ever after.

Release and reception
The film was originally released in theaters on February 15, 1950, followed by theatrical re-releases in 1957, 1965, 1973, 1981 and 1987. Cinderella also played a limited engagement in select Cinemark Theaters from February 16-18, 2013.

Disney had not had as huge a hit since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (though Dumbo was also a huge success), so the production of this film was regarded as a major gamble on his part. At a cost of nearly $3 million, Disney insiders claimed that if Cinderella failed at the box office, then the Disney studio would have closed (given that the studio was already heavily in debt). The film was a huge box office success and allowed Disney to carry on producing films throughout the 1950's. It was the 5th most popular movie at the British box office in 1951.

Cinderella currently has a score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. The overview of the film is, "The rich colors, sweet songs, adorable mice and endearing (if suffering) heroine make Cinderella a nostalgically lovely charmer." The profits from the film's release, with the additional profits from record sales, music publishing, publications and other merchandise gave Disney the cash flow to finance a slate of productions (animated and live action), establish his own distribution company, enter television production and begin building Disneyland during the decade.

Original Songs

 * "Cinderella" - Opening credit song
 * "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes"
 * "Sing, Sweet Nightingale"
 * "Work Song"
 * "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo"
 * "So This is Love"

Trivia

 * Walt Disney said Cinderella was his favorite fairytale because he saw himself in her shoes (Pun intended) since he/she worked so hard and got rewarded for his/her work.
 * The sequence in which Cinderella's rags turn into a magnificent ball gown, animated by Marc Davis, was Walt Disney's favorite piece of animation ever to come out of the studio. It bears resemblance to the transformation in Enchanted.
 * In the CBS television special, the movie was named the 9th Best Animated Feature of all time.
 * Not only is the name of the Prince never revealed, but he is nowhere in the film mentioned as "Prince Charming".
 * Ilene Woods beat exactly 309 girls for the part of Cinderella, after some demo recordings of her singing a few of the film's songs were presented to Walt Disney.
 * However, she had no idea she was auditioning for the part until Disney contacted her; she initially made the recordings for a few friends who sent them to Disney without telling her.
 * In 2003, she was awarded a award for her voicework on the film Cinderella.
 * When the film was first eleased on the Platinum Edition DVD and VHS, Cinderella's hair was colored yellow blonde instead of strawberry-blonde like it was originally, and her ball dress was recolored blue instead of white to match the merchandise.
 * The unnamed Prince, or Prince Charming, was given a name in the ABC fairy tale fantasy drama Once Upon a Time, as Prince Thomas, since the unnamed prince from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had been dubbed Prince Charming in the program.
 * When Walt had the resources to return to full-length animation in the late 1940's after the war, he was indecisive over whether they should produce Cinderella or Alice in Wonderland first and finally decided to have two animation crews working on each film compete with each other to see not only which would finish first but also which did the best job.
 * Dinah Shore and Deanna Durbin were considered for the role of Cinderella, but after Walt heard demo recordings of the film's score by big band singer Ilene Woods, the relatively unknown Woods (who only had one film credit before this film) was cast in the title role.
 * The Prince is usually known as Prince Charming, though some source material shows that his name is Henri, or Henry.
 * If you look closely at the carriage that Cinderella and the Prince take after, the wedding has an emblem of a sword and two hidden Mickey Mouse heads around it.