Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Cinderella

When you think classic Disney, chances are you think of Cinderella.  She is the ultimate Princess, and overall it's a great film.  This is probably where Jason and I have the biggest disagreement.  For the most part we've agreed on the Disney movies that we've watched - but this is one that I rated substantially higher than he did.

We'll start with Jason's issues with the film, which is mainly that "nothing happens."  As he says, it's just a bunch of mice running around for the majority of the movie... which is somewhat true.  The actual events really concerning Cinderella and the ball and all of that take place relatively quickly, and if you cut out all of the fuss with the mice and the cat and the dog and whatnot, the movie would probably only be about half an hour.  But they're cute little mice!  And they wear clothes!

I just like it because it makes me happy.  There is some action and some suspense (will she get locked up in her room after the ball or will the mice be able to free her?).  But ultimately it's all about the cheesy romance, and good overcoming evil.  People now may complain that Cinderella is a softie, and a bad role model for females because she always does what she is told.  But I'm not sure I completely agree.  I like the fact that kindness and good heartedness is rewarded, rather than rebelliousness (though that has its own place too).  Plus, you do have to remember that the film is a product of the times, and however advanced we might be now, that was over 60 years ago.

The Music
There are some great songs in this one.  You have the extremely beautiful "So This is Love" (which, by the way, Jason and I are probably doing to use during our wedding ceremony as our unity candle song).  Then there's the fun and memorable "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo".  "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" is also a great one.  The others are a bit less memorable, but they are cutesy and fit in well with the movie.

The Villain
Cinderella's step mother is detestable because she treats her like a servant and locks her up in her room when she might actually have some good fortune come her way.  But as bad as she is, you can't help but compare her to poor Snow White's step mother, who was quite a bit more evil and nasty.  I mean, she tried to kill Snow White, so that's a bit more villainous.  An interesting thing is that we don't really get a very clear view of why Cinderella's step mother is so mean to her, other than jealousy that she's pretty and nice.

The WDW Connection
Of course Cinderella is all over Walt Disney World.  The most well known icon of the Magic Kingdom is Cinderella's Castle, which also houses a restaurant called Cinderella's Royal Table.  Prince Charming also has his own carousel in the Magic Kingdom.  Both of them are all over the parks, especially Cinderella, to meet and get autographs.  If you eat at the restaurant in Magic Kingdom you will get to meet Cinderella.  If you want to meet the whole gang, including Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters, go to dinner at 1900 Park Fare, at the Grand Floridian resort.

Becky's rating:  8.5 out of 10
Jason's rating:  6 out of 10

2 comments:

  1. You can meet Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremain (sp?), and both stepsisters at the Grand Floridian's 1900 Park Fair during dinner. We're going in a few weeks - supposed to be very funny.

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  2. Sounds like a lot of fun! I will add that. I went to that restaurant as a kid but we did breakfast, so instead we had Alice, Mary Poppins, and a few others.

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