With last week's review of a complete messy disaster of a Cinderella movie, I thought I would take a look at a proper telling of the French fairy tale. This was the movie that saved Disney as a company after their package film era, became an iconic image for the Disney brand, and was even Walt Disney's favourite of the Disney princesses. It has a reputation as one of Disney's best and most beloved classics, and I can see why.
I don't think I have to re-tell the story again. The story has become such a classic, and this is the movie that made it so. This is the movie that made the fairy tale a household staple. The story of a young woman whose father remarries after the passing of her mother. After his passing, her stepmother begins to treat Cinderella like a servant while spoiling her daughters. One night, the king throws a royal ball in hope that his son, the Prince, will find a bride to engage. You know the tale from then, Cinderella's wants to go to the ball, her stepmother sabotages her efforts, her fairy godmother appears and tells her to return by the stroke of midnight, or all her magic will be undone. She loses her slipper trying to race home, a royal proclamation is sent out, "If the shoe fits", Cinderella fits the slipper, happily ever after.
Plot wise, this movie gets all the beats done well, though it does pad out a bit of it's content. A couple scenes are stretched a bit longer and become a bit tiring to watch. One such scene is when the mice are trying to avoid Lucifer the cat while getting some breakfast. Another scene is the musical number the mice sing while sewing Cinderella's dress together. The musical number, in my opinion, should have been reworked. The song itself sucks due to the voices that sing it and it does drag a little. Padding does become less of a problem the further the movie gets, but I do have to wonder why they weren't just trimmed down.
I think when it comes to characters, Cinderella is one of Disney's best lead characters. While she is generally kind and caring, she also does show annoyance at certain things, like her step sisters constantly screaming for her. Side characters are abundant through-out this film, and while the mice are cute enough and the king and grand duke are an amusing duo, the one character that really steals the show is Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's cruel and abusive step-mother. Not only is she animated well, but the cruel lengths she'll go to put her own daughters above Cinderella makes for one of Disney's greatest villains . The way she stares as Cinderella enters her room tells you everything, and when she stares at Cinderella, figuring out it was her that was at the ball with the Prince, it's just creepy.
This would be a perfect time to talk about the animation. I think that this is one of Disney's best looking animated films of the era. Characters are designed really well, Cinderella, Lady Tremaine, the King and Grand Duke and others are well designed and get the characteristics across quite well. Lady Tremaine's stern face and red outfit clash beautifully with Cinderella's softer appearance and mixed colour scheme. The movie's colour palette is wonderful, with soft blues during the royal ball, and heavy shadows when they are needed. The moment where Cinderella opens the door to retrieve the cat Lucifer, and we see the light slowly creepy through the total darkness, it did amaze me. As for the animation itself, it is smooth and fluid, and there were not very many animation errors that I could find easily. While I don't think it is on par with Disney's later films, especially those released during Disney's renaissance, I think it is a visually fine movie.
While I can not deny that this movie has some faults, I think this is still a fine telling of the Cinderella story. As a movie on it's own, it has some fine characters, fine visuals, fine music and fine storytelling. I think this movie has become a classic for a good reason, and especially when compared to the other Cinderella movie I reviewed, this is leagues above that one. On it's own however, it's a fine movie and I think it will remain a classic for years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment