Cinderella

Like many children over the past few decades, I grew up with a catalogue of Disney VHS tapes lining my family’s basement bookshelf. I don’t remember exactly how old I was when I pulled Cinderella off the shelf, but no one was stopping this nearly-black haired grade one student from dressing up as her favourite Disney princess for the school Halloween parade.

The Cinderella that most of us have come to know was brought to life on the big screen by Walt Disney in 1950, but the folk tale is told in thousands of variants around the world. In fact, the earliest known version of the Cinderella story dates back to ancient Greece sometime between 7 BC and 23 AD with the story of Rhodopis.

To me, Cinderella extends far beyond the girl loves princesses stereotype, but rather brings about one of my fondest memories, with my favourite person. As a child, whenever my Gran came to visit, she would sit at the end of my bed and recite Cinderella to help me fall asleep. Much like The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Ashley Fell, Cinderella evokes emotion in me, and is therefore my first favourite story. I often thought of my Gran as my fairy godmother, and that I was Cinderella when I spent time with my older cousins who were two sisters that by default, picked on me. So while I didn’t come from rags, or evil stepmothers, as a child I still found a way to connect with the story.

Disney: Pixar before Pixar

Disney followed a formula long before Pixar, and Cinderella is no exception. The story adheres to Pixar’s four storytelling principles:

1. Great stories are universal. Cinderella is recounted in hundreds of countries around the world in many languages, and has been reimagined in several remakes over the past 70 years. From the love story to the troublesome family, to the friends cheering her on, everyone can find some element of Cinderella’s story relatable. 
2. Good stories have a clear structure and purpose. As with many fairy tales, Cinderella follows the story spine as imagined by Kenn Adams. It has a clear structure beginning quite literally with “once upon a time.” More on this later.
3. Good stories are simple. They are focused.  At the core of Cinderella is a story about acceptance, love, and kindness. 
4. Good stories give you a character to root for. Every viewer is rooting for Cinderella to escape her wicked stepmother and stepsisters and win the Prince’s heart. 

The story spine

When told via the story spine, Cinderella goes a little something like this:

Once upon a time, a young girl named Cinderella lived with her evil stepmother and stepsisters and was forced to work all day looking after them and the house. 

Everyday, she woke early to cook the meals, scrub the floors, and stoke the fire, all while enduring ridicule from her family members.

But one day, the King and Queen decide to host a ball to find the Prince his Queen, and invite all the young ladies in the land.

Because of that, with the help of her Fairy Godmother, animal friends, and a little magic, Cinderella goes to the ball in the most beautiful gown and glass slippers. 

Because of that, when the clock strikes midnight, Cinderella will turn back into a normal girl. After dancing with the Prince, the clock ticks near and she rushes out of the ball leaving behind one glass slipper. 

Because of that, the Prince searches the land for the foot that fits the glass slipper, belonging to his one true love. 

Until finally, the Prince arrives at Cinderella’ home only to discover that her foot fits perfectly into the glass slipper.

And, ever since then, Cinderella married the Prince and lived happily ever after.