It’s been a rough ride for a while, but I made it. Out with the Wartime Era package films and in with the Silver Age of Disney Animated Classics! What makes a Silver Age film you may ask? Well, these films return to the style of fairy-tale storytelling showcased in the Golden Age of Disney films (Snow White through Bambi) but generally contain more fleshed out main characters and stories. Things aren’t always as black and white or straightforward this time round, though they’re still simple in scope and very much rooted in the good vs evil fairy-tale landscape that you would associate classic Disney films.
First up is Cinderella. Our titular princess (Ilene Woods) grows up with every luxury she could ever want until her father suffers an untimely death. Her stepmother (Eleanor Audley) takes over his estate and wealth and ensures that hers and her daughter’s needs are taken care of above Cinderella’s own, going so far as even turning her into a housemaid and locking her away during social functions.
That is until the day when the Royal Court announces that there will be a ball to find the prince an eligible maiden to become his wife. Determined to fulfil her dreams of attending a royal ball Cinderella does whatever she can to ensure she can attend, whilst her stepmother and stepsisters do everything in their power to stop her.
First up is Cinderella. Our titular princess (Ilene Woods) grows up with every luxury she could ever want until her father suffers an untimely death. Her stepmother (Eleanor Audley) takes over his estate and wealth and ensures that hers and her daughter’s needs are taken care of above Cinderella’s own, going so far as even turning her into a housemaid and locking her away during social functions.
That is until the day when the Royal Court announces that there will be a ball to find the prince an eligible maiden to become his wife. Determined to fulfil her dreams of attending a royal ball Cinderella does whatever she can to ensure she can attend, whilst her stepmother and stepsisters do everything in their power to stop her.
Cinderella is perhaps the most ‘Golden Age’ of the Silver Age films in that the plot is fairly straightforward and the characters are less three dimensional than other films of the era. This is most likely because it was Disney’s return to form. The war had taken a particularly heavy toll on the studio and Cinderella was the first full blown original feature film the studio produced since the war ended. It was a safe bet for the most part. However, that didn’t stop them from knocking it out of the park in areas that really mattered. The performances from the voice actresses behind Cinderella and the Stepmother are both fantastic, and the Stepmother easily goes down as one of Disney’s most fearsome villains of all time.
The biggest issue I have with Cinderella is that it spends an awful lot of its run time focusing on Lucifer, the Stepmother’s cat, and Gus (Jimmy Macdonald), a mouse that Cinderella helps rescue at the start of the film. There’s a whole lot of literal cat and mouse chasing in this film to the point where it borders on being a Tom & Jerry cartoon. I suppose this was put in to the keep the kids entertained, but the story of Cinderella is entertaining enough to children without needing so many sequences (that all end up feeling the same) of Lucifer chasing Gus, Gus getting worn out because he’s fat, Lucifer catching him, then Lucifer getting his comeuppance from Cinderella, one of the other mice that inhabit the house, or from his own short sightedness.
The biggest issue I have with Cinderella is that it spends an awful lot of its run time focusing on Lucifer, the Stepmother’s cat, and Gus (Jimmy Macdonald), a mouse that Cinderella helps rescue at the start of the film. There’s a whole lot of literal cat and mouse chasing in this film to the point where it borders on being a Tom & Jerry cartoon. I suppose this was put in to the keep the kids entertained, but the story of Cinderella is entertaining enough to children without needing so many sequences (that all end up feeling the same) of Lucifer chasing Gus, Gus getting worn out because he’s fat, Lucifer catching him, then Lucifer getting his comeuppance from Cinderella, one of the other mice that inhabit the house, or from his own short sightedness.
Also, something I’ve never noticed before. Cinderella isn’t blonde but is instead ginger, well sort of. Most of the film Cinderella has bright orange carrot coloured hair but is turned blonde during the ballroom scene. I just wanted to bring it up because ever since the film’s release Cinderella has been portrayed as this blonde woman when she’s actually ginger.
Cinderella is a true return to form from Disney. The war hit them hard and it took them a long time to recover from its effects, but those involved really pulled out the stops with Cinderella to ensure that it not only lived up to the legacy of the Golden Age films, but exceeded even those expectations with its better characters and gorgeous animation.
Cinderella is a true return to form from Disney. The war hit them hard and it took them a long time to recover from its effects, but those involved really pulled out the stops with Cinderella to ensure that it not only lived up to the legacy of the Golden Age films, but exceeded even those expectations with its better characters and gorgeous animation.