CONFESSION: I Just Watched Disney's "Cinderella" For The First Time

Alright, well, it’s now VERY public knowledge that I haven’t seen the majority of Disney’s classic films.

Yep, I haven’t seen “The Little Mermaid” either!

When I was a kid, my family watched more Pixar films — Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Cars, and Toy Story were just some of our favorites, and since I have an older brother, Disney Princesses weren’t really at the top of the list. Not to mention that on the two occasions I went to Disney World as a child, I was too scared to meet ANY character, so I wasn’t introduced to the Princesses then either! With that being said, just recently I FINALLY watched Disney’s Cinderella for the first time, and I have thoughts!

Going into the film, I knew the basic story, as I’ve seen stage versions of it performed multiple times (and was even in an interesting production of it as a fourth grader — NOT digging up pictures of that) — Cinderella’s father passes away, leaving her evil stepmother in charge of her and her two rude stepsisters.

However, what I didn’t expect was how NASTY the stepmother and Anastasia, and Drusilla really were! I was expecting it to be “Disney-mean,” like you know on those Disney Channel shows where the “mean” girl’s harshest line is a snotty, “You’re wearing that? No, it’s fine…for someone who has no taste.” Yeah, those are silly and don’t pack much of a punch, but DANG these girls were vicious!

I also wasn’t expecting there to be such a big B story plot about the the mice. I didn’t mind it, BUT there’s a part of me that thinks the main story would have benefited from just a little bit more time, especially before the end. I know, I know, it’s supposed to be love at first sight and happily ever after, but I would have LOVED a minute-long scene of Cinderella and the Prince having an actual conversation before she had to run off. I think shaving off a minute of the B plot could have allowed for that to happen.

And on that note, the ONLY part of the film that really got on my nerves was the King. I felt he was a little TOO over-the-top, and was frankly obnoxious the majority of the time. Again, I felt those C story plot scenes were just the slightest bit too long, and if some was cut, more of it could have gone towards the A story. I mean, come on, we barely get to hear the Prince SPEAK before he’s obsessed with Cinderella and willing to follow her anywhere.

What I was most pleasantly surprised by was (and this is going to sound bad, so bear with me) how much personality Cinderella had! I was under the assumption she was passive and just laid down and let all these terrible things happen to her, because Disney didn’t give her much of a personality past “oh this poor, mistreated girl who finds love, that’s all she wants,” but WOW was I wrong!

Cinderella’s got some snark and sassiness to her that I adored. It really enhanced her character, and I ended up giving the film a 7/10, which was WAY higher than what I was expecting. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I’m looking forward to actually meeting Cinderella (for the FIRST time!) the next time I head to Disney World.

I’m on a mission to finally catch up on ALL the films I’ve been missing my whole life, so be sure to stay tuned to AllEars — you’ll for sure be hearing all my reviews!