Sometimes, you get a random earworm. And sometimes, someone tweets an entire segment of a song from a loved-but-not-recently-watched musical. You immediately look on your library’s website, see that there’s a copy in the building where you work, go look for it, and don’t find it. You lament this fact, and then think hey…you probably own it. You say you’re going to watch it when you get home come rain or come shine and then it happens.
“Do you like the Kenneth Branagh one?”
…I’m sorry what?
“Do you mean the one with the blue dress because that’s the only part I’ve seen…but I do love Cate Blanchett in the trailers.”
That’s right, folks. I’ve never seen the newest adaptation of Cinderella. What’s the use of a Disney movie if there’s no music?
Needless to say, this one is disqualified…just cause I haven’t seen it. I was going to try, I swear. But it’s not on any of the free streaming services because, well, Disney. So someday, I might fit it into this Very Important list.
But not today.
The abovementioned conversation led a friend to say “I didn’t know Cinderella was your kind of thing” and honestly, I didn’t either, until I thought about the fact that I can actually rank the adaptations of it. If there’s a version of it, I’ll bet I’ve seen it at least once, to see if the classic fairytale (which I loved to read in all its version as a kid, whether it was Grimm, Perrault, or Thousandfurs) was told in a new way. It’s true, yes, that I know I can experience these stories because they are a guaranteed Happily Ever After (HEA), but also it’s always a story about a woman (usually) overcoming her circumstances and getting out. Sometimes with the help of a magical being, sometimes in spite of them, and sometimes completely on her own. There’s something really visceral about the story of Cinderella, especially as someone who didn’t grow up wealthy, and I doubt I’ll ever grow tired of finding a new one.
FYI: I have absolutely no reasoning behind the order of this. It’s mostly the order of visceral reactions and childhood attachment. Sometimes it’s connected to another person, sometimes it’s the music, sometimes it’s that little twisty feeling you get in your chest when all of the kids show up at the end of Newsies.
Also, there will be slight spoilers for these movies, none of which are fewer than ten years old. Maybe twenty.
Ella Enchanted
I debated whether or not to include this, cause then I’d have to include all the other non-Cinderella Cinderella adaptations (PS I guess honorable mention to A Cinderella Story because Hillary Duff), but I think it still works. It’s based on Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted, and that one is much more like the traditional Cinderella story. The movie, though, has two things going for it: Anne Hathaway and Hugh Dancy. And yes, that is in part because they are both very attractive, but also because they have such great chemistry, even in a story that is just a *touch* over the top. I will never not watch this movie if it’s put in front of me, but I rarely seek it out on purpose.
Cinderella (1950)
Disney’s original tale is definitely a highlight of my childhood, but compared to the others, it’s mighty short. The music is all fantastic, and perfect for my range, so I tend to watch it when I want to sing along to something. It’s beautiful, but similarly, I rarely seek it out. Maybe it’s the mice.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1965)
This one is very much a childhood memory kind of thing. It has all the same music as one that I like better, but there are some differences in the story and some lines that didn’t make it into the later one. I usually watch it nostalgically, especially since it’s available to stream on Kanopy. It’s mostly something I watch as a check-in to see if I like it. Which I do, well enough.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997)
This was the greatest introduction to Black Girl Magic that I could have ever had at 12 years old, and I revisit it relatively regularly. There are so many great things about this particular version of the R&H musical: the colorblind casting, the wildly colorful costumes, the dancing, Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander, and the magnificence of GOAT Whitney Houston at the height of her career. This particular version of the Cinderella story has little changes from the 1950 story so many of us are familiar with, like Cinderella and Prince Christopher Rupert (Son of Her Majesty Queen Constantina…) meeting before the ball, and Cindy herself deciding to leave before running into the prince again.
Ever After
This is almost a perfect movie. There’s drama, and beautiful scenery, costumes, and actors. There’s a wildly compelling story that makes you nervous every time you watch it, and there’s always a smile at the end, when a badass woman manages to save herself. The story of how Danielle and Henry fall in love with every obstacle in their way, all while the world was changing around them, is one everyone should know. And if you can’t basically recite the movie, are you really a movie fan?
(Also, this is now a musical and I haven’t SEEN it. How have I not seen it? …well, besides the fact that I don’t live in New York or wherever they workshopped it…)
(Also, the amazing antagonists in this movie are just amazing. Perfectly acted and delightful in their cruelty. I love to hate them because they’re actually terrible, instead of buffoonishly bad. I mean, that’s why I love Lady Tremayne in the cartoon as well.)
The Slipper and the Rose
There’s one big reason this tops my list instead of Ever After, and that’s because it’s still a fairytale. It’s still more serious and less fanciful, leaning more in the direction of Ever After as far as royal politics and Evil-Ass Stepmothers. But then there’s also music (written by the Sherman Brothers, who did Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, among others). And while I can throw the others on as background noise while I’m doing other things, I have to stop and sing along once “Once I Was Loved” begins. This also has that element of nostalgia; I used to watch it sitting in my grandma’s bed, part of a regular marathon with San Francisco and The Great Caruso, all recorded off television. And even though I went a good decade without seeing it between high school and her death in 2012, it was nothing to pick up where I’d left off, sing along, recite the best lines, and cry a little. Now, it’s a good way to remember her while enjoying the ridiculous 18th century-styled movie from the 1970s featuring a 40-year-old Richard Chamberlain playing Prince Charming to a 17-year-old Gemma Craven (yeah, I know—that was a recent discovery), who already had the warmest, fullest voice I’d heard as a little girl. In the end, the music makes the movie, and while I love Rodgers & Hammerstein, this one wins.
If for nothing else, for the waltz. (I…might know the whole thing by heart.)
What’s your favorite Cinderella?
Note: This post contains affiliate links.