Walt Disney released his animated adaptation of Cinderella on February 15th, 1950. It was the studio’s biggest hit since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) 13 years earlier, earning both critical and public success. Grossing $182 million dollars, Cinderella also nabbed scoring three Oscar Nominations: Best Sound, Best Original Song “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” and Best Music, Scoring of a Motion Picture. In commemoration of Cinderella’s 75th anniversary, I thought we could explore its history and contributions.
“Cinderella,” made history for Disney, thanks to its financial and critical success, but perhaps as more importantly, it film set the stage for other high-production animated films: Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), and Sleeping Beauty (1959). The 50’s was also the decade when the Walt Disney Studios began construction on Disneyland (opening on July 17th, 1955). And furthermore, the success of Cinderella helped to fund live-action feature films, beginning with Treasure Island (1950), and continuing with Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue (1952) and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).
“Cinderella” has a top-notch voice cast. Ilene Woods voiced the title character, and though her trademark role for the rest of her career would be voicing Cinderella, Woods voiced Snow White on a Disney-produced audiobook released in 1954. Eleanor Audley voiced the Evil Stepmother, also known as Lady Tremaine, and Verna Felton voiced the Fairy Godmother. Both Audley and Felton were legendary at Disney as they both went on to voice other iconic characters: Audley voiced Maleficent in “Sleeping Beauty,” and Madame Leota in Disney’s Haunted Mansion attraction and Felton voiced Aunt Sarah in “Lady and the Tramp,” Flora, the red/good fairy in “Sleeping Beauty,” and wide variety of other characters. Verna Felton was Disney’s most-often hired voice-over artist during Walt Disney’s lifetime, even lending her voice to Dumbo (1941), “Alice in Wonderland,” and The Jungle Book (1967). Interestingly, she passed away on the same day that he died, December 15th, 1966.
The music in “Cinderella” is gorgeous too, and is another reason to love the movie. Although “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” was the only song to score an Oscar Nomination, “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heat Makes,” and “The Work Song (We’ll Make A Dress for Cinderellie)” have gone on to be remixed by other artists. Take 6 recorded “The Work Song” for the album Walt Disney Records Presents The Music of Cinderella which was released on September 12th, 1995, which was when the film was re-released on home video. And of course, “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes,” is something of a theme song for Disney, heard throughout the parks. Demi Lovato and Michael Buble recorded it for the Disney Family Singalong Special which aired on the ABC Network in April 2020, and Lily James recorded her own version “Dream Is A Wish” when “Cinderella” was re-adapted for live-action in March 2015. (Helena Bonham Carter, who played the Fairy Godmother in that film, recorded “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo,” too.)
Walt Disney was once asked by an interviewer if he had a favorite scene of animation that his studio produced, and as he thought about it carefully, he replied the scene in Cinderella where she got her ball gown from her Fairy Godmother. That scene was animated by Marc Davis, who was a member of Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men,” who were the top nine animators at the studio during Walt Disney’s lifetime. As Walt Disney became focused on the construction of Disneyland, he left film production to the animators, and it clearly paid off.
It’s surreal to think that it’s been 75 years since Walt Disney Productions produced “Cinderella.” Walt Disney was once quoted as having said “All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them” and “Cinderella” epitomizes that quote. That inspiration, combined with all the aforementioned reasons makes “Cinderella” one of Disney’s best movies.
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