Walt Disney’s Cinderella

Walt Disney’s Cinderella (1950)

Description of Cinderella

This version of CINDERELLA is the original Walt Disney animated classic based on Charles Perrault’s 17th-century fable about a poor stepdaughter transformed into a vision of beauty and sent to the royal ball by her Fairy Godmother to meet her Prince Charming and live happily ever after. Academy Award Nominations: Best Sound Recording, Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, Best Song (“Bibbidy-Bobbidi-Boo”).

Editorial review of Cinderella courtesy of Amazon.com

Disney’s adaptation of the beloved fairy tale became a classic in its own right, thanks to some memorable tunes (including “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo,” and the title song) and some endearingly cute comic relief. We all know the story–the wicked stepmother and stepsisters simply won’t have it, this uppity Cinderella thinking she’s going to a ball designed to find the handsome prince an appropriate sweetheart, but perseverance, animal buddies, and a well-timed entrance by a fairy godmother make sure things turn out all right.

There are a few striking sequences of pure animation–for example, Cinderella is reflected in bubbles drifting through the air–and the design is rich and evocative throughout. It’s a simple story padded here agreeably with comic business, particularly Cinderella’s rodent pals (dressed up conspicuously like the dwarf sidekicks of another famous Disney heroine) and their misadventures with a wretched cat named Lucifer. There’s also much harrumphing and exposition spouting by the King and the Grand Duke. It’s a much simpler and more graceful work than the more frenetically paced animated films of today, which makes it simultaneously quaint and highly gratifying. –David Kronke

Songs

• Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (1949)
  • Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman
  • Performed by Verna Felton and chorus
• So This Is Love (1949)
  • Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman
  • Performed by Ilene Woods and Mike Douglas
• A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes (1949)
  • Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman
  • Performed by Ilene Woods
  • Reprised by the mice as they are working on Cinderella’s dress for the ball.
  • Reprised by the Jud Conlon Chorus in the finale
• Cinderella (1949)
  • Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman
  • Performed by the Jud Conlon Chorus with Marni Nixon singing as a soloist
• The Work Song (1949)
  • Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman
  • Performed by James MacDonald and several mice
• Sing, Sweet Nightingale (1949)
  • Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman
  • Performed by Eleanor Audley, Rhoda Williams, and Ilene Woods

Cast of characters

• Ilene Woods (On Stage Everybody) … Cinderella (voice)
• Eleanor Audley (Sleeping Beauty) … Lady Tremaine (voice)
• Verna Felton (Lady and the Tramp) … Fairy Godmother (voice)
• Rhoda Williams (Space Master X-7) … Drizella (voice)
• James MacDonald (Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book) … Jaq / Gus / Bruno (voice)
• Luis Van Rooten (Two Years Before the Mast) … King / Grand Duke (voice)
• Don Barclay (Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man) … Doorman (voice)
• Lucille Bliss (The Secret of NIMH) … Anastasia (voice)
• Jeffrey Stone (The Thing That Couldn’t Die) … (voice) (as John Fontaine)
• Mike Douglas (The Mike Douglas Show) … Prince Charming (singing voice)
• William Phipps (Cat-Women of the Moon) … Prince Charming (voice)
• Marion Darlington (Pinocchio) … Birds (voice)
• Earl Keen (Lady and the Tramp) … Bruno (voice)
• Lucille Williams … Perla – a Mouse (voice)
• June Foray (The Aristocats) … Lucifer (voice)
• Thurl Ravenscroft (How the Grinch Stole Christmas) … Mouse (voice)
• Clint McCauley … Mouse (voice)
• June Sullivan … Mouse (voice)
• Helen Seibert … Mouse (voice)
• Betty Lou Gerson (101 Dalmations) … Narrator (voice)

Additional cast

• Paul Frees (The Time Machine) … King / Grand Duke (voice) (uncredited)
• Clarence Nash (Walt Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free) … Birds (uncredited)
• Norma Swank … Mice / Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)