Wonderful & Bummer Moments In Disney Movies: #8 Cinderella

A young, beautiful girl suffers at the hands of a cruel stepmother and two (or three) nasty stepsisters. They force her to toil day and night and eventually give her a derogatory nickname that reflects her permanent ashy, sooty or cinder like Cinderella. Her only friends are the mice living in the old mansion, which is sad but also endearing and shows Cinderella's kindness to all creatures large and small.

Cinderella is a very much-celebrated children’s movie. It is a timeless classic that many children have seen many times. I will admit; I love Cinderella. It is a cutesy movie that makes every little girl want to become a princess. Looking back on the film now, we have to consider that there might be some subliminal messaging going on in this Disney classic.

First, I will start with the obvious, the cliché message in Cinderella. This is a classic romantic Disney princess film that teaches young girls that their dreams will come true, no matter what walk of life you come from. It teaches young girls that good conquers evil, purity prevails, and that everyone deserves a “prince charming”. This message is winning young girls over with its emotional appeal. Who would not watch this movie and think about finding their own prince charming. These stories are the reason the term “prince charming” has been coined! This message uses the pathos appeal to make its argument. When viewers watch the film, they are whisked away to their dream about happiness and the perfect love life. This film makes girls feel warm and fuzzy. Because this is a children’s movie, it tends to play up the cliché message more than the average film because children grasp messages better when they are presented in an overt manner rather than in any other way. Also, Cinderella is a classic Disney princess, which makes an ethos argument in the way that the little girls watching her want to be like her, which makes her credible in their eyes.

As you can see, the Grimm Brother’s original version of Cinderella greatly differs from Disney’s portrayal. Disney definitely cut out the graphic scenes in order to make it child appropriate. In addition to this, they changed up the role of family in the story and the role of other main characters. What is their reason for doing this? Perhaps Disney simply wanted to create their own version of the tale. Or, perhaps they were trying to fit in the messages they want kids to take from the tale. Either way, the changes Disney made are not seen as changes, but rather, accepted as the true story. Cinderella went from a story of reward/punishment based on behavior to a story of needing a man in order for your life to be complete. Nobody questions these changes because a lot of people believe these tales originated with Disney. The differences found in the movie add in a lot more gender stereotyping and has changed the values that children take from the story.