Children's Fantasy

CINDERELLA - 1950

DIRECTED BY: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske

STARRING: Ilene Woods and Eleanor Audley

GENRE: CHILDREN'S FANTASY

PLOT

Cinderella’s father is widowed, and marries a cruel woman
Father dies
Cinderella is treated cruelly by her stepmother and stepsisters
King invites all the women in the land to a ball for his son
Cinderella is not allowed to go
Fairy Godmother appears, and does some magic, allowing Cinderella to go, but on one condition: she must return at midnight or else the magic will end
Cinderella goes and charms everyone, including the prince
At midnight, Cinderella flees, but one glass slipper falls off
Prince goes through the whole land, looking for the owner of the slipper
Finds Cinderella and they live happily ever after

SIGNIFICANCE

On the edge between the ‘Golden Age’ of Disney in the 1930s and early 1940s and the less successful 1950s
One of the most beloved and famous animated movies of all time
Pioneered the use of double tracked vocals
- When the singer harmonizes with him/herself
Pulled the company out of debt, and allowed Disney himself to finance a slate of productions (animated and live action), establish his own distribution company, enter television production, and begin building Disneyland during the decade