Cinderella (Disney 1950)

Towards the end of the 40s, Walt Disney's studios went through a period of great economic difficulty, both because of the crisis caused by the recent world war, and because previous animated films such as Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio and Fantasy e Bambi, did not have the desired success. In truth, we proceeded with the creation of short cartoons, which served just to cover production costs. It was necessary to make a radical change to the situation with a new film. Walt Disney at this juncture understood that the fate of the production company itself was at stake, therefore he carefully studied every detail, to be sure. His point of reference was the previous realization of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, that is the story of an unfortunate girl who redeems herself in the finale. He then focused on the classic fairy tale of Cinderella, known all over the world thanks to the version of Charles Perrault. He then relied on the staff of expert designers and animators, who personally selected on the basis of the characters to be characterized, under the direction of Clyde Geronimo, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske.
Thus was born another absolute masterpiece of animation cinema, where Walt Disney shows all his talent as a great storyteller and entertainer, without allowing a moment of boredom within all 74 minutes of screening. The film was released in American cinemas in 1950 and was so successful that it revived the famous animation studio and relaunched it towards other subsequent masterpieces.

The story of Cinderella begins in a distant country, where a rich gentleman lived with his little daughter. The man was left a widower and despite all the loving attention given to the young woman, he felt the need to remarry in order to assure her of the affection and care of another mother. His choice fell on Lady Tremaine, a widowed woman of noble origins, who from her previous marriage had had two daughters: Anastasia and Genoveffa.
Unfortunately due to an illness the man died, leaving his daughter in the hands of his stepmother, who proved unwelcoming towards him. The woman squandered all her husband's wealth to satisfy the vices of her natural daughters and relegated the young woman to the role of servant, who was called by the derogatory nickname of Cinderella, because, among the many household chores, he had to take care of collecting the ashes from the fireplace. However Cinderella was characterized by a rare beauty and an innate grace, which in comparison made her rough and ugly stepsisters disfigure. Their mother was aware of this and did everything to demean Cinderella, to the point of making her wear the humblest clothes and relegate her to one of the cold and dark towers of the castle. Despite everything Cinderella always kept a goodness of mind that made her have a positive outlook on everything that surrounded her, because she was supported by the hope that dreams can become reality. In her room she was surrounded by birds that woke her up with their morning song and by the castle mice, which she lovingly raised and sewed little clothes for them. These were soon joined by a plump and nice mouse, which Cinderella frees from a mousetrap. Together with his little dress, he was given the name of Gas Gas and he soon became the inseparable friend of the mouse Giac. The number one danger of mice was represented by the perfidious cat Lucifer, Lady Tremaine's favorite, to whom Cinderella had to serve breakfast before everyone else. Then the girl had to go up the stairs, doing the tightrope walker with trays to bring breakfast in bed to her stepsisters and stepmother, who wasted no time giving him orders to clean their home and undertake the daily hard work. He had to beat the carpets, wash the floors, feed the animals, cook, bring water, light the fire and much more. Meanwhile Gas Gas and Giac are studying strategies to escape the guard of the cat Lucifer, who prevents him from going out into the courtyard to take the breakfast that Cinderella distributes to all the animals. The result is funny scenes, where the two mice always manage to escape by a breath from the dangerous claws.
Not far from them, inside his magnificent castle, lives the king of that country, who feels very sad because his son is still a bachelor and has no interest in getting engaged. Fearing the dream of being able to rock one of his nephews vanish, the king summons the Grand Duke Monocolaus and orders him to organize a great ball, in which all the girls of the town of marriageable age must participate.

Numerous invitations were immediately printed and one of them was delivered to Cinderella's house. When their mother read that card, Anastasia and Genoveffa exulted with joy, cultivating the hope of dancing with the prince. Cinderella also dreamed of that event and shyly asked her stepmother if she could participate too. Despite the disappointment of her stepsisters, Lady Tremaine did not object and said that she could also attend the party, but on one condition: she would have to finish all the heavy and numerous housework and show up in a nice dress. Cinderella did not lose heart and immediately began to work at a good pace. But what put her in serious difficulty was the possibility of having an evening dress. On the day of the ball Cinderella was burdened with heavy work by her stepsisters, who did not give her a moment's respite to have them wash and iron their skirts and dresses, so seeing the carriage arrive, without even a decent dress, she resigned herself to idea of ​​not being able to participate and went back to his room. Here, however, he had a pleasant surprise. The mice and birds recovering the ribbons and the fabrics thrown away by the stepsisters, managed to sew a beautiful dress for Cinderella, who thus had the opportunity to participate in the ball. Seeing her so beautiful and elegant Anastasia and Genoveffa were seized by a nervous breakdown and tore her clothes, accusing her of having been robbed of the fabrics and the necklace. So Cinderella humiliated and defeated, burst into tears and went into the courtyard, in the company of the inseparable mice and her animal friends.

When she was now resigned, a magical cloud enveloped her and a middle-aged woman appeared, dressed in a light blue cape and a hood over her head. It was the fairy Smemorina, who, in order not to deny her name, tried to remember where she had put her magic wand. He immediately heartened Cinderella and revealed that she was his godmother. So once he found his magic wand, on the notes of the song "Salagadula, mencica bula, bibbidi bobbidi bu" he transformed a pumpkin in the garden into a splendid carriage. The mice were transformed into 4 splendid steeds, including Gas Gas which was about to end in the clutches of the cat Lucifer. The horse was given the role of coachman, while the dog Tobias was transformed into an elegant butler. But the fairy Smemorina had forgotten the most important thing for Cinderella: the dress. So those rags immediately became a beautiful white dress, worthy of a princess and her beauty.The spell, however, had a limited duration in time, as at the stroke of midnight, everything would be as before. The fairy carriage arrived at the royal palace while all the girls of the town were introduced to the bored prince. The king in the company of the Grand Duke Monocolaus was desperate at the indifferent attitude of his son, who showed no interest in any of them.

Just as Anastasia and Genoveffa were being introduced to him, the prince caught a glimpse of the silhouette of Cinderella in the distance and was immediately struck, to the point that he abandoned everyone and headed towards her to meet her. This did not escape his father who, exulting with joy, ordered the orchestra to open the dance. During the dance everyone wondered who could be that beautiful girl that no one had ever seen, including Anastasia, Genoveffa and Lady Tremaine who looked at her with interest. But to keep the two boys from prying eyes, the Grand Duke Monocolao closed the curtain of the window and so Cinderella and the Prince were able to get to know each other undisturbed, in the castle gardens. They were beautiful and intense moments, but unfortunately short because at the stroke of midnight, Cinderella remembered that the spell would soon disappear. Terrified, she ran away from the prince and ran up the stairs in a hurry, without having time to pick up the slipper that had slipped off her and climbed aboard the fairy carriage, which left the castle at great speed. The Grand Duke Monocolao retrieves the shoe and immediately orders the carriage to be followed, but the searches by the soldiers were in vain, because shortly afterwards the carriage turned back into a pumpkin, the horses into mice and Cinderella returned to being dressed in rags. , as it was before the fairy arrived, with the only exception that she still had a crystal slipper.

The following day the king already dreamed of being surrounded by two splendid grandchildren, but soon the grand duke brought him back to reality, informing him that the unknown girl had fled, leaving only her crystal slipper. The king's anger was only appeased when the Grand Duke informed him that his son intended to marry the woman who had lost that shoe. So the king sent the Grand Duke Monocolaus and his vassal all over the country in order to locate the mysterious girl by the size of her foot. When the news reached Lady Tremaine's ears, she immediately ordered her daughters to prepare to receive the Grand Duke and fueled their hopes of being able to marry the prince, however from Cinderella's movements she understood that the girl in question could be her. So with the deception, he locked her in her room just at the moment of the arrival of the Grand Duke with the vassal, who was wearing the crystal slipper on a pillow. Desperate Cinderella cried in vain to leave her room and once again her mice friends left to help her. Their goal was to get the room key out of Cinderella's stepmother's pocket.

Meanwhile, Anastasia and Genoveffa, with a rude and arrogant behavior, tried to convince the vassal to let their foot into the tiny shoe, with the only result of irritating the Grand Duke. Thanks to their cunning and courage Gas Gas and Giac manage to take the key and bring it to the top of the castle stairs, but once they reach the threshold of the room, they have to overcome the biggest obstacle represented by the evil cat Lucifer. He tries to catch them in every way and does not even give up to attacks by the other mice. So Cinderella, through a little bird, asks for help from the dog Tobias, who with his arrival puts the hungry cat to flight. When the Grand Duke was about to leave, he was stopped by the arrival of Cinderella, who also wanted to try on the shoe. Monocolaus on seeing that beautiful girl, he walked towards her with enthusiasm, but the wicked stepmother tripped him and he fell to the ground, shattering the delicate crystal slipper.
The duke was desperate at the thought of the possible anger on the part of the king, but Cinderella removed the other slipper from her apron, which Grand Duke Monocolaus slipped on his foot without any problem, it was perfect. So the bells of the kingdom rang for the wedding celebrations between the Prince and Cinderella, who left for their honeymoon aboard a splendid royal carriage. And from that day they lived happily ever after.

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Video of Cinderella the Disney animated film