Good Sunday Evening, Dear Ones!
PC reminded me last night that I had promised a review of the Cinderella movie several posts ago and I have yet to keep that promise.
So tonight is the night.
But I will need to type as fast as my little fingers can go because in 90 short minutes, the premier of the new season of Game of Thrones will be airing and I can’t afford to look away from that show for a minute for fear of missing something of vital importance to the whole storyline.
It has been almost a month since we went to see Cinderella on its opening weekend. I really, really should have jotted down some notes about the movie that evening because my now (as of April 6th) 57-year-old memory really struggles to remember anything for more than a week or two these days.
This series of photos pretty accurately illustrates how my granddaughter Cady felt about the movie, even before she saw it! Call her a clairvoyant or prognosticator, but Cady predicted it here, as she posed for pictures in November with Cinderella and me.
Cinderella is fleeting fun for a moment and then it is time to move on. Not particularly memorable. And in these photos, Cady is moving on to the Spongebob movie, Sponge Out of Water, which was actually released a month earlier.
Cinderella really didn’t hold her attention long at all.
As it turns out, I kind of felt the same way. Not that I was distracted from Cinderella by Spongebob. Horrors, no! I wanted so badly to love this version of perhaps THE most popular fairy tale of all times.
But I didn’t.
In 1965, when I was seven, Lesley Ann Warren starred in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. It was a musical, in black and white (at least at our house because we didn’t get a colored TV for almost ten more years), and naturally, the special effects were less than special by today’s standards. I loved it, though, especially after my father told me I was named for Lesley Ann Warren (a kind fabrication) when I would complain about disliking my name.
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Although the Disney Cinderella cartoon came out in 1950, eight years before I was born, I don’t remember seeing it as a little girl at the theater. Maybe I did, but I only remember seeing it as my own daughters were growing up. When I would teach fairy tales in the library, I usually began with a simple, but close to the original, version of the story. Something like Margaret Hillert’s Cinderella at the Ball, which is so basic that it is a beginning reader with one to two simple sentences per page.
My students would always argue that Hillert’s version wasn’t at all accurate because there were no talking mice and birds that befriended Cinderella and helped her get ready for the ball. They grew up only knowing the Disney account of the fairy tale. Very few of my babies at school were told or read fairy tales at home. So, Disney was their only point of reference.
This new Cinderella falls somewhere between the Disney cartoon and the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical. The movie is very pretty, Cinderella is beautiful (if not a natural blonde), the Prince is a “handsome boy” (Cady quote), and the costumes and sets are elaborate and elegant.
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In my opinion, the fairy god mother’s magic is unquestionably magical and the best part of the movie…the casting of the spell on the pumpkin, mice and lizards and then the reversal of the spell as they return to their original forms. Even better than the love-at-first-sight shared by (Cinder-)Ella and (Prince) Kit. The scenes leading up to the fairy god mother’s appearance were a bit tedious with a lot of talking and little action. My daughter Brennyn reported that Cady lost interest before the plot of the story really got underway. I did, too.
I was interested to see how this movie would end. Ha! Guess that isn’t worded well…I KNEW how it would end, but I was anxious to see what would happen to the step-mother and step-sisters…would they be banished from the kingdom, would Cinderella forgive and forget, allowing them to move into the palace with her?
I won’t give away that part of the ending.
But rest easy, true to all good fairy tale versions, this one too, ends on a happy note.
Wow, I got this written with five minutes to spare! Time for a potty break before the Game of Thrones.
Hugs and kisses,
Mary
Leslie-thanks for the review of Cinderella. My very favorite movie version is the Lesley Ann Warren one too! I have many fond memories of watching it with my sisters as a little girl, and, like you, don’t recall seeing the Cartoon Disney version until my own daughter got the movie(on VHS
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Mary, wonder why we don’t remember seeing the Disney version as children? I guess we rarely went to the movies so maybe that is why I didn’t see it at the theater. Did you go to see this new Cinderella? If you did or do, let me know what you think. Thank you for stopping by and taking time to comment. XO
Brennyn
Awwww! I love it mom! You both are looking pretty stylish if I do say so myself. I think I liked the movie better than Cady!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Bren, for coming by and commenting, too. I love you and will see you in two days!!!
Lauren Buendia
I felt the same way, mom! Boo and I both think that Ever After is much better than this movie. I was really excited to see it, but it just seemed a bit flat, you know what I mean? I did like her blue dress and I’m so glad Robb Stark is doing well after being killed off on GoT. Love you!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Lauren, I like Ever After and of course, Enchanted. I am about due for a movie marathon of some of my favorite fairy tales. I was pleased that Robb Stark has more than one life, too. Hope John Snow can hang in there. Love you! See you soon!!!