Four Cinderellas
A Delightful Time Warp
By Norman Hill
W
ho would’ve thought
that today I’d be close
to owning four versions
on DVDs of the same
classic fairy tale—three
down, one to go? From the early
1950s, the Disney animated version
was first. It was brilliantly drawn,
and contained several timeless
songs. Two comic tunes were
“Cinderella, Cinderella” and “Bippety
Boppety Boo.” In 1957 and 1964
there were two TV special versions.
Both featured musical scores by
Rogers and Hammerstein II, although
some of the songs differed. Fourth,
still being shown, the latest nonmusical version of Cinderella has
other aspects to recommend it.
The animated version did a great
job in communicating the evil of
the stepmother, Cinderella’s de
facto slave-master. Her snarls and
evil eye, directed at various beings,
show vividly her vicious character.
Her cat, Lucifer, is an animal
kingdom version of the stepmother
and does get its just desserts
near the end.
Each of the four versions treats
resolution and fitting of the glass
slipper on the heroine’s foot a
little differently. In the first, the
step mother has locked Cinderella
in the attic, while her daughters
attempt the unsuccessful fit. When
Cinderella’s friends get her the key
to release her, she runs downstairs.
The observant stepmother trips the
court attendant with the glass
slipper. When he falls, the glass
slipper hits the floor and is
demolished. But to this vicious
woman’s dismay, Cinderella
produces the matching slipper
in her possession.
There is general agreement that the
two stepsisters are ugly and stupid.
When their bare feet are shown in
one sequence, animated drawing
shows that even their bare feet
are homely (and stupid).
A hit song for the Fairy Godmother
is “Bippety Boppety Boo.” To me, this
makes her more lovable than the
godmothers of later versions.
In 1957, for the live TV special,
Julie Andrews played the feature
role. She was then the toast of
Broadway, starring in My Fair Lady.
One song written for her is “In My
Own Little Corner of the Room.”
Together with the prince at the ball,
they sing, “Ten Minutes Ago.” Since
Andrews was, after all, the main
star of the show, in duets with
the Prince, she seems to take
a subtle lead.
For me, one minor drawback of this
version is that after the Prince finds
Cinderella and fits her with his glass
slipper, the stepmother and her two
daughters seem to get off quite
easily—no condemnation, no
putdown, much less banishment.
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