A 迪士尼 Tale: A young girl is forced into drudgery 由 her step-family, only to win the 心 of the kingdom's Prince and live happily ever after.

迪士尼 Hero: Ostensibly, the 'hero' of 灰姑娘 is the Prince (never actually referred to as Prince Charming, despite that being what he is generally known as today. Some sources have him named as Henry.). It is he who romances 灰姑娘 and desires her as his wife after the ball. But, actually, the real 超能英雄 of 灰姑娘 - for me - are Jaq and Gus, Cinderella's mice friends. They are the one's who rescue 灰姑娘 from her attic room. Jaq is also responsible for battling Lucifer and saving many of his 老鼠, 鼠标 friends. I 爱情 Jaq and Gus!

迪士尼 Heroine: 灰姑娘 is the first heroine of a 迪士尼 movie since Snow White to have a life outside the movie. As a character, she is iconic and forms an integral part of the 'Disney Princess' branding. Now, I had a lot of issues with Snow White as a character and, fortunately, the script and story for 灰姑娘 get a lot 更多 right, although Cinderella's character is tied to the tropes required of her due to being a 'fairy tale princess'. I think a clear difference between 灰姑娘 and Snow White is that 灰姑娘 feels like a grown-up. Despite being forced into a life of drudgery 由 her horrendous step-family, she continues each 日 to meet their demands whilst still believing in her dreams. She's a hard worker too and, although she probably should be kicking up 更多 of a stink considering how unfairly she is treated, she performs her tasks diligently and competently. I like 灰姑娘 in a way I definitely did not like Snow White.

迪士尼 Villain: 灰姑娘 presents us with a triumvirate of villains in the shape of Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's stepmother, and Drizella and Anastasia, her vile stepsisters. Lady Tremaine is the focus of the villainy and has a truly malicious attitude towards her stepdaughter. Tremaine isn't a villain who seems to have entered into the 最佳, 返回页首 tier that's occupied 由 the likes of Ursula, Cruella de Ville and the Evil Queen. She tends to get forgotten and I think that's a huge shame. She is a great villain - she's manipulative, scheming and downright nasty throughout the film. Maybe it's the fact that her villainy is on such a small scale, 或者 that she has no extremes to her character, 或者 even that she isn't a magical character. But whatever it is, Lady Tremaine, for me, deserves 更多 recognition.

Alongside Lady Tremaine are 真假公主 and Drizella. In a way, they are Tremaine's bumbling, comic sidekicks is a similar vein to Iago, Le Fou 或者 Pain and Panic. They are spoilt brats who like to bully Cinderella. What's interesting is I know that 真假公主 becomes slightly 更多 sympathetic as a character 由 the time 灰姑娘 III: A Twist in Time comes around. But for now, they exist only to be horrid to Cinderella, especially in the scene where they rip her dress apart to prevent her from going to the ball. They also have the classic scene where they try on the glass slipper only to find their feet are far too big and clumsy. The original version of 灰姑娘 has the stepsisters cutting off their toes and heels to make the slipper but 迪士尼 hasn't pursued this element (although it does finally appear in Into the Woods along with other less savoury aspects of various fairy tales).

There is, of course, one 更多 villain in 灰姑娘 - Lucifer, the cat. He is the nemesis of Jaq, Gus and the other mice. There is a very long sequence involving Lucifer and the mice which is hugely entertaining. 灰姑娘 wasn't a film I'd ever paid much attention to before this marathon and one of the delights has been discovering Lucifer. He is a great character and a brilliant foil for the mice. The cat and 老鼠, 鼠标 chase scenes, particularly with him and Gus, are some of my favourite parts of the film. Lucifer is an amalgam of his mistresses, in a way - he has the scheming, sinister nature of Lady Tremaine accompanied 由 the clumsiness of her daughters.

迪士尼 Sidekicks: 灰姑娘 is also gifted with some classic 迪士尼 sidekicks in the form of Jaq and Gus. With their 'not quite English' style of speech and high-pitched voices, they are a great addition to the film. Their battles with Lucifer and their friendship with 灰姑娘 are, for me, at the core of the film - probably moreso than the romance between 灰姑娘 and the Prince. Jaq's bravery and Gus's naivety give us likeable characters.

迪士尼 Creatures: Accompanying Jaq and Gus are a plethora of other mice, including the girls, Perla and Mary and Suzy, Bert and Luke who accompany Jaq and Gus on their 食物 raid and various others who aid in the making of Cinderella's dress. 灰姑娘 also features a template for 迪士尼 creatures which reoccurs in quite a few other films. At the house there is Bruno the dog, a horse and various birds. A group of 动物 residing in a barn, including 马 and 狗 reappear in The Aristocats and 101 Dalmatians with variations on this theme popping up in Lady and the Tramp and The 狐狸 and the Hound.

迪士尼 Magic: 灰姑娘 includes one of Disney's most famous magical characters - the Fairy Godmother. She is iconic in her hooded, blue 披风, 斗篷 and large purple bow and thanks, in no small part, to her catchy song. What tends to be forgotten is that she doesn't actually appear in the film for very long and is really just a plot device to get 灰姑娘 to the ball. The magic she casts is primarily of the transformative kind, although like all magic, it comes at a price. The transformations only stay until midnight. It suggests that, ultimately, she isn't the most powerful of magic wielders. Unlike a character like the Genie, she can't create something out of nothing and with all the items needs something ordinary to transform into something special. She is fun, though.

迪士尼 Land: It isn't clear exactly where 灰姑娘 is set. The original fairy tale of 灰姑娘 is actually common in many countries in various forms, but the 迪士尼 version is most closely based on the French version. Certainly the presence of a 老鼠, 鼠标 called Jaq would suggest a French setting, but that is about the only clue. The clothes worn 由 the characters are at the very least European in style probably from around the 18th 或者 19th Century.

迪士尼 Songs: Cinderella, as a film, is not actually packed with songs although it does feature some which are recognised as classics. Principal among these is the Fairy Godmother's song, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo. This is a fun song accompanying the transformation scenes. It has been rerecorded numerous times over the years 由 various artists and my favourite is probably Louis Armstrong's rendition. The film version actually has quite a long instrumental section which I often forget is there having listened to the song countless times on 'Best of Disney'-style soundtracks.

灰姑娘 has her own song, A Dream is a Wish your 心 Makes, which opens the film after the prologue and serves to introduce Cinderella's situation and worldview. It has clear echoes of Snow White (and Sleeping Beauty to come) with the 动物 sitting around listening to her sing. Later in the film, she joins in with 真假公主 and Drusilla's 音乐 lesson, 唱歌 Sing, Sweet Nightingale whilst washing the floor. Needless to say, her rendition is a lot better than Drizella's singing. So This is 爱情 is another song revolving around 灰姑娘 which is sung 由 灰姑娘 and the Prince whilst they dance at the ball. It's not a song I particularly like, although there have been a couple of covers which have been, in my opinion, better arrangements of the song.

The other principal song is The Work Song, sung 由 the mice as they make Cinderella's dress. It's cute, catchy and contains the classic word 'Cinderelly'! It definitely ranks in 秒 place, behind Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo as one of my favourite songs from this film.

As with Snow White, the traditional 'villain song' still isn't a definite presence in 迪士尼 films (and it will be sometime before it is) although, technically the villains do get a song as Lady Tremaine also joins in a little of Sing, Sweet Nightingale along with Drizella.

迪士尼 Finale: 灰姑娘 is a film which, up until this marathon - and also rewatching it with my children - had been one I'd dismissed from an age of 迪士尼 which never appealed to me as much as others. I think, mentally, I had it lumped in with Snow White and Sleeping Beauty as twee princess films with not particularly good songs. Having rewatched it, I found much to enjoy and, as I say, find 灰姑娘 a much stronger character than Snow White ever was. I was surprised 由 how much the mice and Lucifer feature and how entertaining their segments are.

I also rather like the King and Grand Duke, desperate to see the Prince married. The King's 爱情 for his departed wife is actually rather sweet and the Grand Duke's bumbling is fun.

灰姑娘 has definitely gone up in my estimation and is a true 迪士尼 classic.