Most Underrated Animated Disney Film?

The Black Cauldron

Director: Ted Berman and Richard Rich

Voice Talent: John Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Grant Bardlsey, Susan Sheridan, Freddie Jones

Released: July 24, 1985

I have a bit of an interesting history with this movie, but before I get into that, a little background on it: it is one of the most underrated, if not THE most underrated animated Disney film ever. If you have never heard of this film (which honestly wouldn't surprise me) you are either too young...or you just have never heard of it due to its lack of exposure and success. It came out four years before The Little Mermaid when the animated movies at Disney started to find their groove after a long lackluster period of time. The Black Cauldron is NOT a musical, something that is common with Disney's animated films and it was the first animated Disney movie to receive a PG rating (not sure if any has received a PG rating since...) You're probably thinking, 'Big deal, PG is nothing. Tons of kids' movies are rated PG.' But it was kind of a big deal because Disney is known for its cutesy and innocent storylines. This movie is really dark, especially for a childrens' film and maybe that's one of the reasons it only made $21 million at the box office when it cost more to make. It is considered one of Disney's worst box-office failures. It wasn't even released on home video until 13 years after its theatrical release. Thirteen years! While it didn't do well with the movie-going public, it did get mixed reviews from the critics, so while it wasn't praised like a Pixar movie (but really, which movie is?), it wasn't completely panned either.

The Black Cauldron is based on the first two books from a series called "The Chronicles of Prydain" written in 1965 by a Mr. Lloyd Alexander. I know, what? Who? Maybe that's another reason the movie wasn't a success. I suppose if it had been a success, they would have made the other three books into movies, but don't worry about not getting a satisfying conclusion as the movie does have an ending.

Run, Hen Wen, run! 

Taran is our main character. He is a nice fellow and wants nothing more than to be brave and a great swordsman, but Taran is a little on the bland side and has no charisma and is not even remotely interesting. I'm really not sure how old he is suppose to be, but I'm guessing anywhere between twelve and sixteen. He lives with an older gentleman named Dallben who is some sort of sorcerer. Dallben owns a psychic pig named Hen Wen and Taran's job is to take care of Hen Wen, even though Dallben prepares her food. Why this old man can't take care of a pig, don't ask me. Though he does have a cat, too. Hen Wen has the ability to locate the whereabouts of the Black Cauldron which has the power to unleash a great deal of evil upon everyone as it can bring life back to dead slaves and warriors who will then become part of the Horned King's army. He is the Big Bad of this movie and he is one scary dude. He will stop at nothing to obtain the Black Cauldron.

This would scary anyone, any age!

So here is my history with this movie: I don't remember seeing this movie when I was younger, but I must have because I remember being absolutely terrified by it. And I must have seen it in the theaters (I would have been four) because it wasn't released on home video until 1998! Although it's possible it was on video to rent so maybe that's how I saw it. Something I do remember growing up is that I had the storybook with the audio cassette where you would put the tape in your cassette player (God, I feel old!) and you read/listened along to the the voice reading the story to you. There was one page that totally freaked me out because it was a full page of the Horned King's Undead Army....just picture a bunch of skeletons in tattered robes and if you were five/six years old, that would scare you too! This movie really did a number on me and has traumatized me for life! Forget the movie, the freaking storybook and cassette scarred me! It wasn't until the year 2000 when I discovered E-bay and how easy it was to use and how much fun it was to find and buy stuff, which for me, was mostly CDs and DVDs. It wasn't as though I just remembered The Black Cauldron existed and wanted to see it again. No, this underrated, under appreciated Disney movie had always been in the back of my mind after all those years (cuz you never forget something that fills your with fear!) and E-bay was the first place where I could find myself a copy of the DVD and that is how I obtained mine.

Gollum redux?

It had been well over a decade since I had last seen it as a child and this time I was watching it as a college student. Even watching it at that age, the movie still had this really creepy element to it that was quite disturbing that it could still have that effect on me. There's even something unsettling about the style of the animation. Being that it was made in the early '80s, it has this archaic feel to it that I'm not sure may or may not have been intentional. There's a furry little creature named Gurgi who Taran befriends after Hen Wen is captured and brought to the Horned King's castle and Taran must rescue her. There's a lot of elements of this movie that is very reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings. Taran = Frodo. The Horned King = What'shisface. The black cauldron = the ring (powerful object that can destroy the world). And Gurgi = Gollum. You can tell that The Lord of the Rings was a big influence for this story. Gurgi even sounds like a mix between Gollum and Donald Duck even though Gollum from the movies didn't even exist back then. Like Gollum, Gurgi also loves to eat and is always searching for "munchies and crunchies." The only difference between Gurgi and Gollum (their names even start with the same letter!) - and it's a big one - is that while Gollum was completely selfish and could never be redeemed (I always started out feeling sorry for him, then hated him by the end of the trilogy and thought he got what he deserved), Gurgi starts off very selfish, but ends the movie by sacrificing himself to save his friends. First let me back off and explain how we get there...

Taran manages to make it to the Horned King's castle even though it's a long distance between the castle and where he lives with cragged rocks and cliffs and a moat between the two places. They never really show how he got there. One second he's looking at the far away castle, the next he's just snuck into it! Poor Hen Wen. That pig goes through so much emotional drama in this movie. First she is chased like prey and captured by dragons who bring her to the Horned King. Then when she refuses to use her powers to show him where the cauldron is (which is looking into a vat filled with some kind of potion), he threatens to chop her head off with an axe and comes within seconds of doing so until Taran screams for him to stop and makes Hen Wen use her psychic ability. She manages to escape, but Taran is captured and put into a cell where he meets Princess Eilonwy (pronounced I-lon-wee) who is quite chipper and well-groomed for someone who has been a prisoner for who knows how long. While attempting (and managing) to escape they come across another prisoner, an older gentleman named Fflewddur Fflam who provides the comic relief when Gurgi is not around.

Warning: This segment contains a major spoiler!
After visiting some annoying underground pixies and three witches (one of which is quite smitten with Fflewddur), Taran trades the magical sword he found at the castle for the Black Cauldron with the head witch who knows where it is (it is in her collection of other black cauldrons). It is only AFTER Taran trades the sword that he is told the cauldron is indestructible and the only way you can stop its demonic powers is for someone to step inside it and sacrifice their life. Gee, thanks, you bitches, I mean, witches! The Horned King finds out they have the cauldron and captures the three humans while Gurgi escapes and hides. Using the cauldron's powers, the Horned King creates his undead army and thousands upon thousands of skeleton warriors rise from the cauldron. Gurgi realizes what a horrible....creature he is for shunning his back on his friends, so he goes back to the castle and frees them. He then sacrifices himself by jumping into the cauldron. That causes the undead army to shatter and for the Horned King to be killed. Back when I saw this for the first time after a long hiatus, I was bawling when Taran holds Gurgi's lifeless body. I had totally forgotten that after a few minutes of appearing to be "dead", Gurgi opens his eyes and is acting like his old self again. Guess what? He's alive! Now that I know that, this scene does nothing to affect me since I know he ends up alive and well. I wonder if they had intended to kill him off all along, but because this was a Disney film, they wanted to go the happy ending route where everyone lives happily ever after and all the evil from the world is gone for good. Since I've never read the books this movie is based on (much less never heard of until recently!) I have no idea what happens to his character in those. The ending would have had a lot more impact if Gurgi had died...and stayed dead.

The Black Cauldron is far from being a perfect movie and has many flaws and despite being a fairly short movie, there are scenes that feel too dragged out (annoying underwater fairy children, anyone?), but it is quite different from any Disney movie you've ever seen (the absence of songs for one) and should be considered for giving a watch. I wouldn't recommend it for young children, though!

Witchy Women

Hocus Pocus

Director: Kenny Ortega

Cast: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Thora Birch, Omri Katz, Vinessa Shaw

Released: July 16, 1993 

Can you believe this is the first time I've ever seen this movie? Yes, I'm shocked too, especially since I would have been in the right age demographic when this came out - I was right between the ages of the brother and sister characters. I never knew what this movie was about, really. Obviously, I knew Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy play witches. I didn't know Thora Birch and Vinessa Shaw were in this until the last year, probably! I didn't even know who Vinessa Shaw was until I reviewed the terrible movie Ladybugs earlier this year (and yes, the spelling of her name still bugs me!) 

I made a prediction that this movie would either be about three bad witches who learn a lesson and end up turning into good witches or that they would start off as good, but were misunderstood by the townspeople, and the townspeople would learn a lesson about treating people poorly who are different than them. Yeah, nope, neither of those predictions were correct. They are straight up bad witches...who stay bad during the course of the film! 

The movie begins in 1693 Salem (but of course; where else would a trio of witch sisters live?) where we are introduced to the Sanderson sisters: there's the eldest sister, the buck-toothed Winifred aka Winnie (Midler) who is the clear ringleader of the group and wears green; Mary (Najimy), who talks out of the side of her mouth (now that's a talent!), and has a knack for smelling children and wears red; and Sarah (Parker), who is the ditzy blonde who likes the male attention and wears purple. Everyone is great in their role and Najimy and Parker give great comedic physical performances. Midler shows us she's a true National Treasure by really sinking her teeth into this meaty role (and wearing those prosthetic front teeth could not have been pleasant or easy to talk with!) and she recites her lines in the most over the top way with lots of trills and an exaggerated cadence. 

A boy named Thackery Binx, no older than fifteen, finds his younger sister, Emily, missing. He realizes the Sanderson sisters have taken her and spies her sitting inside their home. This girl does not seem to be very scared or even concerned that three witches have captured her and are about to kill her, but maybe they put a trance on her so that's why she looks so blasé about the whole thing. Yeah, that's what I'm going with. 

Thackery is watching the witches brew a potion in their cauldron from upstairs. He has snuck in by climbing a water wheel from outside. I laughed when Winnie says they need a dead man's toe and tells Sarah to get one "and make it a fresh one." They have a bowl full of toes (ewww), but I don't exactly know how "fresh" they all are! They are brewing a potion they will feed to Emily who will then emit a life force they will be able to suck from her, which will make them all young. Winnie says "One drop of this and her life will be mine - I mean, ours." Clearly she is only looking out for numero uno.

Right when the witches give Emily the potion Thackery tries to thwart them and tips over the cauldron. He's about to save Emily (who still doesn't seem to be in any hurry to escape; so she MUST have been bewitched), but Winnie knocks him out with her magic. The witches notice the spell has worked and Winnie must have been feeling generous because she joins hands with her sisters so they can all suck the life out of Emily. 

The sisters suddenly become youthful looking (in other words, the old age make up that was on the three actresses is no longer applied on them) and Sarah exclaims, "We're young!" I laughed when Winnie looks at herself in a mirror and replies, "Well...younger. But it's a start!" I wouldn't be surprised if Bette Midler ad-libbed that line since she's twelve years older than Kathy Najimy and twenty years older than SJP. 

Elatedly, Winnie tells them they will be young and beautiful forever and has plans to brew more of the potion and pretty much suck the life out of every child in Salem. By this time, Thackery has woken up to see what they have done to his sister and when the witches want to brew another batch with him in mind, he tells them there's not enough children in Salem to make them young and beautiful and calls them all hags. Winnie says, "Sisters! Did you hear what he called you?" I just love how she's like, I certainly wasn't who he was talking about! 

For that remark, they decide they need to find the worst punishment for him and Winnie opens her spell book (a gift from Satan, which has an eye that opens and closes on the cover, but that's not even the creepiest thing about the book; no the creepiest thing is that the book is made of human skin!) Winnie declares, "His punishment shall not be to die...but to live forever with his guilt!" The witches recite a spell that turns him into a black cat.

The townspeople come banging at the door and the next scene is the three sisters about to be hanged. (I guess they found Emily's lifeless body in their cottage). Thackery's father asks Winnie what she has done with his son.  She tells him, "I don't know...cat's got my tongue!" All the sisters start laughing and I start laughing too. 

We get a bit of foreshadowing when the spell book drops to the ground and opens up to a page entitled "Spells to Resurrect the Dead" and there's one called "Black Flame Candle Spell." This will come back later. The witches will be able to come back from the dead if the black flame candle is lit by a virgin on Halloween. The witches are hanged (we see a nice shot of Winnie's green and black striped stockings...very Wicked Witch of the West) and the townspeople head home. It's very sad because Thackery, as a cat, tries to get his father's attention by meowing and rubbing against his leg but his father just kicks the poor cat away and tells him, "Away, beast!" DUDE. You just hanged three witches, your son is missing, and this black cat (totally synonymous with witches) is trying to get your attention. Put the pieces together, dude!

The movie transfers to "present day" 1993 (that's 300 years later if you're keeping count) to a high school class in Salem (still Massachusetts; not the capital of Oregon!) where a teacher has been telling the story of the Sanderson sisters to her class. She adds that some people believe on Halloween, a black cat stands guard at the Sanderson house, "warning off any who might make the witches come back to life." Everyone in this class is totally into this story and believes the legend of the Sanderson sisters. Everyone that is, except a kid named Max Dennison (Omri Katz), about fourteen or fifteen and who has recently moved to Salem from L.A. and he hates his new home. Everyone boos him when he tells them he doesn't believe in this malarky (excuse me, hocus pocus!) and tells them Halloween was invented by the candy corporations. The girl he has a crush on, Allison (Shaw), informs him that "Halloween is based on the ancient feast called All Hollow' Eve - the one night of the year where the spirits of the dead can return to Earth." All the students and teacher are clapping and cheering her and giving her high fives because she just schooled him and it's so ridiculous. Look, I've never been to Salem and I don't know anybody from Salem, but I doubt the residents are like, "Whoo! We persecuted and killed people because we thought they were witches! Go us!" Though, I guess in their defense, there were really witches who lived back then. 

 Max comes home in a bad mood because he gave Allison his number, but she gave it right back to him, then later he runs into these two bullies (one of them is wearing a leather jacket and has a flannel shirt tied around his waist and the other has the word "ICE" (his nickname) shaved in the back of his head. They are the most '90s Disney bullies ever) and they steal his cool new kicks.

We meet Max's younger sister, Dani (Birch), about eight years old, who is hiding in Max's closet andwatches as he lays on his bed, hugging his pillow and pretending it's Allison. (I guess he doesn't hate everything about his new town!) Dani jumps out of the closet, scaring him (though he's probably more embarrassed than scared). Their parents are going to a Halloween party and Dani tells Max he has to take her trick-or-treating. Even though it's still daylight, she's all ready to go in her witch's costume. Max isn't into this at all because he just wants to stay home and mope, but he has no other choice. He's wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and jacket, sunglasses (don't ask me why when it's dark outside), and a baseball cap. His dad asks him what he's supposed to be and he replies, "A rap singer." So either the word "rapper" was not yet a thing in 1993 or the script was written by an 80-year-old. I'm going with the latter. I think it would have made more sense if his dad had said to him, "What are you supposed to be? A rap singer?" His dad moves his hat so the brim is on the side. 

While trick-or-treating, Max sees the two bullies and a few of their friends, smashing pumpkins and stealing candy from kids. He tries to get Dani to go another way, but Dani isn't scared of the older boys because she's got her big brother with her. One of the bullies asks Max if he's supposed to be a New Kid on the Block and laughs hysterically, and okay, I'll give them that; that was kind of funny. But then, when Dani informs them he's a Little Leaguer (where did she get that from? He's not even wearing a baseball uniform), Ice pretends to hit a fly ball while Leather Jacket (don't remember his name) shades his eyes as though he's watching it. They both laugh HYSTERICALLY over this and give each other a double high five, up top. I'm laughing too because it's absolutely ridiculous that they think this is so funny. Max and Dani are able to get away by Max giving them their candy. He's not very happy with Dani for getting them in this situation and they bicker and Dani cries, then they apologize and everything is good for the moment.

They come across a house that is just a perfectly normal-sized two-story house. It is a nice house for a middle class family, but it's not the mansion they're acting like it is. Turns out it's the home of Allison whose parents are throwing an elaborate 18th century party. Allison is wearing one of those 18th century gowns with the bodice, but she's not wearing the proper undergarments underneath it, so her dress doesn't poof out in an authentic way; instead it just lays flat on her body. I guess they were like, eff it, this girl will only be in this costume for less than five minutes, it doesn't really matter how authentic it looks. 

Allison tells them she's on candy duty and asks them if they want some apple cider. We get a really inappropriate exchange when Allison tells Dani she likes her costume and Dani tells her the same. She says she wouldn't be able to wear it beccause she doesn't have any "yabos" and tells Allison that Max likes her "yabos"; "in fact, he loves them." The f***? I get that Dani is trying to embarrass her brother, but why is she embarrassing poor Allison, too? (She just sort of laughs it away.) Also, how does Dani know this? Did she hear her brother tell his pillow he was pretending was Allison that he loves her yabos while Dani was hiding in his closet? 

The conversation turns to the Sanderson sisters and we learn that Allison's mother used to run the museum (their old home which is still standing all these 300 years later!) dedicated to them, but it was shut down because "a lot of spooky things happened there." We never learn exactly what these spooky things were. Max suggests they all go check it out and Allison agrees and goes upstairs to change. Dani doesn't want to go because she's heard about the spooky things from her classmates. Max tells her if she does this for him, he'll do anything she wants. He is treading in murky water because she gets an evil grin on her face and tells him next Halloween she wants them to go together as Peter Pan and Wendy. "With tights or it's no deal." Max quickly agrees to this. How much do you want to bet that Max didn't follow up with this deal? He already got what he wanted by spending the evening with his crush, excuse me "the girl of [his] dreams"; it's no skin off his back if he conveniently "forgets" about this deal. 

They reach the museum which is covered in cobwebs and dust. It literally looks like it hasn't been touched inthe 300 years since the sisters have been gone even though it now has modern amenities like a light switch and a postcard swivel stand. There are also plaque cards by certain objects. Max reads one about the Black Flame Candle: "Legend says that, on a full moon, it will raise the spirits of the dead when lit by a virgin on Halloween night." He wants to light the candle with a lighter he found and bring the "old broads" back, but clearly doesn't believe it will happens and calls it "just a bunch of hocus pocus." A black cat jumps on him from out of nowhere, knocking him out of the way of the candle. This does not deter Max and he nonchalantly lights the candle anyway and the house begins to shake as thought there's an earthquake and all the lights go out before the door opens revealing the three witches. The three kids hide, but Dani is quickly detected by Mary who sniffs her out. They're about to push her into the cauldron, but Max tries to stop them. While Winnie uses her magic to restrain him, Allison grabs a broom and whacks her. The cat jumps on her and a bunch of commotion is going on. Max gets them to back off by telling them he's conjuring "The Burning Rain of Death" where he sets the sprinklers off by lighting the lighter. 

The cat tells Max to grab the spell book and this is the first time we see the cat can talk. Of course, this is Thackery Binx, living out his eternal life as a cat. He goes by Binx now (because Thackery is a stupid name for a cat, probably). Now you may be wondering why he just didn't tell his dad he was a cat when he was trying to get his attention all those years before, but my theory is he hadn't learned to speak as a cat yet and now he's had all this time to evolve. Although, I'm pretty sure it's physically impossible for a cat to speak human words (even one who used to be human), but let's not get into semantics. For some reason, the three kids (with the spell book) and Binx run to the graveyard. Great place to be on Halloween night with three witches after you. Max tries to burn the book, but of course it's protected by magic. 

Winnie realizes it's just regular water falling from the ceiling (and ditzy Sarah opens her mouth to drink it) and tells them to follow her. They run outside, but halt quickly when they see a black asphalt road thinking it's a black river. Winnie and Mary push Sarah into to see how deep it is, but Sarah is able to stand on the "river" and announces, "'Tis firm!" and they are able to continue on their way. Winnie tells her sisters (but mainly the viewing audience so we can have some exposition), "The magic that brought us back only works tonight, on All Hallows' Eve. When the sun comes up, we're dust. Fortunately, the potion I brewed the night we were hanged would keep us alive and young forever. Unfortunately, the recipe for that potion is in my spell book, and the little wretches have stolen it." As long as they find the book, brew the potion, and suck the lives out of the children of Salem before sunrise, then they'll be fine. "Otherwise, it's curtains! We evaporate!" Not to get into semantics again, but doesn't Halloween end at midnight? When the sun rises the next day, it will be November 1st! Oh, well. 

The go to the graveyard where Winnie resurrects her old lover, Billy Butcherson, who she killed herself by poisoning him and sewing his mouth shut with a needle so he "couldn't tell her secrets even in death" She killed him because she found him "sporting" with Sarah. She wants him to go after the kids, but they are quick to get away from him when Max snaps a branch in front of his face and his head falls off his body and while he's wasting time finding it, the kids escape in a tunnel that leads to the sewer. 

The witches get on a bus with a bus driver who should be fired because he's acting like a creep to them and coming on to them pretty strongly. Mary smells children so they get off at the next stop where many kids are trick-or-treating, but the witches are confused because they don't realize those are children in costumes. They see a guy dressed as the devil come out of his house and they exclaim, "Master! He loves that these three women are dressed as the Sanderson sisters and invites them inside. This is a little weird that this guy is inviting three women inside his house when his wife is inside. It's also a little weird that this husband and wife are played by real life siblings Garry and Penny Marshall. While the sisters are inside the house, three young girls dressed as the Sanderson sisters see the brooms the real Sanderson sisters left outside and take them. 

There's really no reason for this scene with the Garry and Penny Marshall cameo, (Bette Midler must have called in a favor since Garry directed her in Beaches), but I did laugh when Winnie goes into the kitchen, picks up a mallet, and exclaims, "Behold! A torture chamber!" I can see someone from the 17th century thinking that about a kitchen: there are sharp objects, hot objects, weird electronic devices. When the wife sees Sarah dancing with her husband, she chases the women out (well, really her little terrier chases them out) and Winnie figures out that really wasn't their master and declares the costumed figures are actually children.  

The kids decide to go to the party their parents are at to find them and tell them what's going on. It was a bit odd that they had no idea what their parents' costumes were. Their dad is Dracula, or "Dadcula" as he tells Max to call him. Dani finds their mom who is dressed as Madonna with a blonde wig and a cone bra. Maybe it's a good thing their parents (especially the mom) didn't tell their kids about their costumes so they wouldn't embarrass them! Dani tells her mom (with a very straight face, I might add), "[Max] lit the Black Flame. The withes are back from the dead, and they're after us. We need help." She also adds that the cat she's holding can talk. Her mom asks her how much candy she's had. I don't think that a lot of candy is really going to affect a person that much except give them a major stomachache. 

The witches find their way to the party and Max sees them and makes an announcement about them and how dangerous they are and they're after everyone's children. The crowd laughs, thinking it's a big funny joke. They also love it when the sisters sing "I Put a Spell On You". 

Allison gets an idea and the kids lure the witches to the high school into a kiln. I'm not really sure how they lured them there...we hear a tape playing of a French lesson and for some reason this entices the witches to find out where it's coming from. I don't really know much about kilns. I'm not sure how big they typically are, but this one is big enough for all of them to walk into. The kids lock the door and proceed to burn them alive and we see green smoke escaping from the chimney. I'm looking at the time stamp and there is still half an hour left of the movie, so I know more shenanigans are to be had! After burning the witches, the kids are outside the school, cheering and doing cartwheels. This reaction is a bit extreme considering they just burned three people alive. I realize they were trying to kill Dani (and other children) and killed little Emily 300 years ago so I'm sure they felt they got justice for Binx, but look, we we just shot Bin Laden; it's not like we burned him alive. Their reaction of jubilance is a bit much.

Binx tells Max he's wanted to do that for 300 years, since they took Emily away from him. After telling Max to take good care of Dani, he starts to run in the opposite direction, but Max tells him he's a Dennison now and can live with them. They all go to the Dennison house where they hang out in Max's room; Dani and Binx on the bed and Max and Allison sitting on the steps. Oh, did I mention that Max has steps in his room? Yeah, they lead up to a widow's walk. Um, like how cool is that? Why is he complaining about his new town when he has a super cool room that leads to a widow's walk?? You know Dani is moving into that room after Max goes to college!

Dani tells her new pet, "You'll have milk and tuna fish every day. And you'll only hunt mice for fun." (Earlier, Binx had told them he hunted mice in the sewer). Milk and tuna fish sounds like a disgusting combination (though I think anything with milk (with the exception of chocolate) is disgusting). Sidenote: don't give your cat milk; give them water. There was also an earlier incident where poor Binx gets flattened by a bus when they come out of the sewer (the same bus the sisters were on) and yes, it was very traumatizing for both poor Dani and me! Binx is able to inflate himself back to life and he tells Dani and the others about his curse; that he can't die and will live forever. This is why when Binx cuddles with Dani she tells him, "I'll always take care of you. My children will always take care of you. And their children after that. And theirs after that." He starts purring and it's so sweet. There's nothing better than cuddling with a purring kitty! And it's also sad because poor Binx is going to have to watch all the people he loves and who takes care of him die one after the other while he lives on. Though, I won't lie, I was a little jealous that Dani's cat will never die. My cat is in his senior years and it makes me so sad that he only has a few years left of his life; the majority of his life has already passed and it's like, where did the time go? I still remember bringing him home in my car in his little cardboard box with the holes poked in it from the Humane Society! 

Allison ends up falling asleep at the Dennison house (both she and Max falls asleep on the stairs which can not be comfortable!) When she realizes it's five am, she tells Max she should go since her parents will kill her. They're probably worried sick about her! If it's five am, her parents' party probably ended hours ago and, yeah, they're probably wondering where their daughter is! But she quickly forgets about going home when she gets sidetracked when they see Binx snuggling up to Dani and Max tells her, "We owe him a lot." Allison gets the idea to look through the spell book (yep, still in in their possession) and see if they can find a spell that will reverse the curse. Max reminds her that Binx warned them not to open the book, but Allison just replies, "The witches are dead. What harm can it do?" 

Plenty, Allison, plenty. You see, ALLISON, the witches aren't actually dead. Somehow, being burned alive didn't kill them...or maybe those kids don't know how to work a kiln, who knows? We see the door open and the three sisters walk out of the kiln with disheveled hair. There isn't even a trace of ash or soot on them.

They return to their home and Winnie is trying to remember the potion from memory since they don't have the book. She says she remembers that Sarah was "dancing idiotically over there", which Sarah hilarious reenacts her for. When Winnie is trying to remember one of the key ingredients, she just can't quite get it. Is it dead man's nose?  Dead man's thumb? Dead man's gum? Sarah jumps in excitedly with, "Dead man's toes!", but Winnie just tells her to hush. 

It's no use, Winnie can't remember the recipe for the potion and she starts sobbing and tells Mary in the most dramatic way, "This is the end, I feel it. We are dooooooomed. I feel the icy breath of death upon my neck." She requests that Mary take her to the window because, "I wish to say goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye, cruel world. Goodbye to life. Goodbye to all that."

Well, it just so happens that when Allison and Max opened the spell book, it shot a stream of red light right out of the widow's walk, illuminating where the book is and Winnie's tune quickly changes from depressed to ecstatic. She tells Mary, "We fly!"  Mary isn't sure what they're going to fly on since all their brooms were stolen, but they open the supply closet and Winnie flies on a broom, Sarah flies on a mop, and Mary flies on a vacuum. I guess the criteria is that witches have to fly on something that cleans floors! Where is the Swiffer? That's what I would ride! 

I must say the practical effects they used for the flying scenes look pretty realistic. I'm not sure how they did it, but props to the special effects department for this movie. 

While Max and Allison are reading the book, they find out if they surround themselves with a circle of salt, they are protected from the witches' powers. Of course, this is going to come up later, but it's kind of weird they're even mentioning this because, as far as they know, the witches are dead and they don't need to protect themselves from them. 

Max checks his parents' room to see if they're home, but they're not. How is it five am and the parents still aren't home? Is it because Winnie cast a spell at the party telling everyone to, "Dance until they die?" (Which she did, but I didn't think anyone was going to take literally!) Why haven't they shown us shots of the parents at the party, still dancing to show us why they're still not home? 

While Max and Allison are in the kitchen getting salt (I guess you can never be too prepared), we see a creepy shot of a long fingernail cutting through the screen. The older kids hear a crash from upstairs and run up to check on Dani. She looks like she's laying in the bed, under the covers, but when the covers are pulled off, Sarah is lying in the bed. I have to admit, that reveal scared me because I wasn't expecting it! The closet door opens to reveal Winnie and Mary hiding with Dani and the book. They take Dani, Binx, the book, and shoot through the widow's walk, just leaving a huge gaping hole. I'm sure the Dennison parents are going to love to pay for that! 

There's a cool shot of the silhouette of three witches flying over Salem where you can see the coastline and a lighthouse flashing its light. 

Not sure if this movie is a musical, but we had the witch sisters singing "I Put a Spell On You" and now we get another musical number where Sarah sings a song to lure the children to them: "Come, little children, I'll take three away into a land of enchantment." As she sings this sing, we see kids, walking like zombies, toward the Sanderson home. Some are in their pajamas and some are still in their costumes. At five am? Why? Some kids are even in their pajamas with elements of their costume. The witches have tied Dani up in a chair and Binx is tied up in a bag while they brew the potion.

Allison and Max get an idea to fool the witches into thinking the sun has come up (even though there's still probably another hour before the sun actually comes up). They drive to the Sanderson house (I guess it's one of Max's parents' car; I don't think they just jacked this car from off the street) and right before the sisters are about to feed Dani the potion, Max bursts in and tells Winnie there's something called Daylight Saving Time, then Allison turns on the car's headlights, making the witches think the sun is coming up and they hide for cover. This gives Max time to get Dani and Binx out of there and he kicks over the cauldron with the potion. Very similiar to the first scene when Thackery knocks over the potion. 

The witches realize they've been duped and Winnie inspects the caldron, declaring there's just enough potion left "for one child" and pours the potion into a vial. Even though the children they've summoned are still walking towars their home in a trance, Winnie has her sights set on Dani as payback since she called Winnie ugly while Winnie was brewing the potion and lauding how she was going to be young and beautiful forever. Dani told her, "It doesn't matter how young or old you are! You sold your soul! You're the ugliest thing that's ever lived and you know it!" The look Bette Midler gives Thora Birch in this scene is absolutely hilarious. Needless to say, Winnie does not like being called "ugly" and she tells Dani that she'll be the first to die. And Winnie plans to keep that promise! 

The kids drive to the graveyard with the witches following them on their flying cleaning supplies. (Again, what is with the graveyard setting?) They run into Billy who takes the pocketknife that Max threatens him  with to cut open the stitches in his mouth. He is finally able to tell Winnie off and Max realizes this zombie is on their side. 

Max and Allison put Dani in the grave that Billy was in (because that's not creepy at all) and create a circle of salt around her to protect her. When the witches show up, Billy tells Winnie to go to hell and she replies with, "Oh, I've been there, thank you. I found it quite lovely." She comes after him and poor Billy loses his head for the second time since he's been raised from the dead. Dani leave the Circle of Salt Safety to retrieve Billy's head and give it back to him. I think at this point, Allison and Max are contending with Mary and Sarah. This allows Winnie to come down and scoop Dani up. Binx runs up a tree and along one of the branches and jumps on Winnie which makes her drop the potion which Max catches. Winnie throws Binx and he hits a rock and becomes unconscious. Poor Binx gets a lot of physical harm done to him in this movie.

Max tells Winnie to put down his sister or he'll smash the vial. She retaliates by telling him if he smashes it, Danie dies. He drinks the potion instead and tells her she has no choice; she'll have to take him. It's very noble that he's sacrificing his own life for his little sister's, but hopefully he has a plan NOT to die! Max starts to emit the same glow Emily did at the beginning of the movie and Winnie, still on her broom, lifts up Max so she's basically holding him by the collar of his sweatshirt (that thing's gonna stretch out!) or even by his hair at times (ouch!) She's trying to suck the life out of him as he's struggling to let go. Sarah and Mary are trying to help her, but Allison, Dani, and Billy are pulling on the cord of the vacuum to prevent them, so Sarah has to pull on Mary's hand to help HER.

But, guess what? Time's up! Game over! The sun starts to come up (and this is a massive Sahara sunrise; no way this sunrise would ever occur in New England, especially in the fall). Winnie is surprised by this and both she and Max fall to the ground. But Winnie won't give up! She's determined to get the life force from Max before the sun has completely risen. She still's holding Max by his sweatshirt, but is distracted and freaked out when she starts to turn to stone, starting with her feet until she has turned into a statue standing in the middle of the graveyard (and still holding onto Max, but he's able to get away from her stone grip). I was confused for a second because I thought they were supposed to turn to dust, but then I liked the idea of Winnie remaining a statue forever in the cemetery and it would add more to the lore. Sarah and Mary, still flying on their brooms (just for a split second more!) are like "Uh-oh!" when they see the sun and they both turn into dust, though it looked more like glitter since Sarah turns into purple dust and Mary turns into red dust. Then the statue of Winnie explodes into green glitter dust and I was a little disappointed that her statue didn't stay. The sequel to this movie is supposed to come out next year with Midler, Parker, and Najimy reprising their roles. I bet the screenwriters are kicking themselves that they didn't leave Winnie as a statue! Oh, well, I'm sure they'll find a way to resurrect these witch sisters from being turned into millions of dust particles!

So the witches are dead for good now (at least for the next 29 years! (but by then Max, Dani, and Allison will be adults by then and probably not be living in Salem anymore and will be like, "Not my problem anymore" if/when they hear about the resurrection of the Sanderson sisters)), so everyone should be happy, right? Well, not quite. After Winnie threw Binx to the ground, we did see him raise his head and meow pathetically, so we know that didn't kill him. However, after the witches died, the curse broke and Binx died too. Poor Dani is so sad and crying over his little furry body. At least Dani gets some closure because she sees the ghost of Thackery Binx (as a human) telling her not to cry and say, "The witches are dead. My soul's finally free." He thanks Dani for freeing him and thanks Max for lighting the candle. Then it turns into a ghost family reunion because the ghost of Emily just appears, looking for Thackery. (I guess she was buried at the graveyard, so it makes sense she was already "in the neighborhood". Max, Dani, and Allison watch as the 18th century ghost sibling walk away together in the sunrise. 

The great mood the Dennison siblings are in now won't last long when their parents return home and see the top of the house has been blown off!

So I really enjoyed this movie even though I have no nostalgic attachment to it. I can see why it's turned into a Halloween cult classic over the years. I do find it odd that this movie came out in July; this is a movie you must see during October during the Halloween season. 

Happy Halloween, everyone! 

Drawing Lines

Waking Sleeping Beauty
Director: Don Hahn
Released: March 26, 2010

This is a fascinating documentary about being an animator at Disney that spans from 1984 to 1994. It starts right around the time Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg joined the team as CEO and studio head of Disney. With the dismal box office of The Black Cauldron (which is a movie I think is VERY underrated) and their competition blowing them out of the water, they knew it was time to turn things around.

They hired more animators and Roy Disney promised an animated feature to be released every year. This started in 1988 with the release of Oliver and Company, which made more than its competition at the time, The Land Before Time. (I loved that movie! Remember the little triceratops named Cera? Haha!)

To help with The Little Mermaid, a film that had been denied to make before because Disney had recently released Splash (in 1984 - quick sidenote: there was a clip of a news anchor saying that Splash had made six million dollars at the box office its first weekend and that implied it was a hit. Wow. If a movie only made six million dollars in a weekend today, it would be a huge bomb!) Maybe it was lucky they waited a few years to make The Little Mermaid because they got the music team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman to write and compose the memorable songs from that movie. I learned that Katzenberg wanted to take out "Part of Your World" because it didn't get a good reaction at a screening. That may not be the most popular song in the movie, but it's certainly an important one - it tells the audience what Ariel's hopes and dreams are, and plus I love that song!

So of course The Little Mermaid is a huge success and wins the Oscar for Best Song ("Under the Sea"). The next year, is not so with the release of their next animated film: The Rescuers Down Under. It barely gets any advertising and they move on with their next film, which is their most critically acclaimed and the first animated movie to be nominated for an Oscar: Beauty and the Beast. They showed an unfinished version (just pencil drawings, nothing had been colored in yet) at the New York film festival and received a standing ovation. They're on a roll and their next movie is Aladdin which was also a big hit.

The funniest part of the movie for me was when they were next working on The Lion King and Pocahontas (to be released in '94 and '95, respectively) and Katzenberg wanted them to concentrate more on Pocahontas because he thought it would be the bigger hit because people would love the "Romeo and Juliet" type love story and didn't think African animals would translate to the screen as easily. Hmm, I'm beginning to think this guy should never bet on anything! Because we certainly know how that turned out! Let's see: Pocahontas: made 141 million domestically. Certainly not bad at all. But compare that to The Lion King which made about 300 million domestically.

I highly recommend this documentary.

If the Shoe Fits

Cinderella (1950)

Directors: Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi

Voice Talent:  Ilene Woods, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Rhoda Williams, Lucille Bliss, James MacDonald

Released: April 27, 1950

Oscar nominations:

Best Song - "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" (lost to "Mona Lisa" from Captian Carey, U.S.A. - what the heck is that?!))

Best Score - Oliver Wallace and Paul J. Smith (lost to Adolph Deutsch (yikes on the name, but to be fair, he was born in 1897) and Roger Edens for Annie Get Your Gun)

Best Sound Recording (lost to All About Eve)

Cinderella (2015)

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Cast: Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham-Carter, Stellan Skarsgard

Released: March 13, 2015

The 2015 live-action version of Cinderella was one of the first one to kickstart all the live-action Disney remakes. Yeah, I know there was 101 Dalmatians with Glenn Close, but that came out in 1996 so that's nearly a twenty year gap. Right after 2015 Cinderella, there was The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Lilo and Stitch, and I'm sure they'll be making live-action Moana and Frozen, but I want to see live-action The Black Cauldron! 

Even though I haven't seen all the remakes, I believe that Cinderella is the best. For one thing, with all due respect to the animated 1950 movie, there was much to improve on, which they did, while also keeping the essence of the original. 

Of all the early era Disney Princesses, Cinderella is my favorite. Aurora just sleeps through the majority of the movie (yes, I know it is called SLEEPING Beauty) and I recently re-read my review of Snow White and thought her to be "very condescending" and "a little bit dumb" (remember when she opened the door to that scary old woman the Queen was disguised as?). Plus I couldn't stand her shrill singing voice. At least Cinderella didn't annoy me and even though the music wasn't my cup of tea, she did have a very beautiful singing voice. Maybe the sound quality vastly improved from 1937 to 1950 or maybe Ilene Woods (voice of Cinderella) was a better singer than Adriana Caselotti (voice of Snow White). Or maybe both are true. 

For this review, since I'm pretty sure everyone is familiar with this story, specifically the Disney version (tis a tad different that the Grim version!), I'm just going to go through some main plot points and compare and contrast the two movies. How fun! 

The beginning/Cinderella's backstory: The animated film, being much shorter than the live version, is quick to get to the story. We get a yada-yadda'd Cliff Notes version of her life before her stepmother and stepsisters entered into it. After her mother dies, we are told that Cinderella's father "gave his beloved child every luxury and comfort, still he felt that she needed a mother's care." This seems to be the main reason he married again, "a woman of good family" (whatever that means). 

In the 2015 movie, we see Ella (oh, yeah, her name is Ella, the Cinderella name will come later ) as a young girl, growing up with her loving parents in a beautiful chateau with many farm animals. It is quickly established she loves animals and believes the mice she has befriended can understand her. 

Cinderella - In the prologue of the animated movie, we are told that even though her stepmother was "cold, cruel, and bitterly jealous of Cinderella's beauty", even though the "family fortunes were squandered upon by the vain and selfish stepsisters", even though the chateau she grew up in was falling apart, even though she was "forced to become a servant in her own house", even though she lived in a tall turret that's pretty much isolated from the rest of the house, and even with all this abuse and humiliation, she remained "gentle and kind...with each new dawn, she found new hope that someday her dreams of happiness would come true." 

Much like her animated counterpart, our 2015 Cinderella (played by Lily James) is also an optimist despite her dire situation. Before her mother dies, she instills some words of wisdom upon her: "Have courage and be kind." This will be her mantra for the rest of the movie (and, really, for the rest of her life). This Cinderella will be a little more bold than the 1950 Cinderella, at one point she will pointedly ask her stepmother, "Why are you so cruel?" While animated Cinderella seems a little more passive, there is a scene where her stepmother and sisters are enjoying that she won't be able to attend the ball and being totally smug about it. While Lady Tremaine is pretending to be sympathetic, telling her there will be other balls, Cinderella just says "yes" and walks away, not letting them get any more satisfaction. 

Cinderella's father: We basically don't know anything about him in the animated film. I was asking myself why he would marry such a bitch, but Lady Tremaine doesn't become truly awful to Cinderella 'til after he dies. We're never told how she treated her while he was alive and it seemed he married Lady Tremaine when Cinderella was still a young girl. In the 2015 movie, Ella is older when her father tells her he thinks it's time "to begin a new chapter" and tells her how the Master of the Mercer's Guild, a man he met on his travels once, had died recently and left behind his widow, "an honorable woman still in the prime of her life." Ella knows he is asking for her blessing and wants him to be happy. 

We are never told what Cinderella's father does in the '50 movie even though they live in a beautiful chateau and Cinderella has a horse, but in the remake he is a merchant who often travels abroad. He's in the movie for about half an hour. He tells Ella he'll be traveling for work and will be back in a few months. He asks her what she would like to bring him back (because he always comes back with a gift for her) and she replies, "Bring me the first branch your shoulder brushes on your journey." Her stepsisters have asked for lace and a parasol, so this proves that she isn't materialistic. 

Because this is Cinderella, I knew he wouldn't be surviving this journey. I thought he might die in an accident, but he fell ill and died. The scene where his driver returns to the chateau and has to tell Ella what happened is so sad, especially when he hands her a leafy branch.

Lady Tremaine - So there are specific scenes involving this wicked woman that I will talk about separately just because they're iconic scenes. She is voiced by Eleanor Audley (fun fact: she also voiced Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty) and is played by Cate Blanchett. I don't know how old she is supposed to be, but Blanchett's Tremaine comes across much younger. She was around 45 when she filmed it and has reddish blonde hair and wears many fabulous outfits where she's always covered up, but still shows off her figure. The animated Lady Tremaine has gray hair, walks with a cane, and wears a very matronly red dress with a high ruffled purple collar. Her eyes are these really piercing green and she loves to wear jewelry to match her eyes: she has an emerald ring, emerald earrings, and an emerald brooch. The 2015 pays homage to it with Lady Tremaine wearing many outfits that have green in them. 

Obviously, we get many more scenes and more character development of the live action Tremaine. We see her take advantage of her stepdaughter's kindness when she tells her how her daughters have always shared a room, but "they're finding the sleeping quarters rather confining." (While she's talking to Ella, the two sisters are fighting with each other.) Ella, who has the biggest room aside from her father's and stepmother's, offers it up. She starts to say where she can stay, but her stepmother cuts her off and says she can stay in the attic and adds that it will only be temporarily while she has "all the other rooms redecorated" and gives her a sewing kit she can take up with her. I like that they show us how this materialized instead of her already living up in the turret like she does in the animated version.

Both Lady Tremaines care about their status, but we see it a little more in the 2015 movie as she likes to throw lavish parties. 

In the '50 film, Lady Tremaine seems to be jealous of her stepdaughter's beauty which is a little weird because Cinderella can't be any older than ten when her stepmother comes into her life. At least in the remake, we see that Lady Tremaine is jealous of Ella's relationship with her (Ella's) father and is quite aware that her new husband is still harboring feelings for his deceased wife. We see her eavesdropping on her new husband and Ella when he's telling his daughter to be good to her stepmother and sisters even though they "may be trying at times" and comments how her mother is always here, that "she's the heart of this place."

When Ella receives the news of her father's passing, Lady Tremaine is in the background, listening to the conversation and when Ella is told about her father, "To the end, he spoke only of you and your mother," she looks hurt hearing this. She announces they are ruined and questions how will they live. Because of their financial woes, she dismisses the household (they had maids, cook, and people who helped with the farm). This is how Ella morphs into their servant (and her name will morph into Cinderella), doing all their work, Lady Tremaine tells her it will help her distract from her grief. 

Anastasia and Drizella - So I have to be honest, I can never remember who is who, but Drizella (I always thought her name was Drusilla) is the older of the two with dark hair and wears green and Anastasia has red hair and wears purple. They're only probably supposed to be a few years older than Cinderella, but the way they're drawn, they look decades older. Man, they look rough!

At the end of the movie when the Grand Duke has come to their house to try the glass slipper on the sisters, I laughed at his reaction when Lady Tremaine introduces his daughters to him. He physically winces because they're so unbecoming. 

 

The live action stepsisters look much more youthful and I like that it's their personalities (and their questionable taste in fashion) that make them ugly, not their physical appearances. I feel like the 1950 movie is trying to tell people that if you're ugly on the outside, then you're a terrible person, which of course, is a horrible message. 

We get the sense that Anastasia and Drisella are silly vain girls when Ella is helping them get ready for the dance and when she asks them, What do you think he'll be like?" (referring to the Prince) and one of them (sorry, I really do not know who is who!) replies, "What does it matter what he's like? He's rich beyond reason." When Ella asks wouldn't they like to know a little about him if one of them was to marry him, the other replies, "Certainly not. It might change my mind." Ha! 

Her sisters are the ones to give Ella her new name. Ella has been sleeping by the hearth because it's too cold in the attic. Because of this, she gets soot all over her face. The sisters are making fun of her and one of them exclaims, "That's what we'll call you! Cinderella!" Her mother laughs and says, "Oh, girls, you're too clever." 

Lucifer and the mice: - Justice for Lucifer! Haha, that sounds a bit odd without any context. Lucifer is Lady Tremaine's fluffy gray mean-spirited cat and I think he gets a bad rap in the animated film. The only times I think Lucifer is a true a**hole is when he takes a swipe at Bruno, Cinderella's dog (they don't talk about Bruno in the remake because he's not in it) and when he gets in the dustpan and trots his dirty paws all over the floor Cinderella has just cleaned. However, we're supposed to think he's evil because he keeps chasing and trying to eat the mice who just so happen to be Cinderella's friends. Um, hello! He's a cat! That's his job to chase and catch mice! It's his natural instinct! Why are we trying to villainize him for that? Okay, I will admit he was being a jerk when he was trying to keep the mice from delivering the key to Cinderella. 

Cinderella's only friends are the mice who live in the chateau (and she's friendly with the birds too). She names the mice and makes clothes for them. The only mice that seem to have names are Jaq and Gus. The mice speak English, but it's hard to understand them sometimes because they speak in squeaky voices and speak in cutesy dialogue where they repeat words or have their own words for things. A part of me wonders if Cinderella is having these conversations in her head with these mice because she has nobody else to talk to (aside from her stepmother and stepsisters, but it's not like they're having conversations with her) and she's just pretending these mice are her friends and she's so far gone that she's even made outfits
for them. But this is an animated Disney Princess movie, so of course they're her friends and can communicate with her. 

There are so many antics with Lucifer and the mice, it's ridiculous! Twenty-six minutes (out of a one hour and sixteen minute movie) are dedicated to these animals. The prince is only in it for a little over three minutes! (BTW, I Googled these times!) I guess back in those days, it was easier to animate animals than humans, but still...

One of Cinderella's chores is to feed Lucifer first thing in the morning. This entails her having to open her stepmother's door (because Lucifer sleeps in her room in his own little cat canopy bed) at the crack ass of dawn and whispering to Lucifer to come downstairs so she can feed him. This is really stupid of Lady Tremaine because you would think this would wake her up. It doesn't, so she must be a heavy sleeper. Also, Lucifer is nothing like my cat because he just wants to go back to sleep and seems grumpy to be woken up. My cat is always ready for his food at five a.m. (and depending on the day, I'm not up for another one to four hours!) and makes sure I know it! 

Also, animated Lucifer totally dies. When he jumps up on the windowsill to escape from Bruno (who was kind of a dopey dog; I was kind of surprised Lucifer couldn't take him!) and ends up falling out the window from that HIGH, there's no way he would have survived. Yes, I know cats can land on their feet, but that was way too high. He's still falling as we move to the next shot, so we're never told his fate, but I believed it was not a good one. I guess he is in the direct to DVD sequel, but that came out in 2002 and I'm guessing nobody who worked on the 1950 movie worked on the sequel (or was even still alive) and I believe their intention was to kill off Lucifer. 

On the other side of the coin, Lucifer (an adorable gray Persian) is shown a few times in the 2015 movie. Lady Tremaine has him on a leash when she and her daughters move into the chateau. He snarls at the four (CGI) mice and Ella picks him up and scolds/coos at him not to bother the mice. No cat falls out of a high tower in this movie. 

Ella has known the mice since she was a young girl and believes that they can understand her. They don't speak gibberish English (or sing!) like they do in the animated version, but they do nod and seem to understand what she's saying. She also doesn't make little outfits for them...because that would be weird, even on CGI mice! 

The Prince - It probably won't shock you to know that the Prince in the remake has more screen time than the mice and cat! He even has a name and meets Ella before the ball. Hurray for character development! Ella is out riding her horse to get away from her horrible stepmother and sisters. It never occurred to me that she was able to leave her house, because she never does in the '50 film (save for the ball), but that one takes place in one day which is insane when you think about it. 

She first sees a stag and hears voices so she knows there are men nearby who are trying to hunt it. She urges it to run away. As the men grow nearer, her horse starts running really fast. A noble young man sees she's in trouble and heads after her on his horse, asking if she's all right. She is able to slow down the horse and tell him she is. Of course, this is the Prince, but she does not know this. She adds that he "nearly frightened the life out of him" and he is amused when she clarifies she's talking about the stag, telling her, "I must confess I've never met him before." They have a cute little exchange and he is totally charmed by her. He asks her, "What do they call you?" Interesting that he words it like that instead of asking what her name is as this is right after she's been dubbed Cinderella and she doesn't want to admit that to him, replying, "Never mind what they call me." He is surprised when she asks him, "What do they call you?", then realizes she truly does not know that he is the Prince. He tells her that his father (the King, heh) calls him Kit, which is true, but he is the only person who calls him that. He also tells her that he lives at the palace and his father (the King!) is "teaching [him] his trade". Ella takes that to mean he's an apprentice. He is very smitten with her and before he leaves, he tells her, "I hope to see you again."

He is played by Richard Madden, best known for playing Robb Stark in Game of Thrones, and let's just say he gets a much happier ending in this movie! 

There is a fun callback to the animated film when we see Kit having his portrait painted. In the original, we see many portraits of the Prince, each one bigger than the last. 

We don't meet the Prince until near the end of the 1950 film. (Remember, he's only in the movie for three minutes!) The stepsisters are being presented to him when Cinderella enters and he sees her and is enchanted by her beauty and walks over to her, totally dismissing Anastasia and Drizella, which was hilarious. They waltz to "So This is Love" and seem to be in love after that exchange. It seems the Prince is only interested in her for her beauty, and doesn't get to know her on a deeper level like he does in the 2015 movie. 

The King - The prince's father in both movies wants his son to marry, but for different reasons. The animated (in more ways than one!) King is discussing his son (who is out of town at the moment, I guess) with the Grand Duke, saying how "it's high time he married and settled down." He adds that he (the King) isn't getting any younger and wants to spend time with any grandchildren before he goes and that he's lonely and "wants to hear the pitter-patter of little feet again." So he's pretty much trying to marry off his son for his own selfish gain.

In the remake, the King is sick and doesn't have long to live, so he wants to ensure that his son will be set up for success and (at first) wants him to marry for advantage. But the King will have a change of heart when he realizes that his son is in love with a country girl and on his deathbed will tell him to marry for love and to "find that girl." 

The planning of the ball/the invitations - In the '50 film, the King wants to have a ball to celebrate his son's return home from wherever the hell he's been. All the eligible maidens in the kingdom will be invited and the King is certain he's "bound to show interest in one of them." Huh...was this animated Disney character from a 1950 movie the first person to come up with the idea for The Bachelor? Because isn't that what this is? The Prince will be home that day and they'll be having the ball that very night. Like, WTF? Who has an extravagant dance the same day they come up with the idea to have one? 

In the '15 film, the portrait of the Prince will be sent abroad "to induce the high and mighty to attend the ball" where he will choose a bride. By this time, he has already met Ella and wants the invitations to "go to everyone, not just nobility," so at least they address how commoners were invited to the ball. I was also under the impression the King had been thinking about having this ball for awhile and didn't just come up with it on a whim.

In the animated film, the invitation to the ball is delivered by a messenger. While Cinderella answers the door, one of her stepsisters is (awfully) playing the flute and the other is (awfully) singing "Sing Sweet Nightingale." She sees that the letter is marked "urgent" (I'll bet it's "urgent" because the ball is that night!) and there's a funny moment when she tells the mice, "Maybe I should interrupt the, uh, music lesson." You can just hear her putting quotes around "music lesson". This is one of those little moments that made this Cinderella have a bit of a personality. 

Lady Tremaine reads the invitation and she and her daughters become super excited when she reads, "by royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend." Cinderella points out she can go to because it did say "by royal command." I don't know, if I were ordered to attend a dance, I would be pretty annoyed. I feel like this should be optional. Lady Tremaine tells her, "I see no reason why you can't go if you get all your work done...and if you can find something suitable to wear." Cinderella is too happy to realize there's probably a catch and promises her stepmother that she will. After she leaves the room, Anastasia and Drizella are aghast that Cinderella could possibly attend the ball and their mother cackles and says, "I said, 'If'".   

Of course, Cinderella will be given so many chores on top of the already many chores she has to do. Jaq is indignant because he knows Cinderella won't have time to work on her dress with all the domestic work her stepmother and stepsisters are ordering her to do. Cinderella has a dress that she wants to wear to the ball that used to belong to her mother. The bodice is pink with capped sleeves with white ruffles and the skirt is white with a light pink sash around the waist and a light pink ribbon at the hem. All the female mice are there when she takes it out and shows them and one of them comments, "It's pretty, but it looks old." Heh. Who does she think she is, Tim Gunn? But as we'll see, these mice will show their dress designing skills and could be valid contestants for Project Runway! Cinderella is looking through a pattern book and decides she's going to give the dress a whole new look. She'll "have to shorten the sleeves, [she'll] need a sash, ruffles, something for the collar..." One of the mice even comments, "It'll be easy." Seriously? It's not like she's adding more ruffles, it looks like a completely different dress! Anyway, the other mice agree with Jaq and one of the female mice says they can fix the dress for her. These mice are definitely a product of the 1950s because when one of the male mice offered to sew, she tells him, "Leave the sewing to the women!" 

There's more shenanigans with the cat when Jaq and Gus see that the sisters are complaining about their "old rags" to the mother, one dropping a sash and the other dropping a necklace. The mice decide they'll be perfect for Cinderella's ball look, but Lucifer makes it difficult for them to acquire, but after ten minutes (I may be slightly exaggerating, but not by much) they finally have the items. 

We see the mice (with some help from the birds) doing all this time consuming work on the dress, which, of course, will be all for naught. Like, their hard work will be ruined in minutes by a few petty bitches. 

But before I go any further, let me go back to the live action remake. Cinderella is in town when it is announced the ball will be in two weeks (NOT that night!) and the prince will choose a bride and every eligible women is invited. Notice that nobody is commanded to go! I think it actually makes more sense how they deliver the invitations to every house in the animated film, because at least you know everyone will be getting one. Maybe the guy making the announcement is just hoping that everyone who is in the town square will past the word along. I do understand why they do it this way, though. Cinderella runs home to tell her stepmother and sisters the news. She is excited mostly because she'll see Kit the apprentice (remember, he lives at the palace!). I love Cate Blanchett's reaction. She literally jumps out of her chair (and Lucifer has to quickly hop off her lap!) and runs to her girls, telling them, "One of you must win the heart of the prince." Because they are in a lot of depth, it will help quite a great deal if they can marry into some money. She sees Cinderella is still standing there and tells her to run into town (which she literally just returned from) and ask the seamstress to make them "three fine ball gowns." Cinderella thinks she is talking about her and her stepsisters, but nope, Lady Tremaine means for herself and her daughters. Unlike in the animated movie, she never tells Cinderella she can go to the dance as long as she finishes all her chores, but she never says she can't go either. 

Like her animated counterpart, this Cinderella also has a pink dress that used to belong to her mother. She thinks if she provides her own dress, she will be able to attend the ball. She works on fixing the dress, though it doesn't go through a complete transformation like the other pink dress. Even though she's the one to mainly work on the dress, we do a get a shoutout to the original with the mice under the table rolling spools of thread or tying a ribbon to a shoe. 

Before they leave for the ball, Lady Tremaine gushes over her daughters (in their super garish dresses), saying one of them is bound to snare the prince and how happy she is she has "two horses in the race." She must be a little bit delusional if she actually thinks one of her daughter has a chance with him. Cinderella comes downstairs wearing her dress, telling them it cost nothing and she doesn't even want to meet the Prince. She wants to go to see Kit, she has no interest in the Prince! Because Lady Tremaine didn't have to pay for an extra dress and because she's taking herself off the table as an option for the Prince, she thinks they will allow her to attend the ball with them. Wrong! Her stepmother tells her she won't meet him because she's not going and that it would "be an insult to the royal personage to take [her] to the palace dresses in these old rags." After Cinderella tells her it belonged to her mother, she disparages her mother's taste in fashion and tells her the dress is "old-fashioned and practically falling apart" and reaches over and rips off one of her sleeves, then tears at the dress a couple more times. Cinderella asks, "How could you?" and she replies, "How could I otherwise? I will not have anyone associate my daughters with you...[it will] ruin their prospects to be seen arriving with a ragged servant girl. Which is what you are and what you will always be." She acts as though she is embarrassed by Cinderella, but I think she is jealous because she knows she would catch the prince's eye and she doesn't want her there as competition. 

The animated version of this scene is the same, but different. Cinderella sees that the carriage has arrived to take her stepmother and sisters to the palace. She informs Lady Tremaine of this and when her stepmother comments that she's (Cinderella) not ready, Cinderella informs her she's not going. This is because she thinks she doesn't have anything to wear because she's been too busy with chores. You know, being that the ball was THAT VERY NIGHT, I find it hard to believe she would be able to finish her dress even without all the chores. Good thing she has all her mice and bird friends. They really should be on Project Runway, seeing they finished that dress in a couple of hours! She goes back to her room and looks out the window where she can see the palace and insist to herself that the ball w
ould be "frightfully dull and boring" (and who is she kidding?) "and completely wonderful." Her mice friends surprise her with the dress and this is the cutest scene in the entire movie. I love how they're all, "Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!" in their squeaky little mice voices and Gus, being a little slow, tells her, "Happy birthday!" 

When she comes down twirling in her new dress and announcing she can attend the ball, her stepsisters aren't happy to se
e her all dressed up. Lady Tremaine notices the necklace she's wearing is the same that Drizella discarded earlier, and, knowing Drizella will get a rise out of Cinderella wearing it, comments how they give the dress a nice touch. Drizella indeed notices that it's her discarded necklace and calls her a thief. Anastasia notices she's using her sash and soon the two sisters are ripping apart Cinderella's dress. It gets way more trashed then the live action dress, which is mainly just a sleeve was torn off. 

The Fairy Godmother scene - So whenever I think of Cinderella, this is the scene that always comes to mind first. Both versions are pretty similar during this scene, with a few differences. Our protagonist in both movies runs outside, upset about what has just happened. The animated Cinderella is crying at a bench and her Fairy Godmother just materializes out of thin air. There's no explanation of who she is or how she got there and once she's talking about her magic wand, Cinderella figures out it's her Fairy Godmother. Honestly, if I were her, I'd be asking why she hasn't shown up a lot earlier!

The 2015 Fairy Godmother (played by Helena Bonham Carter) first appears as an old lady who hobbles over to her and asks her for milk which the kind Cinderella fetches for her. This seems to be a test that Ella has passed with flying colors. The old woman turns into a much younger woman with blonde hair and wearing quite the dress that even lights up. Fairy Godmothers had been established earlier in the movie when Ella's mother tells her young daughter that they are the ones "who look after us." 

Both Fairy Godmothers turn a pumpkin into a carriage and four mice into horses. In the '50 film, Bruno the dog is turned into the footman and her horse is turned into the coachman while in the '15 film, two lizards are turned into footmen and one of the many goose who live on the property is transformed into the coachman. Both girls are told they must leave before midnight because that is when the spell will be broken and everything will go back to the way it was. 

The dress and glass slippers - I figured these needed their own separate category being so iconic and all. I always thought original Disney Cinderella had a blue dress because that's the color I usually associate her with, so I was a little surprised when the Fairy Godmother transformed her tattered dress into the ball gown and it's more of a silver color. It's seemed to change into blue over the years; look at 2015 Cinderella, after all! Now that dress has to be one of the best to grace the screen in recent years. It just moves so fluidly with her and the way the skirt twirls, it just looks like so much fun. The only thing I wasn't too keen on was the little butterflies attached to the top. It just felt very early 2000s to me. Before her Fairy Godmother transforms the dress, Cinderella tells her she wants to keep it because it's her mother's and her Fairy Godmother says she'll just tweak it a little, but to me it's a completely different dress! Maybe the bodice is the same? I don't know, I'm not really fashion savvy so I can't really tell. Before she gets into the carriage, her Fairy Godmother wants to change her shoes because "they're really quite hideous" and gives her the glass slippers, telling her they're comfortable even though they're made out of freaking glass which I appreciated because wearing shoes made out of glass can NOT be comfortable. Plus, putting all your weight on glass shoes just seems like a bad idea to me! 

The ball - Before our Cinderellas arrive, the single ladies are being introduced to the Prince at the ball. In the animated film, they are coming up to him after being announced as his father and the Grand Duke are watching from a balcony. The King isn't happy because his son isn't "cooperating". He looks pretty bored and at one point, even yawns (well, I can't really blame him because he just got back that day from traveling and the ball is that night...I would be tired too!). The only moment we get a glint of personality from him is when he is introduced to Anastasia and Drizella and his reaction to them is an eye roll because they're acting like buffoons. 

In the remake, Kit is sitting in the balcony with his father, watching as all the princesses and non-royalty single ladies are being announced. The King knows his son invited the commoner because he knows Kit is trying to look for the girl he recently met. When he reminds him he's only met the girl once, Kit replies that he's supposed to marry a girl he'll be meeting for the first time tonight. His dad tells him it's different because he'll by marrying a princess. 

Just as it is announced that the Prince will choose his partner for the first dance, Cinderella enters just a few moments later and he walks towards her as she's gliding down the stairs. I think we know who he's choosing to dance with! I just loved it when she twirled in that dress; it was so hypnotic! 

Animated Cinderella immediately catches the Prince's eyes when she enters, so much so that he walks over to her, dismissing her stepsisters who are being introduced to him at the time. Cinderella definitely stand out because of her dress. For one thing, it's the only one that sparkles and it's also the only dress that doesn't have a weird part that poufs out in the back, making everyone's butt look huge. (I'm sorry, but that's how it looks!) When the King sees his son taking interest in a woman, he is beyond excited and prompts the conduct to play a waltz for them to dance to. While they dance, he decides he's going to go to bed and tells the Duke to stay where he is to make sure his son and the girl aren't disturbed and to notify him immediately when his son proposes. WTF? He's been going on all day about how he wants his son to find a wife and he's not going to stay up for the rest of the ball to make sure that happens? Also, it's just so weird and random that the King, the one who is throwing the ball, decides he's just going to go to bed while the ball is still going on. This King is really stupid, I'm sorry. Also, he thinks his son is going to propose that night? I was thinking maybe he thought his son would meet a nice girl, wine and dine her, and then propose. 

One little detail that I appreciate them addressing in the remake is the fact that Lady Tremaine and her daughters may recognize Cinderella at the ball, so the Fairy Godmother puts a spell on her ensuring she won't be recognized by them. In the '50 film, when Cinderella is dancing with the Prince, her stepmother and sisters are wondering who she is. They don't seem to recognize her. I guess since she's wearing a fancy dress and her hair is up, she looks completely different. Lady Tremaine admits, "There is something
familiar about her." Gee, lady, why don't you put two and two together? 

In the '15 movie, when they see the Prince dancing with this beautiful girl, Lady Tremaine tells her daughters, "This does not bode well" and that they "must turn the prince's head." 

Another big difference between the two movies is that in the remake, Cinderella realizes he's the Prince and he tells her he didn't tell her when they first met because he thought she might treat him differently. When they're having this discussion, they're in a room with a bunch of portraits and we see one of Kit on horse, which is a nice homage to the animated movie. They go outside and he shows her a secret garden with a swing. He tells her that he is "expected to marry for advantage" and that his father and the Duke will be choosing the princess they think is best suited for him. We, along with Lady Tremaine, learn that the prince has been promised to marry Princess Chelina of Zaragosa.

In the animated movie, Cinderella has no clue he's the Prince. When she has to run off because she hears the clock striking midnight, she tells him she has to go because she hasn't met the Prince yet. He's about to tell her he's the Prince, but she runs off. 

In both movies, our heroine runs off, leaving one glass slipper behind. In the remake, while the carriage is being turned back into a pumpkin, I like that we see her sitting inside a large pumpkin with seeds surrounding her. As she's walking home, she lets the four mice sit in the glass slipper she's carrying. Why did I find that so adorable? 

Lady Tremaine becomes suspicious - The Duke in the animated film has to inform the King "that the young lady has disappeared, leaving behind only this glass slipper." There's a funny reveal that he was talking to an empty chair and that he was practicing his speech because he knows the King will be irate. And he is. The King is dreaming of playing with his (not yet existing) grandchildren when he hears the Duke knocking on his door and thinks this must mean that his son has already proposed. His face turns beet red when he is told the girl has gotten away. He seems to calm down a bit when the Duke informs him that the Prince loves her and is determined to find her because he wants to marry her. He must have had a conversation with the Prince off screen. The fact that the Prince "loves" this girl he's just met and only danced with and barely talked to is ludicrous. Yes, I think the remake did the right thing with developing their relationship a lot more! He also tells the King about the glass slipper and the King declares that he wants him to try it on every maiden in the Kingdom "and if the shoe fits...bring her in." 

The next morning, Lady Tremaine has heard the news and urgently tells her daughters to wake up. While Cinderella is coming up with their breakfast (apparently they eat their breakfast in bed every morning), she overhears her stepmom telling Anastasia and Drizella how the Grand Duke is coming to the house because he is searching for "the girl who lost her slipper at the ball last night." Cinderella knows she is talking about her and when she hears it was the Prince she danced with last night and how he's "madly in love with her", she drops the breakfast tray. 

Anastasia and Drizella don't know why they should even bother getting up if the Prince is in love with another girl but their mothers tells them, "There's still a chance one of you can get him" and proceeds to tell them about the glass slipper and how he doesn't even know who this girl is. I mean, yeah, he doesn't know her name, but I'm sure he would recognize her and realize one of these ugly stepsisters certainly wasn't her! I guess that makes sense why he's not the one to visit the house to try the shoes on the sisters. He would take one glance at them and wouldn't even let them try on the shoe because he would know neither of them were the girl he danced with! 

Lady Tremaine is telling her stepdaughter what she needs her to do for the day and she gets suspicious when Cinderella has a lovestruck look on her face and walks away singing, "So This Is Love", the same song she danced to with the prince last night. Lady Tremaine suddenly realizes that the girl from last night was Cinderella and follows her upstairs to her room where she locks her in. 

In the 2015 version, Cinderella arrive home minutes before her stepmother and stepsisters and the sisters tell her all about the ball. They start talking about the mystery girl and Lady Tremaine becomes suspicious about how lovey-dovey her stepdaughter is acting.

We see that she has hidden the shoe in a box that she keeps under one of her floorboards. 

The next morning, a proclamation is sent out and it is announced the new King (Kit's father has passed away so he is now the King) has proclaimed his love for "the mysterious princess" who wore glass slippers and "requests that she present herself at the palace" and if she is willing, he will marry her. 

Ella is in town when this is announced (she always seems to be in the Town Square for all the announcements!) and I thought for sure she was just going to head to the Palace because surely Kit would recognize her, but instead she heads home to retrieve her glass slipper only to find it isn't in her keepsake box anymore. It's revealed that her stepmother is sitting in a corner, holding the shoe. She tells Ella about how she was once "a beautiful young girl who married for love...[and] one day, her husband, the light of her life, died." The next time she married (to Ella's father) was for the sake of her daughters, but after that man was taken from her too, she was "doomed to look every day upon his beloved child." She asks Cinderella if she stole the shoe and when Ella tells her it was given to her, she scoffs, "Nothing is ever given. For everything you must pay." Cinderella replies, "That's not true. Kindness if free. Love is free." Lady Tremaine has her own ideas of what she wants to happen. Unlike her animated counterpart, she knows there's no chance anymore with one of her daughters with the new King so she has some demands for Cinderella: "When you are married, you will make me the head of the royal household. Anastasia and Drusilla will pair off with wealthy lords." She says Cinderella will not know how to rule a kingdom and this way they will all get what they want. Cinderella tells her no dice, and is especially not happy when her stepmother says she "shall manage that boy." In retaliation, Lady Tremaine smashes the shoe against the door. When Ella asks her, "Why are you so cruel?", she replies, "Because you are young and innocent and good. And I..." she leaves and locks her in the attic. You get the idea that she was once like Ella, but then became cynical after these terrible things happened to her. 

Lady Tremaine pays a visit to the Duke to show him the remnants of the shoe, telling him that "the mystery princess is a commoner." He tells her that she's "spared the kingdom a great deal of embarrassment" and when she tells him she "would like to keep it that way," he asks if she's threatening him and she simply replies, "Yes." He agrees to her terms of her becoming a countess and "advantageous marriages for [her] two daughters." 

If the Shoe Fits - So in the remake we get a montage of the shoe touring the village and women trying it on. We even see a long line of women at the palace waiting to try on the shoe. There are some comical moments, such as one woman greasing her foot and a woman with feet that stink so bad that when she takes off her shoe, everyone around her faints. 

We don't get a scene like this in the '50 film; we're just told that all the single ladies will be trying on the shoe. The Duke and some small random dude (I didn't catch his name or title, but he's part of the royal parsonage who is there to assist the Duke, I guess) stop at the chateau so they can try the slipper on Anastasia and Drizella. While he is reading from the royal proclamation, Jaq and Gus are trying to sneak the key out of Lady Tremaine's pocket. This will involve more hi-jinx with the mice and cat which will last fifteen minutes (again, I'm exaggerating, but probably not by much). 

They manage to obtain the key and now the two mice have to lug this heavy key all the way upstairs. It seems to take them forever, but before they can get to the door, Lucifer is ready to pounce and this is the scene where he will eventually fall out the window. 

While all this was going on, the sisters are claiming the glass slipper belongs to them. Anastasia is the first to try on the slipper and she has freakishly long feet and the shoe obviously doesn't fit. The dumb little guy attempts to pound the shoe so it will fit her. Okay, A) he's going to break it because it's made of glass and 2) Does he not see how large her foot is? It's like Jeff Probst says during puzzle challenges on Survivor: "If you have to force it, it won't fit!" 

Drizella doesn't have much luck either. She tries to "make it fit", but of course that doesn't work. 

Apparently the sisters were struggling with the shoe for a long time because just as the Duke and the little man are leaving, Cinderella comes running down the stairs. Lady Tremaine is dismissive of her, but the Duke says he has orders. Remember how in the remake it was the shoe that Cinderella already had that was destroyed? Well, in this one it's the shoe that she lost and the Duke has been trying on everyone that is destroyed. When the little man is walking over to present the show on a pillow, Lady Tremaine trips him with her cane and it shatters. But it's okay because Cinderella pulls out the other shoe, because of course she had it! Her stepmother really didn't think that through, did she? The expression on her face when Cinderella pulls out the shoe is hilarious...both her eyes and mouth are wide open. But again, why is she so shocked? She already had the suspicion that Cinderella was the mystery girl and she was right. 

Cinderella will just leave without saying anything and marries the Prince.

The 2015 movie does this scene a little differently. The Grand Duke and the Captain, who is very close with the Prince-turned-King, are the ones to enter the chateau, but they have seemed to brought the whole royal entourage because outside the house is a row of horses holding uniformed guards (or something, I don't know what their title would be). Anastasia and Drisella are super excited to see them because it's "now [their] chance." Anastasia is the first to try the shoe on and she claim that "it shrunk" when it doesn't' fit her. Drisella is straining as she's trying to fit her foot into the shoe. I laughed when the Captain says, "Bad luck, miss."

They're about to leave, but Lady Tremaine isn't worried that the shoe didn't fit her daughters because she knows they're good with the deal she made with the Duke. She tells her girls, "But fate may yet be kind to us, girls."

Meanwhile, Ella is upstairs, singing, having no clue who is downstairs. The mice know because they work together to open the window so everyone downstairs can hear her singing. Of course, the Duke knows who it is and insists they leave. The Captain asks Lady Tremaine if another girl lives in the house and she assures him there is nobody else. He quips, "Perhaps your cat has learned to sing?"and she just laughs nervously. 

One of the men on one of the horses takes off his hat and it's King Kit. Both the Captain and the Duke look surprised so they must not have known he was among them. He asks the Captain to investigate and the Captain is happy to oblige. Lady Tremaine has an "oh, sh*t" look on her face because she knows she can't not take him up to the attic. When she does, she just points at Cinderella and tells him, "I told you it was no one of any importance." Cinderella gets mixed messages when the Captain tells her she is "requested and required to present [herself] to [her] King", then her stepmother tells her, "I forbid you to do this" and the Captain tells Lady Tremaine, "And I forbid you to forbid her!" When he asks her who she think she is, she gestures to Cinderella and says she is her mother. Cinderella tells her, "You have never been and you never will be my mother." I like that this Cinderella gets to tell off her stepmother.

Kit is waiting downstairs with the shoe in his hand and he recognizes her when he sees her and when he asks who she is, she replies, "I am Cinderella," calling herself by that name for the first time.  

Before she leaves,  being the kind and courageous person she is, she tells her stepmother, who is coming down the stairs, "I forgive you." It also shows us that Cinderella is the bigger person.

The movie ends with Cinderella and Kit's wedding and the whole kingdom below them is cheering as they share a kiss on a balcony overlooking their people. We are told that her stepmother and sisters left with the Duke. I'm not sure if this was voluntary or forced! I do wish we had seen her mice friends at the wedding, I thought that would have been a cute touch. After all I assume (in both versions!) that the mice moved to the palace with there. The mice in the animated movie are so talented, that they can make all her gowns! 

As much as I prefer the remake (and even though I haven't seen all the live action remakes, I feel pretty confident saying it's probably theist) to the animated film, you have to give the 1950 film some credit. They didn't have many well-known movies in the '40s, mostly due to the war and when this one came along in 1950 it jump-started their beloved animated movies again and it was a huge box off success, being the fifth highest grossing movie of 1950. Also, Cinderella is just iconic. It's her castle that you see at Disney World and her story has been told countless times. 

I found this print advertisement for the 1950 movie on its Wikipedia page. I just found this really fascinating because I've never seen so many words on a movie poster! Usually they just have the title, the big name actors, the date it will be released, and a tag line to give you an idea of the movie. Walt really wanted the people to see this movie and was selling it big time. "6 years in the making making!" "Even the birds will be singing!" (That one made me laugh because bird seem like the most obvious ones to sing!) "...ready to thrill the world as no picture ever has!" It's a good thing this movie was so successful otherwise this poster would've looked embarrassing in hindsight!