ENGL
3333: Children's Literature - Texts and Contexts
Professor
Sigler
(1950)
Major
Characters:
Cinderella
(Illene Woods )
Lady
Tremaine (Eleanor Audley)
Fairy
Godmother ( Verna Felton)
Drizella
(Claire Du Brey, Rhoda Williams)
Anastasia
(Lucille Bliss)
Gus/Jacques/Bruno
(James G. MacDonald)
Prince
Charming (William Phipps)
As
you watch and take notes, look for details that address the following questions:
-
Characterization:
-
How are
Cinderella, her stepmother and stepsisters, and the prince portrayed in
this film?
What details
are used to make the characters "rounder" than in the original versions
of the tale?
Do you agree
or disagree with Zipes' assertion that, while fleshed out, the characters
remain "one-dimensional" (351)?
-
What do
you think of Zipes' assertion that the main character, Cinderella, is "pale
and pathetic compared to the more active and demonic characters in the
film" (349)?
-
Theme:
-
What are
the themes of this film?
-
Or, does
the film instead offer uncomplicated morals rather than themes and, if
so, what are these?
-
Stereotypes:
-
Disney films
are often criticized for relying heavily on gender, class, physical and
racial stereotypes. When do they resort to such stereotypes in this
film, and why do you think they rely on them so heavily?
-
Are there
any points where you think the film subverts conventional stereotypes?
-
"Disnification":
- What differences
and similarities can you find between this film and other literary versions
that we've read?
-
What have
they added that we tend to associate with a "Disney movie"?
-
Does this
"Disnification" change or, in critic Jack Zipes' words, "do violence to" (335) the
original meaning of the tale?