Sabina Haase

Lang 480

Movie Analysis

12-2-2022

I watched the 1950 classic Disney Cinderella, and the 2002 Disney Cinderella II “When

dreams come true”. I had never seen Cinderella II before, so it was nice to be able to watch it and

not know what to expect. I hadn’t seen the original Cinderella in many years and there were

many things I forgot about. After reading the stories of Cinderella and then watching the movies

I noticed many similarities but also many differences. I was looking for a grand theme in each

movie and started focusing on feminism within the different movies.

One of the first things I noticed when watching the movies is that both movies have a

huge focus on animals. Cinderella II is told through the point of view of the mice. As I was

watching the movies I started thinking about Disney and how in the majority of Disney films

there is always a main character who is an animal. I then started thinking about how Disney is

famous for Mickey Mouse, who is a mouse. I then thought about how even in both of the

Cinderella stories, the original, and the Grimm Brothers there are many animals, and the animals

help create part of the magic. I find this very interesting that even back in the 1500’s when the

original fairy tale was written, the animals were the ones who created the magic and helped her

go to the ball.

Cinderella II was set up very different from the first Cinderella. Instead of being one big

story it was set up into three different parts. One story was about when Cinderella threw her first

ball as a princess. The second story was about the mouse, Jack, and how he turned into a human

to help Cinderella. The last story was about Cinderella’s stepsister and how she fell in love. The
stories were set up to teach children lessons. However, until the last story there wasn’t an overall

arching theme. I felt the movie would have been better if it had been one big plot line and each

individual story was its own short. I felt the biggest over-arching theme in each story was to be

yourself. In each clip the main point was be true to yourself and everything will turn out right.

As I have been researching Cinderella, I was wondering how feminism is tied into the

stories and the movies. As I was watching the movie, I started to realize there were many

differences between the original 1950 Cinderella and Cinderella II. In Cinderella II the message

is be yourself. In the original, Cinderella has to change so the prince will fall in love with her. It

makes sense that Cinderella would need to change and not wear rags to a ball. However, she

must leave at midnight otherwise she will change back into her rags and that wouldn’t impress

the prince. In Cinderella II, in the second scene of the movie Cinderella is in the kitchen wearing

her original rags. The plot line of the first story in Cinderella II, is about how the lady in waiting

wants Cinderella to be perfect and is trying to teach her to become a “proper” princess. However,

Cinderella wants to do things her way and she even says, “the prince fell in love with me for

being me”. The next two stories are also about being yourself as well. Jack the mouse becomes

human to help Cinderella until he realizes he liked being a mouse better. He is so thankful the

fairy godmother turned him back into a mouse. The third story Anastasia, Cinderella’s stepsister,

falls in love with the baker but the stepmother says he is too beneath them, so Anastasia can’t

talk to him. Cinderella tries to help her and teaches her to be kind and stand up to her mother and

then Anastasia and the baker live happily ever after.

I think all these stories have an overarching theme of being yourself and not being

influenced by what others say. In 2002 this was becoming a normal thing to be yourself.

Whereas in 1950, life was very different. In 1950 most women didn’t have a job, and many
women waited around for their husbands to come home from work, and the women did all the

cooking and cleaning.

In an article I found by Peggy Oreinstein, titled “What’s wrong with Cinderella?”, she

talks about how her three-year-old daughter is supposed to become a princess. This article was

written in 2006, only a couple years after Cinderella II came out. The mother was very annoyed

that every time her daughter went anywhere, they would call her a princess. She talks about how

at the dentist they would have her sit in the special “princess” chair. She also said that it wasn’t

just any princess it was always Cinderella. The mom didn’t want her daughter to only be a

princess, she wanted her daughter to know that she could grow up to be whatever she wanted.

Peggy also wrote that the job title princess is no longer a thing. She talks about how Princess

Diana is dead and there are not many princesses left in the world.

It’s fascinating that in 2002 the theme of the movie was to be yourself and your dreams

can come true. However, in 1950 the theme was dreams come true when you meet a man.

Cinderella has a horrible life until she meets the prince, and he chooses her as his bride. In 1950

this was somewhat true. Even though most girls didn’t actually end up with a prince they still

waited around for a guy to marry them and to live happily ever after. It’s interesting to see how a

fifty-year difference changed a lot of things in the movie, especially lessons for young girls.

Another change in the movie was the stepmother was truly evil. In the Grimm Brothers

story and the classic edition, she is evil. However, in the movie she is very evil, and finds out

that Cinderella was at the ball. She sees her dancing and realizes that Cinderella was the girl with

the prince she then locks her in the attic so that she can’t come down and try on the glass slipper.

The mice and birds help Cinderella and get the key from the stepmother and let Cinderella out of

the attic. However, as the man with shoes is going to try it on Cinderella the stepmother trips him
so that the glass slipper shatters, and Cinderella can’t try it on. Cinderella has the other slipper

and it’s a perfect fit. This ending is different from the ending in both of the stories.

I think Disney changed this part so the viewer could see how horrible the stepmother was.

I think this was done so Disney could create a villain since that is part of their brand. In

Cinderella II the stepmother is still quite evil, as she will not let Anastasia marry a commoner

and she says to the baker’s face that he is very beneath her daughters. There is never much

mention about Cinderella except that the stepsisters are going to one of her balls. Disney made a

Cinderella III in which the stepmother steals the fairy godmother’s magic wand to turn back time

so Cinderella can’t be with the prince. This shows that the stepmother is still evil and the villain

in all the Cinderella stories.

While watching both of these movies I realized many things were changed, but the things

changed had to do with the time period that each film was created in. In 2002 women had a lot

more going for them therefor the movie was very different from the one created in 1950. It

would be very interesting to see a new version of Cinderella based on today because it’s been

twenty years since 2002 so today’s version would be even more different.