“No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing… the dream that you wish will come true.”

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl who lost both of her parents. Left in the care of her wicked stepmother, Cinderella is treated like a maid and is forced to do everything for her stepmother and step sisters.

Despite her circumstances, Cinderella keeps a positive attitude and continues to dream of the day where she can escape her current life. Soon, Cinderella gets the opportunity of a lifetime as all eligible ladies throughout the kingdom have been invited to the royal ball in the hopes of finding the prince a wife.

Cinderella is excited by the thought of attending the ball… not for love, but to escape her life for just one night. She makes an adorable dress, but her step sisters tear it apart in an unsettling sequence…

Left in tears, Fairy Godmother appears and helps Cinderella go to the royal ball! The only catch is, she must be home by midnight because that’s when the magic wears off. Thanks to Fairy Godmother, Cinderella has the night of her life! She even shares a dance with a dreamy stranger (the prince!), but of course… midnight comes and Cinderella must run back home… leaving only a glass slipper behind. (Why didn’t her shoe vanish??)

With the prince being left with a single piece of his mysterious lover, a kingdom-wide search is enacted! Every woman in the kingdom MUST try on the glass slipper… (A bit absurd considering that multiple people can have the same shoe size, but the prince has almost nothing to work with… I’ll let this point slide…)

Anyway, not wanting Cinderella to have a chance, her stepmother locks her in her room. Luckily, Cinderella’s animal friends help her escape and she presents the other slipper, proving that she is indeed Prince Charming’s true love.

Cinderella is finally able to escape her abusive home and live a life full of love and luxury. <3

Cinderella is sometimes regarded as a bad role model and I’d have to disagree. I think a lot of people forget that Cinderella was never solely looking for love. Her initial goal was to escape her awful home for just one night. It isn’t until she does so that the prince finds her. She doesn’t even know he’s the prince until AFTER she’s danced with him.

I would say, especially for 1950, Cinderella is a feminist character. She has ambitions and strengths that do not come from a man. Yes, she’s traditionally feminine, but Cinderella has a lot of emotional strength and intelligence that is overlooked because “she fell in love with a man.” That’s stupid. You can be a strong woman with independent goals AND you can fall in love. There’s nothing wrong with having both.

Although, I can definitely understand the argument that they fell in love too quickly… and that the king is INSANE for trying to force his son to get married for the sole purpose of having grandchildren… Love is a delicate thing that takes time, patience, dedication, and grace. Cinderella’s love realistically happens too quickly, but this is a 74 minute film sooooo I understand why things move so quickly.

I would urge you to watch this version of Cinderella again. I think you’ll be pleasantly be surprised by the artistry. The animation is well done, the music is wonderful, and Cinderella is a better role model than you’ve been lead to believe.