Cinderella

Cinderella (Cartoon)
Spanish Title: Cenicienta

Italian Title: Cenerentola

French Title: Cendrillon

Chinese Title: 仙履奇緣

First Movie: "Cinderella"
Airdate: March 4, 1950

Cinderella is the much-loved only child of a widowed aristocrat. After deciding that his beloved daughter needs a mother's care, Cinderella's father marries Lady Tremaine, a proud and confident woman with two daughters from her first marriage: Drizella and Anastasia. Plain and socially awkward, the stepsisters are bitterly envious of Cinderella's charm and beauty. After the death of Cinderella's father, Lady Tremaine and her daughters take over the estate and begin to abuse and mistreat Cinderella out of jealousy. Despite being forced into servitude in her own home, Cinderella becomes a kind and gentle woman and befriends the animals living in the barn and many of the mice and birds who live in and around the chateau.

One day, Cinderella and the mice find a new mouse (whom she names Octavius, or Gus for short) in a mouse trap. Cinderella gives Gus some new clothes and informs Jaq to tell Gus about Lucifer. The two mice spy on Lucifer as Cinderella starts her chores. When Cinderella is giving breakfast to the animals, Lucifer chases Gus, and he hides under Anastasia's teacup as Cinderella delivers the breakfast trays to her stepfamily. When Anastasia opens her teacup, she screams to her mother about it. As a result, Cinderella has to do extra chores.

At the royal palace, the King and the Grand Duke organize a ball in an effort to find a suitable wife for Prince Charming. Every eligible maiden in the kingdom is requested to attend. When the invitation to the ball arrives, Cinderella asks her stepmother if she can attend. Lady Tremaine agrees, provided if Cinderella finishes her chores and finds a nice dress to wear. With Cinderella being too distracted with extra chores, her animal friends, led by Jaq and Gus, fix up a gown that belonged to Cinderella's late mother. Jaq and Gus go downstairs and see the stepsister's beads and sashes being dumped on the floor, but they also see Lucifer there too. They grab the sash and beads and escape before Lucifer catches them. The animals had finished Cinderella's dress just as the royal carriage had arrived. When Cinderella came down wearing her new dress just before the women's departing, Lady Tremaine compliments Cinderella's gown, pointing out the beads and sash. Angered by the apparent theft of their discarded items, the stepsisters rip the gown. Heartbroken, Cinderella runs outside to the garden.

At the point of giving up her hopes and dreams, Cinderella's Fairy Godmother appears and bestows upon Cinderella a new ball gown with glass slippers. She also transforms a pumpkin into a carriage, the mice into horses, Major the horse into a coachman, and Bruno the dog into a footman. Cinderella departs for the ball after the godmother warns her that the spell will break at the stroke of midnight. At the ball, the Prince rejects every girl until he sees Cinderella. The two fall strongly in love and dance alone throughout the castle grounds until the clock starts to chime midnight. Cinderella flees to her coach and away from the castle, dropping one of her glass slippers by accident. The Duke sent the guards to stop them, but they failed to do so as Cinderella and the other animals were reverting and hid from them. After her clothes turn back into rags, she reminisces about her dance with the prince. The mice point out that the other glass slipper is still on her foot. Back at the castle, the Duke tells the King of the disaster. They then plan to find the owner of the slipper.

The next morning, the King proclaims that the Grand Duke will visit every house in the kingdom to find the girl whose foot fits the glass slipper, so that she can be married to the Prince. When this news reaches Cinderella's household, her stepmother and stepsisters prepare for the Grand Duke's arrival. Cinderella, overhearing the news, begins dreamily humming the song played from the palace ball the previous night. Upon discovering that Cinderella is the girl who danced with the Prince, Lady Tremaine locks Cinderella up in her attic bedroom.

When the Grand Duke arrives, the mice steal the key to Cinderella's room but before they can deliver it, they are ambushed by Lucifer. With the help of the other mice, birds and Bruno, they chase him out the window and Cinderella is freed. As the Duke prepares to leave after the stepsisters unsuccessfully try on the slipper, Cinderella appears and requests to try it on. Knowing that the slipper will fit, Lady Tremaine trips the footman, causing him to drop and shatter the slipper. Cinderella then produces the other glass slipper, much to her stepmother's horror. Delighted at this indisputable proof of the maiden's identity, the Duke slides the slipper onto her foot and it fits perfectly. Soon afterwards, Cinderella and Prince Charming celebrate their wedding, witnessed by the King, the Grand Duke and the mice, and the story ends with Cinderella and the Prince kissing each other in their wedding carriage.

Second Movie: "Cinderella II: Dreams Come True"
Airdate: February 26, 2002

In a castle, Cinderella's mice friends Gus and Jaq race to a chamber where the Fairy Godmother is reading the story of Cinderella to the other mice. Much to their disappointment, Gus and Jaq arrive just as the Fairy Godmother has finished the story. With the Fairy Godmother's help, the mice set off to make a new book to narrate what happens after the Happily Ever After, by stringing three segments of stories together into one narrative.

Aim to Please

Cinderella is put in charge of the palace banquets and parties while the King and Prince Charming are away. However, the princess realizes she is dissatisfied with the way they are usually run, led by a sharp and snobbish woman named Prudence. With the help of his friends, Cinderella persuades everyone in the palace that everyone in the kingdom, including the commoners, should be allowed to participate in the next royal banquet and not everything has to agree with traditional ways. The mice add that story to the book as Jaq gets some magical help from the Fairy Godmother opening a bottle of ink. Proclaiming that he does not like "that magic stuff," Gus reminds him of his last encounter with it. Looking to impress Mary, a mouse who Jaq loves, Jaq allows the Fairy Godmother to tell his story.

Tall Tail

One of Cinderella mouse friends, Jaq, thinks he is too small to help Cinderella in the palace like he did in the first movie. The Fairy Godmother shows up to help him out, and turns him into a human six times taller than his height so he can help out like everyone else. However, this does not stop Pom Pom, the palace's snobby cat, who became the mice's new nemesis as soon as they moved to the palace along with Cinderella, from chasing Jaq around. He is named "Sir Hugh", after coughing while trying to tell Cinderella that he is now human. After an incident with an elephant at a fair, he learns to be happy for who he is. It is also made evident that Jaq is in love with another mouse named Mary and that Pom Pom belongs to the same woman who was terrified of Jaq.

One of the mice inadvertently spills magic dust onto the art supplies, causing them to become animated. The supplies begin to almost destroy the nearly completed book until the Fairy Godmother puts a stop to it. As the mice survey the mess, they reminisce how they have seen worse and Jaq tells them of the time Anastasia fell in love.

An Uncommon Romance

Anastasia, Cinderella's stepsister, falls in love with a kind but common baker, which her mother Lady Tremaine and older sister Drizella are not too happy with. They still want her to marry a rich man, and convince her to forget about the baker and say that everything in the baker's shop is inferior; Anastasia ignores Tremaine's warning. Meanwhile, Lucifer starts chasing Cinderella's mice and Anastasia is kicked by a horse when she and the baker meet, and is mortified when she crashes into the baker's shop. However, Cinderella finds out about Anastasia's feelings and tries to push her and the baker together. During the process, Lucifer enters the palace and continues to chase Cinderella's mice, but during the chase, he falls in love with Pom Pom despite her disliking him. The mice help their old nemesis fall in love with Pom Pom, that is, if Lucifer promises to stop chasing mice. When Lucifer and Pom Pom get together, Pom Pom goads Lucifer into breaking his promise and helping her catch the mice. In the ensuing chase, the mice push a bucket of water on Pom Pom, and she leaves Lucifer out of spite. The baker, meanwhile, asks Anastasia to the upcoming ball, which her mother and Drizella disapprove of. Anastasia stays with the baker and falls in love.

The mice finish their book. They sing a reprise of "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" as they chase after Cinderella in an attempt to give her the book. When they catch up with her she asks them what it is, Gus telling her is a book about them all. Cinderella thinks it is wonderful and asks if the mice would like to read it together, to which the mice give a resounding "Yes!". They gather in front of the fire and Cinderella begins to read.

Third Movie: "Cinderella III: A Twist in Time"
Airdate: February 6, 2007

On the anniversary of Cinderella and Prince Charming's wedding, the Fairy Godmother surprises them, Jaq and Gus with a picnic in the woods. However, nearby is Cinderella's old mansion, where Anastasia and Drizella are bitterly doing Cinderella's old chores. While wandering off to avoid work, Anastasia stumbles across the Fairy Godmother's wand, which she had dropped, and in the ensuing struggle, Anastasia accidentally turns the Fairy Godmother to stone. Lady Tremaine and Drizella arrive to see what is happening, and Lady Tremaine becomes fascinated with the wand's power and revels at another chance to ruin Cinderella's life.

Lady Tremaine uses the wand to go back in time with her daughters to the day the Grand Duke fitted the glass slipper on Cinderella. As before, Cinderella is locked in the attic with Jaq and Gus fighting Lucifer over the key. Lady Tremaine uses the wand to expand the slipper to fit Anastasia, and they are taken to the palace just as Cinderella emerges. Lady Tremaine breaks Cinderella's other slipper, her only alibi, and warns her to keep away from the palace. But Cinderella doesn't give up, and sneaks into the palace with Jaq and Gus.

Understandably, Charming claims Anastasia was not the girl he danced with at the ball, but Lady Tremaine alters his memory with the wand and he accepts her as his bride. Jaq and Gus see this from afar and inform Cinderella that Lady Tremaine has the wand. Cinderella poses as a maid to get into the Tremaines' room, but she is spotted by Lady Tremaine as the mice run away with the wand. Unfortunately, the palace guards catch Cinderella before she can restore Charming's memory. Cinderella briefly touches Charming's hand and he begins to recognise her, but Lady Tremaine orders Cinderella placed on the next ship out of the kingdom. The mice find Charming and explain the whole story to him, and he rides off to intercept the ship just as it leaves the port. Charming embraces Cinderella and his true memories return. He promptly asks her to marry him, again, and she accepts.

Charming brings Cinderella back to the castle and explains everything to the King and the Grand Duke. The King orders the Tremaines arrested, but they escape using the wand. The King declares the Tremaines as outlaws and orders a manhunt for them. However, Lady Tremaine does not give up, and as Cinderella is preparing for the wedding, she emerges with Anastasia, magically transformed into a doppelgänger of Cinderella. Before Cinderella can act, Lady Tremaine transports her, Jaq and Gus into the castle grounds, where they are to be taken to their deaths in a twisted pumpkin carriage with Lucifer as its human driver, but they manage to defeat Lucifer and escape, leaving Lucifer stranded in the woods.

Cinderella races to the castle as the vows are about to be exchanged. However, at the last moment, Anastasia's conscience gets the better of her and she turns Charming down, to Lady Tremaine and Drizella's fury. They emerge into the open and the King orders them arrested, but Lady Tremaine uses the wand to fend off the guards. As she prepares to curse Cinderella and Anastasia, Charming deflects the beam back at Lady Tremaine and Drizella with his sword and they are turned into toads and transported to the castle cellar. Retrieving the wand, Anastasia reverts herself to her original form, and Cinderella restores the Fairy Godmother. Ashamed, Anastasia returns a prized shell the King gave to her earlier on, but he allows her to keep it, on the basis that everyone deserves true love. The Fairy Godmother offers to reverse the timeline to its original state, but Cinderella and Charming decline. Once again, they are married and live happily ever after.

As punishment for their crimes, Lady Tremaine and Drizella are forced to work in the castle as scullery maids wearing the same clothes/rags Cinderella wore when she was a scullery maid.

Cinderella Monogatari (Anime)
Japanese Title: シンデレラ物語

English Title: The Story of Cinderella

Arabic Title: سندريلا

Chinese Title: 玻璃鞋公主

Plot
Cinderella came from a noble family. She is the daughter of a wealthy duke who has remarried to provide her with a stepmother and stepsisters. Her mother died due to illness when she was still a young girl, leaving her with a doll, favorite dress, and a pair of glass slippers.

The story begins with the departure of the father of Cinderella for a long business trip. Unfortunately, she was then left alone with her stepmother and two stepsisters, Catherine and Jeanne, who are bitterly envious of her beauty. Afterwards, things change for Cinderella; she ends up handling all the chores in the house, and is forced to live in a small room in the attic of the villa.

Fortunately, Paulette, her Fairy godmother, watched over her, secretly removing troubles that Cinderella faced in various situations as well as giving her the gift of being able to communicate with animals. Cinderella soon befriended four little friends who aided her whenever possible: Patch, her dog, Chuchu and Bingo, two clever little mice and a little bird named Pappy.

During one of the few occasions when Cinderella is able to go into town (she is virtually segregated at home to cope with household chores, while her stepsisters are out having fun), she meets a strange young man who only identifies himself to have a connection with the prince of Emerald Castle. Cinderella initially does not trust him and calls him a fibber repeatedly. However, Cinderella does not know this guy is none other than Prince Charles himself, who, unwilling to stay at the castle to take lessons from his tutor, sometimes runs under the disguise of Alex, his page and great friend.

This marks the beginning of many adventures, including hunting, discovering enchantments, betrayal and conspiracies of the palace that feature the Prince (almost always in disguise), Cinderella and her friends, and her stepmother (who hopes to marry one of her two daughters to Prince Charles). But in the end, Cinderella discovers the true identity of the boy to whom she called a liar several times and is distraught and desperate; how will she make up for what she said to the Prince?

Meanwhile, the King is organizing a big royal ball, to which all the unmarried girls of the area are invited, so that his son Charles can find a woman to marry. The stepmother and stepsisters were angry that Cinderella was also invited.

After Cinderella helped her stepsisters get ready for the ball, she quickly changed her clothes, wearing her mother's dress. Eventually, the stepmother insists it was an insult and forbid her to go. Then, her stepsisters tore up her invitation.

The Fairy Godmother, always ready to help Cinderella with her magic wand gives her a beautiful gown with the beautiful glass slippers: Cinderella can now go to the ball, but must return before midnight hour when the magic is completed.

This time, Cinderella is to be incognito at the ball; Prince Charles does not recognize that the beautiful princess who appeared out of nowhere was the companion of many adventures. But, come midnight, Cinderella is forced to flee, losing a shoe on the staircase of the building. The Prince was fascinated by the mysterious princess, desperately searching house to house to find her. It was proclaimed that the person whose foot fit into the shoe would become the bride of the Prince.

And thus after many difficulties, Cinderella was proved to be that girl and was brought to the palace. On the day of the marriage, Duke Zaral had something else in mind. He gave poison to the Prince in his drink and kidnapped Cinderella. He took her to top of the Clock Tower and forced the King, Charles' father, to give up his kingdom in lieu of Cinderella since his son was no more.

Suddenly Prince Charles, who did not really die, appeared with the palace guards. He explained that he had already known about Zaral's plan and acted accordingly.

A fierce battle ensued between Zaral and the Prince. At last Zaral fell from the Clock Tower. Cinderella and Charles were married and lived happily ever after.

Cinderella (Live Action Movie)
Airdate: February 13, 2015

Plot
Ella lives with her wealthy parents on a beautiful estate in a peaceful kingdom. From a young age, she is taught by her mother to believe in the existence of magic, allowing her to befriend many animals on the estate, particularly the mice. Everything is perfect until her mother contracts an illness and dies. On her deathbed, she makes Ella promise that she will always have courage and show kindness to others. Years later, when Ella is a teenager, her father marries Lady Tremaine, the widow of Sir Francis Tremaine, an old acquaintance, who has two daughters of her own: Drizella and Anastasia. Ella welcomes her stepfamily warmly, despite the stepsisters' unpleasant attitudes and her needing to protect her mouse friends from her stepmother's cat, Lucifer.

Soon after, Ella's father goes abroad on business, promising his stepdaughters gifts of luxury. His own daughter merely asks for the first branch to brush against his shoulder on the way. Sadly, he becomes ill and also dies. This new loss results in Lady Tremaine revealing her true cold, cruel and jealous nature. Desperate for money, she dismisses the servants and forces Ella to do all their work. Even worse, she gives Ella's room to the stepsisters, forcing her to sleep in the attic, and won't even let her eat with the family. One cold evening, Ella sleeps by the fireplace in an effort to stay warm. The next day, she arises with her face covered in cinders. This leads her stepsisters to mock her as "Cinderella" which Lady Tremaine (and even Ella herself) calls her since then.

Crushed by their cruelty, Ella goes for a ride into the woods, where she encounters a hunting party. She meets one of the hunters, who claims to be an apprentice named Kit who lives in the palace. Unknown to her, he is actually the only son of the land's dying king. Despite never learning her name, Kit (a nickname given to him by his father) is enchanted by Ella's charm, kindness, and unique outlook on life and becomes infatuated with her. Upon learning that he has little time left, the King insists that Kit finds a bride at an upcoming ball. Despite the law saying that he must marry a princess, Kit can't get over the mystery girl, and tricks his father into letting every eligible maiden in the land attend.

When the ball is announced, the Tremaine family is ecstatic at the prospect of marrying into royalty. However, when Lady Tremaine refuses to buy Ella a new dress, Ella fashions one herself from an old dress of her mother's with help from the mice. The night of the ball begins, and Ella tries to join her stepfamily on the way out. But Lady Tremaine, claiming that her mere presence will disgrace them, leads her daughters into ripping up the dress before leaving without her. Ella runs into the garden in tears where she encounters an old beggar woman, who reveals herself to be her Fairy Godmother. She uses her magic to reveal her true form, and subsequently turn a pumpkin into a magnificent carriage, four mice into horses, two lizards into footmen, and a goose into a coachman. She then transforms Ella's dress into a gorgeous blue gown, complete with a delicate pair of glass shoes before sending her on her way with the warning that the spell only lasts until midnight.

At the ball, the entire court is entranced by Ella, especially Kit. She wins the coveted first dance with him, whose true identity she's pleasantly surprised to learn. This irritates the Grand Duke, who secretly promised Kit to a princess — a fact that Lady Tremaine overhears. After dancing, Ella and Kit tour the palace and grounds together, slowly falling in love. But before he can learn her name, the clock strikes 11:59, forcing her to flee and accidentally dropping one of her glass shoes at the palace stairs in the process. She manages to get away before the stroke of midnight and hides the other shoe in her room as a memento.

Soon after, the King dies, but not before giving his son permission to find his true love. Once it's announced that every maiden in the kingdom is to try on the shoe, Ella goes to her room to get the other shoe, only to find her stepmother waiting with it in her hand. Lady Tremaine, having figured out her identity from her attitude after the ball, demands that Ella make her the head of the royal family, and give her daughters proper husbands when she becomes queen. When Ella refuses, she smashes the shoe and locks her in the attic. She then brings the shattered shoe and identity of the mystery girl to the Grand Duke, and tricks him into rewarding her with the title of countess and worthy husbands for her daughters. The Duke takes the shattered shoe to Kit, hoping to convince him to forget the mystery girl, but this makes Kit more determined than ever to find his true love.

The Grand Duke and the captain of the guards lead a garrison to try the remaining shoe on all the maidens in the land, all of whom are rejected by its magic, before arriving at the Tremaine estate. When the shoe rejects both stepsisters, they turn to leave, only to hear Ella singing ("Lavender's Blue"), thanks to the mice opening her attic window. The Grand Duke tries to leave anyway but is stopped by one of the men, who reveals himself to be Kit in disguise, and demands that the captain investigate the sound. Once Ella is found, Lady Tremaine tries to forbid her from trying on the shoe by saying that she is her mother, but is overruled by the captain. Ella then stands up against her, confronting her that she never was and never will be her mother before leaving the attic. She and Kit are finally reunited. Sure enough, the shoe fits perfectly and the stepsisters both plead for forgiveness. Ella leaves with Kit after forgiving her stepmother, who leaves the kingdom with her daughters and the Grand Duke.

At the wedding, Kit and Ella are crowned as the new king and queen. The Fairy Godmother narrates that they become the land's most beloved monarchs, ruling with the courage and kindness Ella had promised her mother, and they lived happily ever after.