CINDERELLA

1950, Disney

Animation

Rating: G

Approx. 74 mins.

THE STORY:

After the death of her father, a beautiful young woman becomes the veritable servant of her evil stepmother and jealous stepsisters. Although her situation is miserable and seemingly hopeless, she remains positive and kind to the mice and birds who are her only friends.
One day an invitation comes to a ball at the palace, where the king hopes to find a suitable mate for his single and childless son. Although her step-mother assures her she can go, Cinderella is consistently thwarted. In the end, a fairy godmother appears to rescue her with the temporary trappings of a princess. 
These allow her to attend the ball, where she captures the eye and heart of the prince. The 2 dance all night until she has to flee before the last strike of 12 when her glamourous clothes and carriage all disappear. In her haste, she leaves behind a glass slipper, which is then used to try to find the mysterious beauty the prince wants as his bride.
Again, her step family tries to prevent Cinderella from being united with the prince, but justice prevails and the 2 live happily ever after.

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

•  none

VIOLENCE:

• a cat appears to fall to its death

TEACHING POINTS:

• Karma's going to get you
• What happens is not up to you; how you approach it is

THE UPSHOT:

As is obvious from previous posts, I am not a huge fan of Disney princess films nor do I appreciate the insidious marketing/ brainwashing that forces me to supply related crap to my 5 year-old at the risk of being a meanie. I have the usual issues with Cinderella: the completely unrealistic and idealized representation of the female form, the fact that her worth lies entirely in her physical appearance, the utterly misguided depiction of relationships and love, the concept that people are absolutely good or absolutely bad, etc. It is therefore hard for me to watch without ire-coloured glasses filtering my perspective. 
I liked the music and the nostalgia aspect-- I still have the LP I got for my 5th birthday. Also, I prefer these straight-up, no holds barred princess flicks to the fake independent-minded female protagonists of later movies (Jasmine et al). And, ultimately, the 5 year-old in the room loved every moment of it. 

4/5