“Dear child, remain pious and good.”
These were her dying mother’s last words in the Grimm Brother’s original 1812 version of the classic tale, Cinderella.
Since then, the story has been altered into the family friendly 1950s Disney classic we’re familiar with.
Many past renditions have stemmed from the animated film’s storyline – but none have ever given us as many pieces (albeit still scarce) of the original Grimm tale as this year’s brand new live-action remake.
On March 13, Cinderella came to theaters, starring the beautiful Lily James as Ella (eventually nicknamed “Cinderella”), Helena Bonham Carter as a somewhat eccentric Fairy Godmother, Cate Blanchett as a seamlessly wicked stepmother and Richard Madden as a fairytale-handsome Prince “Kit.”
A reoccurring phrase and eventually significant motif of this film was reminiscent of the “pious and good” spoken of in the Grimm tale. “Have courage and be kind,” said Cinderella’s mother in her last words of advice to her daughter, as she began to deteriorate with illness in the most recent rendition.
Another key part of the Grimm tale portrayed in the new film was the request Cinderella made to her father, as to what souvenier he should bring back to her from his journey. While her stepsisters asked for pearls and laces, Cinderella begged, “Father, break off for me the first twig that brushes against your hat on your way home.” This exact request was made and granted in the film, ultimately leading to a powerful metaphor in her father’s death.
While there are definite similarities from Grimm to the new Disney, the film kept their inspirations PG. For example, these darker elements from the Grimm Brothers’ old story go untold:
Cinderella had no Fairy Godmother, but rather a “wishing tree” of sorts. The tree rose on her mother’s grave, originating from the branch her father gifted her, and was watered by her tears. Cinderella prayed to the tree, which granted her desires.
While looking for Cinderella, the Prince consults her father (who is still alive in the Grimm Brothers’ version). To help him, her father terrifyingly took an ax to any potential hiding place his daughter may have been.
In an effort to fit into the glass slipper left behind at the palace and win over the prince, one stepsister cut off her toes and the other cut off her heel, in response to their mother’s persistent reasoning of, “When you are queen, you will no longer have to go on foot.” After noticing blood in the shoe, the prince realizes his brides are false.
At Cinderella’s wedding, the two evil stepsisters had their eyes pecked out by Cinderella’s bird friends. (As if they hadn’t lost enough body parts!) “For their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness as long as they lived,” the tale goes.
While we’ve had many Disney remakes that lean toward the darker side of the fairytale stories we grew up with (Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Huntsman, Maleficent), Cinderella filmmakers, to my initial disappointment, chose to revamp the original Disney classic and maintain the traditional (more feel-good) plot while picking through the lighter parts of the Grimm tale to incorporate.
However, all it took was a little Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo; a whole lot of digitalized sparkle, a glorious musical score, breathtaking set-design and intricate costuming to transform this shabby, somewhat over-done fable into something strikingly fresh.
‘Cinderella’ Review: Latest revamp strays from ‘dark fairy tale’ trend, still puts fresh spin on Disney classic
Sydney Zuelke
March 16, 2015
0
More to Discover