Cinderella Turns 65!

In honor of the 65th anniversary of Walt Disney’s Cinderella (released February 15, 1950), I watched the film after a long time and wanted to share a few of my favorite scenes, random observations and fun facts about one of Disney’s most cherished classics. 

Favorite Scenes

• The introduction of Gus Gus.
• The making of Cinderella’s dress by the mice and birds – the song sequence warms my heart so much!
• The transformation of Cinderella’s torn dress to the beautiful ball gown by her fairy Godmother is said to have been one of Walt Disney’s favorite pieces of animation – MINE TOO!

• The fairy Godmother saying, “Even miracles take a little time.”
• The entire sequence of “So This is Love” – I am obsessed with the colors, the backdrop, the lighting, the romanticism, et al.
• When Cinderella notices that she’s been given the glass slipper to keep, she looks up at the sky and says “Oh! Thank you. Thank you so much for everything!” — it”s such a simple but heartfelt scene.

Random Observations

• Did you know that the three books on the King’s desk are Plato, Homer and Rabelais?
• Cinderella has orange-brown (could pass for strawberry blonde) hair in the movie… so why are all the merchandises blonde?!
• Everything that happens in the movie, occurs within a 24 hour period!
• While I would absolutely love to live in the Prince’s castle, I wouldn’t mind living in Cinderella’s chateau either! Have you seen the layout of that place? Gorgeous!

Fun Facts

• Disney’s Cinderella is based on Charles Perrault’s version, which means the story/movie takes place in France. The French names of the characters and Cinderella’s estate being referred to as the “chateau” by the narrator are also big clues.
• Cinderella was the second Disney princess after Snow White.
• Cinderella is the oldest princess, at the age of 19.
• Cinderella was the first Disney film to have its songs published and copyrighted by the newly created Walt Disney Music Company.
• Cinderella received three Academy Award nominations for Best Sound, Original Music Score and Best Song for “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”.
• The original movie poster of Cinderella is going for $1,595 on amazon.

• Ilene Woods, the voice of Cinderella discusses Cinderella and Walt Disney:

• “Dancing on a cloud” was a song cut from the final version of the movie (it was replaced by “So This is Love”). 
• Cinderella’s castle is in two Disney parks: Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. 
• During my 27th birthday celebration at Disney World, I had booked an appointment for myself at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Cinderella’s castle. Yes, I did get my hair and make up done like a princess!

Cinderella is one of my favorite Disney movies and to help you reminisce, I’ve added the songs (and videos) courtesy of YouTube for your viewing pleasure below. Enjoy!

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Cinderelly

Sing Sweet Nightingale

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo

So This is Love

I leave with one of my favorite quotes from the movie:

The scene. Fairy Godmother has just transformed Cinderella’s dress into a beautiful ball gown and warns Cinderella that she only has till midnight. Cinderella takes this very casually and the fairy Godmother tries to explain the seriousness of the timing, but Cinderella very softly says, “Oh, I understand, but… it’s more than I ever hoped for.“

So pure. So genuine. And so full of gratitude. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the movie.