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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time



After watching The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, I found a link to this movie. I heard about the first sequel being bad. I actually have it on my DVD rack, but never had the chance to watch it. When I saw the link, I thought, why not.


Although Cinderella is the most popular and famous Disney character of all, I personally am not so fond of it. Maybe it is because she is so helpless and portrays the image that a woman's life solely depends on the guy she meets. I know that the first Cinderella movie was made in 1950, but this sequel was made in 2007, way after Ariel and Belle came along. Maybe that is why I expected Cinderella to be more active and independent, seeking some personal development.

Well, the movie did the exact opposite.


Here goes my very sarcastic summary and review of the movie.




The movie starts with Fairy Godmother trying to throw a nice dinner party(?) for the newly wedded couple. In the middle of her usual 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," she somehow manages to toss the wand. Yea, because she is that old and have shaky hands. And guess what, one of the sisters, Anastasia picks up the wand and bring it home.




Lady Tremaine: "Oh yes, the wand!! I'm the ultimate villain now!!!!"
Sisters: "Yay~"




Lady Tremaine: "Anastasia, since you brought the wand, I will let you get married to the prince."
(Here, she is being reasonable and kind to let Anastasia be the one instead of Drizella, because she is the one who found the wand.)





Anastasia: "Thanks mom!! Will the prince really love me? I always wanted someone to love me."
(Here, we see that she is a helplessly romantic person.)




Cinderella: "You can't do that. Prince will know that I am the one he wants to marry as soon as he sees me. And my shoe size is 4 and 1/2."
(She is being very confident that her beauty captured the prince's heart entirely. She is implying that she shall marry no one but the prince.)




Cinderella: "Sister, let me handle this with this wand our mother stole from my fairy godmother. Obviously, you have no right to have happily ever after because I will get married to the prince and be a princess."




Cinderella: "Now I finally will have Prince Charming!! I knew it would end like this."
Prince: "You are so beautiful...unlike your ugly sister that I did not feel anything by touching hands. I will marry you though I didn't even know your name two minutes ago."
(Here, if you look carefully in the picture, Cinderella is smirking. As if to say, I've won the battle b***h. And also, you can tell Prince Charming obviously wants her as a trophy wife.)




Well, at the end, Prince Charming and Cinderella get married and live happily ever after again. One question about the picture below: I thought Cinderella was the main character in the movie? Why did she turn her head to the right to kiss? She should have turned left to show more of her face? I don't know. I'm weird.





I understand that the whole theme is supposed to be "true love is the greatest thing of all." But what I don't understand is, why does Cinderella have to act like a gold digger? And other thing, why did Disney have to draw her as a blonde with blue eyes? I guess the original movie was indeed made in 1950.

In my view, her sister Anastasia is more genuine and considerate. She believes in true love and have a heart to yield and wish Cinderella the happiness. From what I have read, the Cinderella II is about Anastasia finding her true love. I am kind of glad that I watched this sequel first, because it would be more chronologically correct.


I have read this line from somewhere (it is not exactly how it was worded):
Rich, smart and good-looking men do not want girls with pretty face, sexy body and an empty brain. They would rather get married to smart, ugly girls and spend a small part of their fortune to make them beautiful. You can hide and improve your looks, but an empty brain cannot be hidden in any way.

What I am saying is, if you dream about fairy tale and the prince coming to rescue you from all misery of life, you probably won't get it. It is not likely to happen in real life, anyways. Why do you think Disney and other TV shows make so much money out of "happily ever after"?



My final comment is, I am just glad that Ariel and Belle came along to change the image and role of heroines, and hope that the trend continues.

And here is one thing that Cinderella got right in the entire movie (there is a reason why 'fantasy' is called 'fantasy').





"I've always dreamed, that my life could be like a fairy tale, a perfect fantasy. 
But it was nothing more than a dream."

-Cinderella in Cinderella III: A Twist in Time -


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