Cinderella (Character)

**Cinderella** is the titular protagonist of the 1950 film Cinderella. She is the second member of the Disney Princess line-up.

## Background

Cinderella was born to wealthy, unnamed parents who treated their daughter with great love. The family resided in a French château, just beyond a small- but powerful- kingdom. Sometime during her childhood, Cinderella's mother tragically passed away, and as a result of believing his daughter needed a mother figure in her life, Cinderella's father remarried a woman named Lady Tremaine, who notably had two daughters of her own, both around Cinderella's age: Anastasia and Drizella. After the death of her father, Cinderella was under the control of Lady Tremaine, whose true colours finally surfaced, showing a cruel and cold-hearted woman. Her selfishness and vanity destroyed both the family fortune and left the once beautiful château in a state of disrepair. While pampering her own two daughters and spoiling them rotten, she raised Cinderella in abuse and virtual slavery. This was a result of being wickedly jealous of the young girl's natural beauty and charm, which she and her own daughters all lacked. This went on for many years, but Cinderella's personality remained sweet, humble, and kind.

### Official Description

Cinderella is kind to all, especially her mice friends, Jaq and Gus. She has faith that if you keep on believing, your wish will come true. With help from her fairy godmother, she gets a chance to live her dreams.

### Development

The Disney version of Cinderella was based on the protagonist of the French version of the tale by Charles Perrault, "Cinderella", written in 1698.

Cinderella was animated by Marc Davis and Eric Larson, but the two animators did not have the same perception of the character, accentuating the elegance of Davis and Larson's opting for simplicity. This resulted in Cinderella being a more complicated character than her predecessor Snow White, due to her duality. As done with other Disney films, Walt Disney hired actress Helene Stanley to perform the live-action reference for Cinderella. She later was asked to do the same kind of work for the characters of Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and Anita Radcliffe in One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

### Voice

About 400 contestants auditioned for the role of Cinderella. Out of all of them, Walt Disney chose Ilene Woods, who worked on the radio at the time and did not know anything about the audition itself. One day, her colleagues Mack David and Jerry Livingston asked her to sing a song from Cinderella, and she agreed. Then, without saying a word to her, friends of Ilene transferred to the office of film at Disney. After listening to the material, Walt Disney immediately decided that he had found the voice with which to speak and sing its main character and contacted Ilene.

When casting for Cinderella II: Dreams Come True in 1999, Jennifer Hale was selected as Woods was deemed too old to be able to produce the sweetness needed for Cinderella. Hale has been the main voice of Cinderella since the House of Mouse debuted in 2001.

### Personality

Despite being raised in toxicity and emotional abuse, Cinderella declared herself independent and strong-willed by remaining kind-hearted and self-loving, unlike her cruel stepfamily, not allowing the bitterness surrounding her life to overtake her and morph her into someone as cruel as her stepfamily. She makes the most of her misfortunes by remaining optimistic of the possibilities of a brighter future, keeping herself preoccupied with enforced housework and friendly bonds built with her pets, birds, and dozens of mice that have found themselves trapped over the years by Tremaine's mouse traps, only to be rescued and spared by Cinderella. In gratitude, the birds and mice would become loyal companions to Cinderella, providing her with company and serving as diligent helpers should something troubling occur. The particular devotion of the mice would ultimately play a crucial role in the young woman escaping her abusive household, thus furthering the example of how Cinderella's evergreen kindness towards others, despite her situation, would ultimately lead to her uprising.

As assumed, Cinderella's primary goal in life was to escape her stepfamily (though her dreams and other goals also seemed to be of romance, especially with the lyrics from "So This is Love" where Cinderella and the Prince sing, "So this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of.") However, as she was under Lady Tremaine's control since her childhood when her father passed away, such a feat proved to be difficult, with the emotional abuse and manipulation having been planted in Cinderella's mind for far too many years, making for an obedient and fearful young woman when faced with Tremaine's wrath; she would typically make attempts to avoid any form of conflict with her stepmother and stepsisters as a direct result of this.

Cinderella is also witty and sarcastic, at least when she is alone, and during those moments she would often make quips regarding her stepfamily's laziness, lack of talent, and over-dependence on her. She is also unafraid to stand up for herself when she feels she's in the right, or at least attempt to do so, especially seen when she stands up for herself as being able to go to the ball, and though she strives to contain her optimistic aura, she can fall into fits of frustration and annoyance quite often. This is seen through her interactions with Lady Tremaine's cat, Lucifer, who she sarcastically refers to as "Your Highness" and "Your Majesty", and openly berates for his cruelty, which mirrors that of her cruel stepmother. Her daily goal is to make the most of her situation, but she never forces herself to bottle up her true emotions in an unhealthy manner; instead, wisely keeping them under control, while also keeping in mind that the future holds brighter experiences. She also is shown to have some degree of common sense, as after Drizella and Anastasia rushed to Lady Tremaine in fear about how Cinderella had allegedly put a mouse in their teacup, Cinderella, hearing the report, immediately deduced that it had been Lucifer who had actually been responsible, and forced him to reveal Gus, allowing Gus a quick escape.

In Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, Cinderella's hard-working ethics, optimism, kindness and devotion are put to the test when she is magically stripped away from her "happily ever after" by a vengeful and then magically-empowered Tremaine and is forced to jump into physical action to restore her happy life and relationship with Prince Charming and save Anastasia from her mother's cruel and vain influence when it becomes clear that she too is suffering. During these events, Cinderella is shown to be cunning, tactical, persistent, and a fierce rival to those who oppress her. With no magic, being forced to rely solely on her intelligence and fearlessness, Cinderella is able to defeat her stepmother, repair her relationship with a reformed Anastasia and retain her much-deserved life of happiness, proving both her independence and strong will.

### Physical Appearance

Cinderella is a beautiful young woman of average height, slender build, an hourglass figure, and a softly shaped, kind face. Her skin is fair and flawless, her lips are pink, and her eyes are blue. Cinderella's hair is a beautiful strawberry-blonde (light strawberry-blonde in her childhood) and medium-length with soft bangs.

In her initial appearance before changing to her maid outfit, she wears a light blue long-sleeved collared nightgown adorned with a blue ribbon and black ballet flats from her maid outfit. Her strawberry-blonde hair is tied in two low pigtailed braids before removing the blue ribbons on each side to make it loose.

During the bath scene, when she removes her collared nightgown and being showered by her several bird friends using a wet sponge, Cinderella's hair is tied into a bun.

In most of her appearances, she was seen in a maid's outfit, which consisted of a dark brown bodice with long, light aquamarine sleeves and a brown, knee-length skirt. Her hair was softly tied back into a low ponytail with an aqua ribbon. She also wore a white apron and a pair of black ballet flats. On her occasional tasks, she wore a white apron and a scarf in her hair. At the near end of the movie, the sleeves of her maid outfit changed from light aquamarine to cyan, and her hair is now loose rather than a low ponytail. In later appearances in both sequels, Cinderella's maid outfit sleeves are now pale blue, and her hair remains loose.

For her first ball gown, modified from one that belonged to her late mother, she wore a frilly, sleeveless, pink-and-white dress with pink ribbons and a sash with jade beaded necklace before her stepsisters violently mess up with it after seeing their discarded items being sewn onto it. She also wears red dress shoes.

Her second dress and most commonly seen sleeveless dress is a sparkling light cornflower bluish-grey ball gown with a low-cut neckline, pale cornflower blue bustle, white-capped sleeves, white armpit length opera gloves, a delicate laced white petticoat (or petticoats), and glass slippers topped with sparkly hearts. (It should be noted, though, that the ball gown is often coloured light powder blue in merchandise and later productions and was even digitally recoloured as such in the original film's DVD and Blu-ray releases.) Her hair is pulled up into a variation of a French twist complimented with a very light cornflower blue band over it with large gems on both ends of the band (in recent merchandise, the two gems of the band have been replaced with diamond earrings). She also wears a simple black choker around her neck.

Her wedding dress consists of a beautiful white dress and petticoat that exposed little cleavage. She uses her hair in a bun (though in the original film, we do not see where her bun is. In Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, we see it as a low bun) with a white tiara and a cap. Her veil is pulled back from her hair. The dress has long triangular sleeves, with a black choker around the neck (a white ribbon in Cinderella II), along with white dress shoes.

In Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, she wore a pink-and-white version of her original iconic Princess dress. While getting ready for the banquet in the same segment, she had to wear was a pink, formal, and rather puffy dress, with an elaborate hairstyle with several pink bows.

The dress she wears to the royal ball she arranges is a sea green/teal ball gown rather like her original, but with a corset attached to a flat triangular overskirt and a spiky-laced white petticoat. She has a simple black choker with emeralds hanging on it. Cinderella wears a more sea green version of her original headband and evening gloves. She also has the same French twist hairstyle from her original Princess dress.

In both "Aim to Please" and "Tail Tail", she wore a blue-and-white version of her maid outfit. During the party in "Tail Tail", she wore a yellow ball gown with the same French twist hairstyle from her original Princess dress.

In "An Uncommon Romance" she has the same maid outfit and princess dress from the original film.

In Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, Cinderella wore two wedding gowns along with her maid outfit. She also has two normal outfits at the beginning of the movie. In her initial appearance before Lady Tremaine altering the time using the Fairy Godmother's wand, Cinderella was seen in her normal outfit similar to her husband Prince Charming's; a light brown formal vest with a pale yellow long-sleeved collared shirt, cream-colored long skirt and brown heels. Her hair is left loose while wearing this outfit. Her other outfit which it was seen in her portrait with her husband, she was seen wearing a similar outfit as the first outfit as her formal vest is brown, her long skirt is gold with a light-yellow petticoat as the length of the skirt covers her brown heels and has a matching light-yellow tie on the collar.

While wearing her maid outfit when she is about to be banished whilst riding in the ship and being reunited with Prince Charming, her hair is loose to show her full fringes.

As she is about to be remarried by Prince Charming in their wedding, she wears the wedding gown at the end of the first film and was recoloured to pale blue. When Lady Tremaine makes a spell on her, escaping away from Lucifer's human form by riding horseback to the wedding and protecting Anastasia when she refuses to marry Prince Charming before the Prince protects them from getting hit by a spell. Her wedding dress was in shreds like her first ball gown in the original film as the long sleeves became short sleeves, and she was in bare feet. Her hair is tied in a bun but in a messy look to show the fringes of her hair.

At the end of the film, her second dress is a white elaborate long-sleeved wedding gown with its V-neckline has three linings to show her cleavage. She also wears an elaborate diamond tiara along with a long sparkling wedding veil and white heels. The edge of the dress skirt from her wedding gown has diamond designs.

In the live-action film, Cinderella's outfits are somewhat different from those seen in the animated original film and its sequels. As a child, she wears a similar outfit from the original film, but is of turquoise blue and wears blue ballet flats.

Her maid outfit consists of a turquoise blue gown, maroon apron, and blue ballet flats. When Ella is exposed to dust and the ashes in the attic, her gown becomes in a moderate sense dirty, and her flats are becoming darkened from ashes, upon which her stepsisters mockingly call her "Cinderella".

When the girls around the kingdom are invited to the royal ball, Ella wears a pink gown that her late mother wore when Ella was young. Her dress is torn by her stepsisters when Tremaine wants to keep Ella at home as a servant. Her gown is modified by her Fairy Godmother and changes into vivid azure.

The glass slippers Ella receives have the appearance of shiny, reflective crystal.

When married to king Kit, she wears a cream wedding dress and white heels.

## Film Appearances

### Cinderella

Cinderella is a daughter of a widowed aristocrat who gave her every luxury and comfort. Her father, believing she needed a mother's love, married Lady Tremaine, who has two daughters about her age from a previous marriage: Anastasia and Drizella. However, after her father's death, Lady Tremaine reveals herself to be a passive-aggressive tyrant who is jealous of Cinderella's beauty. She, her daughters, and their pet cat Lucifer abuse and mistreat Cinderella, ultimately forcing her to become a scullery maid in her own home. She is notable for being silenced repeatedly by Lady Tremaine, creating the assumption that Cinderella is expected to do chores without speaking out. Her only friends around the château are the mice (especially Jaq and Gus), the birds, Bruno the dog, and Major the horse.

One day, Cinderella receives an invitation to a royal ball at the King's Castle. She immediately delivers it to her stepmother, who tells her she can go―provided she finishes all her chores and is able to find something suitable to wear. After thanking her stepmother, she goes back to her room, where she shows the mice and birds a dress that had belonged to her late birth mother. As of that moment, her most magical experience of all has begun.

She is about to begin fixing her dress when she is unexpectedly called downstairs by her impatient, needy stepsisters. The mice and birds, feeling sorry for her, take it upon themselves to repair the dress for Cinderella. Jaq and Gus find a sash that Anastasia doesn't want anymore, as well as some beads, are thrown out by Drizella and take them to help fix the dress.

Later that night, Cinderella sees a carriage outside the château through a large window. She goes to inform her stepmother that a carriage has arrived to take them to the ball. When Lady Tremaine notices that Cinderella has not yet dressed for the event, Cinderella replies that she is not going to which Lady Tremaine points out that there is other times Cinderella will be able to attend while smiling wickedly about Cinderella not going to her own daughters, who return the gesture. Cinderella walks back to her room and looks out the castle's window, wondering what a royal ball will be like. Just then, her bird and mouse friends reveal a surprise: they had fixed the dress for her. She thanks them for showing how much they care for her, changes into the dress, and rushes downstairs to join her stepfamily. However, when they see Cinderella, Lady Tremaine compliments her dress and points out Drizella's beads. The stepsisters then fly into a rage in the belief that Cinderella stole their discarded items to use in her dress, and not caring that the dress had belonged to Cinderella's late mother, furiously tear the dress apart until Lady Tremaine puts it to a stop and ushers them to get into the carriage, which they snootily do after ensuring their stepsister can't come with them now to the ball.

Cinderella is left with her dress reduced to rags as her stepmother wishes her good night before departing for the ball with the stepsisters. At that moment, Cinderella finally reaches her breaking point at having endured her stepfamily's abuse for too long, and the broken girl runs outside to the garden and breaks down in tears, with the mice, Bruno, and Major watching her in sadness. She throws herself onto a bench and begins sobbing at the apparent loss of her dreams, feeling unable to continue enduring the cruelty of her stepfamily through hope and optimism any longer. Shortly thereafter, the magical Fairy Godmother appears on a bench to comfort Cinderella, explaining the latter's hope still reigns strong deep inside her, as the former wouldn't have been able to appear otherwise. The Fairy Godmother then insists that Cinderella attends the ball and demonstrates her magical abilities as she transforms a pumpkin into a coach, mice into horses, Major into a coachman, and Bruno into a footman, before transforming Cinderella's ragged dress into a beautiful, sparkling ball gown, complete with glass slippers. The Fairy Godmother warns Cinderella that all her magic will be undone at the stroke of midnight. Cinderella thanks her, unimaginably grateful for the Godmother's kindness, and quickly jumps into the coach and sets off for the ball, waving goodbye to the Fairy Godmother as she does.

Cinderella arrives at the castle while the ball is still in procession. She walks upstairs to the castle's ballroom, where she attracts the attention of Prince Charming, who is enchanted by her sparkling appearance and walks over to her. He escorts her to the middle of the ballroom, and (surrounded by other maidens in attendance) the two begin to waltz. The two then have some private time together outside (courtesy of the Grand Duke), during which they become completely enthralled with each other and are about to kiss, but then the clock begins to strike midnight, prompting Cinderella, who has lost track of time and also has not realized at this point that she has been dancing with the Prince himself, to leave abruptly, realizing that the Fairy Godmother's magic is about to end, and she needs to flee before everything returns to normal in front of everyone at the castle.

As she runs down the stairs, she inadvertently drops one of her two glass slippers; nevertheless, she jumps into the coach and leaves the castle. At the clock's twelfth strike, the spell breaks, reverting everything back to what it was. After running behind the bushes to hide from the palace guards (summoned by the Grand Duke) who gallop past the pumpkin (smashing it in the process), Cinderella, her dress reverted once again to the rags of her destroyed late mother's dress, apologizes to the mice, Major, and Bruno for forgetting the time before going over her wonderful time at the ball, including her dance with the Prince. Just as she accepts that it has all ended, Jaq and Gus point out a glass slipper, the only remaining object from the Fairy Godmother's magic, on her foot. Cinderella takes off the slipper and thanks her friends and her Fairy Godmother for everything.

Meanwhile, at the castle, the King has ordered the Grand Duke to search all over the kingdom for whoever can fit the slipper, the only clue of the mysterious maiden. Back at Cinderella's château, Cinderella has resumed her duties as a maid. As she walks upstairs, carrying breakfast for Anastasia and Drizella, she overhears Lady Tremaine telling Anastasia and Drizella about the news of the Duke's search for the girl who has lost a slipper at the ball last night and whom the Prince is madly in love with, causing Cinderella, upon realizing that handsome man she danced with was Prince Charming, to become so distracted that she drops the breakfast tray in the process, angering her stepmother. As she obeys her stepmother and cleans up the mess, she overhears Lady Tremaine continuing to tell her daughters that the girl who can fit the slipper will be the Prince's bride, making Cinderella smile dreamily, even when her stepsisters stack clothing in her arms, the sight of which makes them suspicious of her peculiar facial expression.

Upon hearing that the two have to get dressed in preparation for the Duke's arrival, Cinderella decides that she too must get ready. She puts down the clothes and heads upstairs to her room, singing and humming the tune she and the Prince had sung at the ball. Unknown to her, Lady Tremaine is spying on her dance-like movements and realizes Cinderella was the mysterious girl who danced with the Prince. Jaq and Gus see Lady Tremaine heading upstairs to the tower and, sensing the danger, rush to Cinderella's room to warn her, but Cinderella is too busy preparing herself to meet the Duke. By the time she sees them trying to warn her, she catches sight of Lady Tremaine at the door (through a mirror), but it's too late, as the wicked stepmother slams the door shut and locks it. Having seen Lady Tremaine put the key into her pocket, Jaq and Gus decide to steal the key and take it to Cinderella's room to free her.

A short time later, the Grand Duke and the Herald arrived at the château. While Cinderella sobs in front of the locked door, believing that her dreams of being reunited with the Prince have been shattered forever, Jaq and Gus steal the key to her room from Lady Tremaine. Cinderella hears Jaq and Gus panting up the stairs outside her room and looks through the keyhole to see that the two mice have finally made it to the top with the key in tow, filling her once again with relief and hope, but is again shocked when Lucifer ambushes and traps Gus inside a bowl, along with the key. She pleads with Lucifer to let Gus go, but the stubborn cat refuses, knowing that he is buying time for the Grand Duke to leave and preventing Cinderella from trying on the slipper, as well as wanting to eat Gus as he has been trying to do throughout the movie. When the mice and the birds' attempts to make Lucifer release Gus fail, Cinderella, quickly realizing that Bruno is the only one who can rid of Lucifer, orders the birds to fetch the dog. Bruno quickly arrives and frightens the cat into jumping out of a window, getting rid of him for the time being. Now victorious, Jaq and Gus wedge the key through an opening between the door and the floor, allowing Cinderella to finally exit her room and head downstairs.

Just as the Duke is about to leave, disgruntled and disgusted by the efforts Anastasia and Drizella tried to get the slipper to fit on their feet and nearly destroying it in the process, Cinderella calls out to him, much to her stepfamily's horror. Lady Tremaine initially tries to dismiss Cinderella as a maid, but the Duke rebuffs her as his orders were to have every maiden in the kingdom try on the slipper and helps Cinderella onto a chair so that she can try on the slipper. He calls for the Herald to deliver the slipper, but Lady Tremaine, in one final desperate attempt to shatter Cinderella's dreams, trips him with her cane, causing the slipper to fly and shatter into pieces in front of the Duke and Cinderella. As the Duke reacts in horror and terror about the King's reaction and it is seeming like Lady Tremaine would keep Cinderella in her home forever, Cinderella reveals that she has the other slipper, which she pulls out from her apron, horrifying her stepmother and stepsisters, but filling the Duke again with joy and hope. He slides the slipper onto Cinderella's foot, and it fits perfectly.

Cinderella, along with the mice, Bruno, and Major, is taken to the castle, where she reunites with Prince Charming and becomes his bride and a princess. The King and the Grand Duke happily celebrate their marriage as the newlywed’s head downstairs to a carriage that will take them on their honeymoon. As Cinderella walks down the stairs with the Prince, she drops her slipper once again, prompting her to go back for it. The King assists her in putting it back on, and Cinderella gives him a kiss on the head to thank him. Cinderella and the Prince ride off in the carriage, and Cinderella waves goodbye to her mice friends, who wave back at her. As the carriage pulls away, Cinderella and the Prince share another kiss (with the final words in the book, below the illustration of the couple kissing, reading "and they lived happily ever after").

### Cinderella II: Dreams Come True

Around a year after the events of the original movie, Jaq and Gus set off to make a new book to narrate what happens after the ending of the previous story by stringing three segments of astounding stories together, making three separate stories that are titled: "Aim to Please", "Tall Tail", and "An Uncommon Romance".

In the first story, "Aim to Please", Cinderella and Prince Charming return home from their honeymoon, only to find that Charming and the King have to leave once again for royal affairs, leaving Cinderella in charge of a royal banquet that is to be held. Not knowing the first thing about organizing parties or the royal traditions, Cinderella struggles with her new life and tasks as royalty, and she ultimately decides to disregard the old traditions and set things anew, successfully throwing the party in her own unique style.

In the second story, "Tall Tail", Cinderella and the Grand Duke work together throughout the castle to prepare for a festival, while Jaq feels guilt for his inability to assist her due to his size. Fairy Godmother, however, transforms Jaq into a human by the name of Sir Hugh, and in this new guise, he offers Cinderella assistance numerous times, only to fail abruptly when he does and ultimately realizes he's better off as a mouse anyway.

In the third and final story; called "An Uncommon Romance", Anastasia falls in love with a local baker, much to the disgust and disapproval of Lady Tremaine and Drizella. Anastasia is told by her mother to never speak a single word to the baker again. Having been watching the whole time, Cinderella comes up with a plan to get her stepsister back with the baker by getting her mouse friends (including Jaq and Gus) to distract him while the birds steal Anastasia's hat and fly off to the bakery with the intention of having her run after them to get it back and reunite with the baker again. The attempt backfires when the mice run into Lucifer (their old nemesis) who gives chase, resulting in a startled horse kicking Anastasia into the baker's shop. Anastasia runs out, breaking down in tears, and retreats to a quiet area in the village. She is found and comforted by Cinderella, who offers to help her stepsister change for the better and win the baker's heart. In the end, not only does Anastasia blossom a romantic relationship with the baker, but a loving relationship between her and Cinderella is also formed, finally accepting one another as like true sisters.

### Cinderella III: A Twist in Time

Cinderella and Prince Charming are celebrating their first anniversary when Fairy Godmother accidentally loses her wand to Anastasia. She immediately takes it to Lady Tremaine and Drizella, who learn the power of the wand and how to wield it properly. After the Fairy Godmother is accidentally transformed into a statue, Lady Tremaine then reverses time to before Cinderella tried on the slipper. By using magic, the slipper is able to fit Anastasia. Cinderella tries to convince Lady Tremaine that the slipper belongs to her by showing her that she has the other one. Instead, Lady Tremaine calls her night with Prince Charming nothing more than a dream and destroys the other slipper. Cinderella is left at the château while her stepmother and Lucifer make way to the castle to meet her prince. Devastated and confused, Cinderella begins to attend to her normal duties, but regains her confidence and decides to meet with the prince herself, knowing he should recognize her when he sees her. Cinderella, Jaq, Gus, and two bluebirds, sneak into the palace and begin their search.

When she finally bumps into him, however, he fails to recognize her. Heartbroken, Cinderella cries at losing her former love until Jaq and Gus arrive to expose Lady Tremaine's villainy. Upon finding out that Lady Tremaine used the wand to wipe Charming's memory of herself and make him believe Anastasia was the one he danced with, Cinderella forgets her sorrows and jumps into action. At Lady Tremaine's room, Jaq and Gus sneak in to grab the wand. They are almost exposed by Lucifer until Cinderella enters disguised as a maid. Lady Tremaine discovers her anyway, and a chase follows. While Jaq, Gus, and Cinderella evade Tremaine and the palace guards, the bluebirds rush to warn Charming of the danger, hoping to lure him to Cinderella's location for the spell to be broken. Meanwhile, Jaq and Gus hand the wand over to Cinderella just as Charming arrives onto the scene, but before she could flip the spell, the guards arrest her. Lady Tremaine regains the wand and orders the guards to send Cinderella to the next ship leaving the kingdom to have her banished, although she narrowly manages to touch the Prince's hand.

Jaq, Gus, and the bluebirds meet up with Prince Charming. They explain that his memory was altered (referring to Cinderella as Cinderelly), and he rushes off on his horse to find her before the ship sets sail. He is too late, but narrowly manages to find himself on board, reintroducing himself to Cinderella (whom he calls Cinderelly before she corrects him), and immediately takes advantage of the moment by proposing to the girl, which she gladly accepts. With their love having prevailed over Lady Tremaine's curse, the two return to the palace and explain the situation to the King and Grand Duke. Infuriated, the King orders the Grand Duke and the guards to search the castle for the stepfamily to have them arrested, while other members of the castle prepare for a wedding, which is set to take place that same night. Cinderella is preparing for her wedding with the help of her animal companions, Lady Tremaine and Lucifer appear out of the shadows. Not only that, but Tremaine also soon summons Anastasia, who is revealed to have been magically transformed into an exact copy of Cinderella. Tremaine explains her plot to have Anastasia marry the prince under her guise. Seeing her apprehension, Cinderella makes an attempt to talk down her stepsister, but fearing Cinderella could conjure a change in heart in Anastasia, Tremaine sends her off to be killed by a human Lucifer.

Still, Cinderella manages to escape her death and uses her time to make her way to the castle. Prince Charming and "Cinderella" are ready to marry, but to the real Cinderella's amazement, Anastasia refuses to marry the Prince, having realized that she doesn't truly love him. An infuriated Lady Tremaine tries to turn Anastasia into a toad until Cinderella steps in to defend her, horrified by Tremaine's ruthlessness. Lady Tremaine then attempts to turn them both into toads, but Prince Charming intervenes by reflecting the magic with his sword, causing it to hit Drizella and Lady Tremaine instead. They are transformed into toads and fall into the Palace's basement. Anastasia brings the real Cinderella and Charming together and transforms herself back to normal. Cinderella thanks Anastasia, and the two reconcile, putting their animosity firmly behind them. Together, they restore the Fairy Godmother, who gives Cinderella a brand-new wedding attire. As they are unaware of the twist in time, Cinderella and Prince Charming decline the fairy's offer to restore the timeline, and the two finally tie the knot, and they live happily ever after...again. She subsequently invites Anastasia to live in the Palace with her, which saves her from becoming a scullery maid like Lady Tremaine and Drizella.

### Cinderella (2015)

In Disney's 2015 live-action re-imagining of the original 1950 film, she is portrayed by Lily James.

In this film, the protagonist is a young woman named Ella whose merchant father remarries following the tragic death of her mother. Keen to support her loving father, Ella welcomes her new stepmother, Lady Tremaine, and her daughters, Anastasia and Drizella, into the family home. But when Ella's dear father suddenly and unexpectedly goes on a trip to an unknown location and passes away in the process, she finds herself at the mercy of the jealousy, ice-cold venom, abuse, and ridicule of her new unloving stepfamily.

The Tremaine’s began showing their true colours shortly after Ella's father left on his trip when Lady Tremaine persuaded her to give up her room to Drizella and Anastasia, ostensibly as a temporary measure, while she slept in the attic. However, things turned for the worse after her father's death. Eventually, Ella is relegated to nothing more than a servant girl and spitefully renamed "Cinderella" after waking up with her face coated in soot from the attic fireplace. Ella could easily begin to lose hope. Yet, despite the cruelty inflicted upon her, Ella is determined to honour her mother's dying words and to "have the courage and be kind". She will not give in to despair nor despise those who abuse her.

One day, she meets a dashing stranger in the woods. Unaware that he is really a prince and not merely an employee at the Palace, Ella finally feels she has met a kindred spirit. It appears as if her fortunes may be about to change when the Palace sends out an open invitation for all maidens to attend a ball, thus raising Ella's hopes of a second encounter with the charming "Kit". When Lady Tremaine refuses to buy her a dress, Ella fixes up an old dress of her mother's. However, her stepfamily not only refuses to let her attend but proceeds to callously rip apart her dress. This latest act of cruelty breaks Ella's spirit, and she runs to the garden in tears. She encounters an old beggar woman who is really her Fairy Godmother. She lends a helping hand by magically transforming a pumpkin, mice, lizards, and a goose into a carriage, horses, footmen, and a coachman. The Fairy Godmother also transforms Ella's torn dress into an exquisite ball gown with glass slippers; however, the woman warns Ella that the spell will only last until midnight.

When she arrives at the ball, she discovers that Kit is really the heir to the throne. They fall strongly in love, but just as she's about to tell him her name, the clock strikes 11:59. She drops one of her slippers but manages to get home in the rain and hides the other slipper in the attic. When she hears that the prince―who is now king―wants every maiden in the kingdom to try on the missing slipper, she is ecstatic. However, Lady Tremaine, having discerned her identity, demands that she become head of the royal household if Ella marries Kit. She also demands that Ella ensure worthy husbands for her daughters. Ella has never forgiven herself for not protecting her father and is unwilling to let Kit get in her stepmother's clutches. Enraged, Lady Tremaine smashes the slipper and locks Ella in the attic.

The Grand Duke and the Captain of the Guards were about to leave the Tremaine estate, they heard Ella singing Lavender's Blue from the attic. Feigning ignorance, the Grand Duke persists in leaving, but then one of the guards reveals himself to be Kit in disguise and demanded that the singing girl is tracked down. When the captain found Ella in the attic, Lady Tremaine tried to forbid her from trying on the slipper, saying that she is her mother. However, Ella curtly retorted that Lady Tremaine had never been and never would be her mother.

As Ella made her way to present herself before Kit, she drew the confidence and composure she needed from her promise to her mother. When she and Kit finally met face-to-face, she confessed that she was no princess and had neither parents, nor carriage, nor dowry, and asked if Kit was able to take her as she was if the slipper fit her: an honest country girl who truly loved him. As expected, Kit answered in the affirmative, and the slipper fitted perfectly.

Just as Kit and Ella were about to kiss, however, Drizella and Anastasia burst in on them and begged her for forgiveness, going as far as to curtsy to her. The Grand Duke bowed to her as well in acknowledgment. Ella simply smiled at them forgivingly and left the room with Kit. Before she left with Kit for her new life, Ella turned to shoot Lady Tremaine a final long, meaningful stare and finally tells her that she forgives her. At this, Lady Tremaine sinks to the ground in defeat. After Lady Tremaine, her daughters, and the Grand Duke are banished from the kingdom, Ella and Kit marry and share a kiss. The Fairy Godmother narrates that they become the kingdom's most beloved monarchs. Ella continues to "have courage and be kind".

Unlike the animated film, Cinderella here becomes a Queen upon her marriage, rather than a mere princess.

### Ralph Breaks the Internet

In Ralph Breaks the Internet, Cinderella appears as a netizen residing in Oh My Disney as a cast member. She and the other Disney princesses greet net users who most relate to them after answering a "Which Disney Princess Are You?" quiz. While visiting the site, Vanellope von Schweetz gets into trouble with First Order Stormtroopers. She manages to find refuge in the Disney princesses' private quarters, where the ladies are on break; Cinderella can be seen picking leaves from Pocahontas's hair. The princesses immediately lunge at Vanellope, believing her to be a threat; Cinderella breaks the glass slipper and threatens to use it as a shiv. To their surprise, however, Vanellope reveals to be a princess, as well, prompting her and the others to stand down. Pocahontas questions what kind of princess Vanellope is; Cinderella asks if animals talk to Vanellope while holding her mice and birds, though she denies. When Vanellope notes that she doesn't have a mom in response to Jasmine, Cinderella excitedly relates.

After declaring Vanellope an official princess, Cinderella becomes interested in Vanellope's casual modern attire and expresses a desire to have an outfit just like hers. As the other princesses take interest, as well, Cinderella has the mice seam comfy modern clothes for each of the girls. Cinderella's outfit consists of a pale silvery-blue top that reads "G2G" with artwork of the pumpkin carriage - a nod to her midnight deadline, light blue pants, and brown ballet flats. Her hair has also been let down and held in place by a blue bow. After changing, Cinderella lounges on a beanbag decorated with Fairy Godmother's magic sparkles and happily sighs, "So this is love..." and declares Vanellope the "queen of comfy" as she and the others enjoy the comfort of their new outfits. She and the other princesses then get into a conversation about songs. Vanellope explains that she's never had a song of her own. The princesses encourage her to find one by thinking about what she desires most while looking into water; Cinderella references the times she would sing to bubbles while cleaning her stepmother's château.

During the climax of the film, Cinderella and the princesses notice Vanellope's friend, Wreck-It Ralph, plummeting to his doom. They rally together to rescue the bad guy, Cinderella supplies Jaq and Gus with sewing material. After Ralph is safe, Cinderella and the princesses formally introduce themselves as friends of Vanellope's, and befriending Ralph as well.

## Television Appearances

### House of Mouse

Cinderella makes numerous cameo appearances in the animated series House of Mouse always in her classic ball gown.

In the episode "The Stolen Cartoons" when Donald was left in charge, she fled away from the bad show, leaving behind her glass slipper.

In the episode "House of Scrooge", she lends Mickey the dress the mice made for her and after he thanks her she replies with "That old thing?"

In the episode "Rent Day", Cinderella was part of Mickey's borrow and exchange chain, telling him she had given him her pumpkin so long as he can find her another mode of transportation.

In "Big Bad Wolf Daddy", her glass slippers broke as Big Bad Wolf continues blowing his trumpet during his performance on stage.

In "Where's Minnie?", when the advert named "Scuttle's Lost & Found" mentions glass slippers, she then realizes that she lost the slippers.

In "The Mouse Who Came to Dinner", Mortimer Mouse made fun of her regarding her missing glass slipper.

She also appears in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse, in which she is trapped in the House with the other guests. At one point, she talks about how she is thankful for friendly mice who make nice evening wear (a segment also used in the series episode "House of Turkey"). In the ending song, Cinderella receives the dress they made for her as a Christmas gift.

She also makes a non-speaking cameo in Mickey's House of Villains, during the song, "It's Our House Now!", where she is seen sitting next to Belle and Aurora, and the three are frightened by the Queen chopping off the Fates' heads.

### Sofia the First

In the pilot film, Once Upon a Princess, Cinderella is summoned by Sofia's magical amulet after the young princess casts a spell that makes everyone at the royal ball fall asleep. Cinderella explains that when Sofia's in trouble, the amulet will summon one of the princesses to help her. Cinderella tells Sofia that the best way to solve the problem is to make amends with her stepsister Amber. Sofia is reluctant to do so, however, since Amber had treated her harshly since she first arrived at the castle.

Cinderella tells Sofia that Princess Amber was only jealous because Sofia had gained more attention recently and that showing her compassion could help her change her views. She also tells her that she went through a similar thing with her two stepsisters, Drizella and Anastasia, of how their jealousy for her made them cold and cruel as a result of Lady Tremaine's upbringing, and if she had tried to make amends with them, maybe things would have been better for them now. She sings a song with Sofia about her own troubles she had with her own stepsisters called "True Sisters" before departing.

In "Forever Royal" when Sofia is battling Vor inside her amulet, Cinderella appears to Sofia in spirit form along with all the other princesses who have been summoned to help her in her times of need, and they encourage her to be brave and strong for they all believe in her.

### Once Upon a Time

#### First Iteration

Cinderella (played by Jessy Schram), (also referred to as Ella) was a maid who wished to attend the royal ball. Her fairy godmother appears to grant her wish, but Rumplestiltskin kills the fairy. Warning her that "all magic comes with a price", he offers her a contract: her wish in exchange for something she will have in the future. She signs it without reading it and goes to the ball. She meets Prince Thomas, and the two fall in love and marry. At the wedding reception, Rumplestiltskin reminds Ella of the contract and informs her that he asked for her first-born child. When she discovers she is pregnant, she tries to run away. But Thomas and Prince James devise a plan to capture Rumplestiltskin. The plan succeeds, but Thomas disappears. Rumplestiltskin vows that she will never see Thomas again until the contract is fulfilled.

In Storybrooke, she is 19-year old Ashley Boyd, a single, pregnant maid. The baby's father Sean Herman, who is really Thomas, is not allowed by his father to continue seeing Ashley. Sean's father arranges for Mr. Gold, who is Rumplestiltskin, to pay Ashley in exchange for the baby. She originally agrees to the exchange, but she later decides to keep her child. She tries to flee town but goes into labour at the city limits. Emma Swan finds her and brings her to the hospital. There, Emma agrees to do Mr. Gold a favour if Ashley is allowed to keep the baby. Mr. Gold agrees to the arrangement. Ashley gives birth to a daughter, Alexandra, and Sean visits the hospital to reconcile with Ashley and to give his daughter a pair of shoes that fit her feet perfectly (a reference to the original Cinderella story). A few months after, he proposes to Ashley and the pair is engaged.

She later begins teaching parenting classes in Storybrooke, as revealed in Season 4.

Cinderella returns in the Season 6 episode "The Other Shoe" where she discovers her stepsister Clorinda came to town and decides she must protect her from Lady Tremaine. She eventually finds an injured Clorinda hiding inside a pumpkin farm. Ashley unties her stepsister's bandage, only to discover there is no wound, and that Clorinda and Lady Tremaine have lured her into a trap. In the flashback, it was revealed that Clorinda was given a rose by Prince Thomas during the ball to congrats her for the secret marriage with Jacob. Cinderella misunderstood this as an act of love confession and felt betrayed. After Lady Tremaine mocked her, she left the ball and accidentally left the glass slippers. It turned out that she had the key to the Land of Untold Stories. Clorinda's vengeance against her stepsister comes to a halt when Ashley reveals the pumpkin farm belongs to Jacob, and that he and Clorinda can still have a chance at happiness. Lady Tremaine brings Jacob in, intending to kill him, but Ashley blocks her. After she is stabbed by Lady Tremaine, Emma manages to heal her in time. While Lady Tremaine serves her punishment under Leroy's supervision, Ashley and Clorinda make up, and the two stepsisters and their beaus later spend time together.

Ashley Boyd also makes a cameo appearance in Storybrooke at the beginning of the first episode of the spin-off series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. She and Leroy are packing away from the diner when Will Scarlet manages to steal her keys.

#### Second Iteration

The Season 7 version of Cinderella is the stepdaughter of Lady Tremaine, the stepsister of Drizella and Anastasia, wife of Henry Mills, and mother of Lucy.

As a child, her mother marries Marcus Tremaine and gains two stepsisters. After the return of Marcus' first wife, Rapunzel, her mother runs away to New Wonderland, having been cursed by Rapunzel. After a near-death experience, Rapunzel shuns Ella after Marcus saves her instead of Anastasia. When Rapunzel kills Marcus, Ella becomes the maid of their manor.

On the way to a ball, she runs into Henry on a motorcycle, destroying her carriage. She knocks him unconscious and steals his motorcycle to the ball to confront the Prince for what he did to her father. With a knife stolen from Henry, she tries to stab the Prince, but couldn't get through with the plan. Instead, Lady Tremaine stabs the Prince to death and accuses Cinderella of murder. She fights her away out of the castle with Henry's help and plans to meet him deep in the forest to escape the land through a portal, but does not show up and instead leaves one of her glass shoes as a sign for him to find her.

Ella later joins Princess Tiana's resistance with Henry, Regina, and Hook. She then follows Alice to New Wonderland with Henry to persuade her to return home, and to find out answers about her runaway mother. When the Dark Curse is cast, she is sent to the Land Without Magic.

In Hyperion Heights, she is known as Jacinda Vidrio, a single mother, and worker at Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack. When Lucy runs away from home to find her father, Jacinda gets into trouble with her stepmother, Victoria, who thinks she is incapable of raising Lucy. When Victoria demands that Lucy is to stay with her permanently, Jacinda takes Lucy and tries to escape the neighbourhood, but is prevented by Officer Rogers and Ivy. Jacinda remains in the neighbourhood and continues her job at Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack. Sabine later convinces Jacinda that they sell her famous beignets at the shop, but after it got burnt down by Ralph, Jacinda buys a food truck for her and Sabine to continue Sabine's beignets business. With the help of Nick Branson, Jacinda gains custody of Lucy after Victoria is arrested for kidnapping Eloise Gardener. After she and Sabine are kidnapped by Mr. Samdi, her memories from before the curse are finally restored, and she later reunites with Henry and Lucy.

## Other Appearances

In the 101 Dalmatians: The Series episode "Home is Where the Bark Is", Cinderella's silhouette can be seen as one of the passengers of a subway train the dalmatians ride on.

Cinderella makes a cameo appearance at the end of the Teacher's Pet movie; she is shown holding a frog during the closing song.

Cinderella has a brief cameo in the Mickey Mouse Works cartoon "Mickey's April Fools", when Donald Duck fantasizes about replacing Mickey Mouse as Disney's biggest star, imagining himself in a parade with Cinderella, Aurora, and Snow White as his entourage.

Cinderella makes a cameo appearance along with Prince Charming in the Mickey Mouse episode "Croissant de Triomphe".

Cinderella was slated to star in the second instalment of the Disney Princess Enchanted Tales series of DVDs with Mulan. However, the film was cancelled due to poor sales of the first instalment.

In the Elena of Avalor episodes "First Day of Rule" and "Coronation Day", Cinderella can be seen amongst the guests at the royal ball and Elena's coronation.

An emoticon version of Cinderella also appeared in the As Told by Emoji retelling of the original 1950 animated film. Her ball gown in the short is modelled after the redesign featured in the Disney Princess franchise, as opposed to the film.

## Disney Princess

Amongst the general public, Cinderella is often regarded as the quintessential figure of the Disney Princess line-up. A number of official, promotional art pieces featuring the characters (specifically those prior to 2009) would even place Cinderella in the centre as an indication of this.

### Redesign

Cinderella received multiple changes in her late 2012 redesign.

Rather than its normal strawberry-blonde, her hair is now a vivid bright blonde in colour and is primarily parted on the right side of her head and tied up into an elaborate, high chignon. Her headband no longer covers her ears, and she now has individual earrings.

Cinderella's glass slippers are now tinted bright blue rather than being clear like the original glass. The style of her sleeves is now more separated from the actual dress itself and now seem to be made of pale blue organza, as is her long evening gloves.

Her new dress is a simplified combination of a Mantua, Robe à la Française, and a Robe a l'Anglaise with strong influences from 1950s debutante gowns, particularly with the upper half of the dress. Much of the cloth is a now distinct sky-blue colour with the pale blue organza overskirt drawn back and pinned up to display the matching petticoat revealed by the frontal opening of the sky-blue gown. The hem of the dress and part of its upper half are decorated with many elaborate swirly designs. The hem also contains designs that resemble the shape of her glass slippers, and the entire ensemble is now glittery.

Cinderella's new dress has unmistakably left behind the lighter blue influence of her silver gown in the original film along with her strawberry-blonde hair in the film and its two sequels, which is now a golden blonde similar to Aurora's and Rapunzel's.

This modified design of her is first seen during her appearance in Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess.

In the 2021 'Ultimate Princess Celebration' redesign, her hairstyle reverted back to its 2001 style, as well as the original strawberry-blonde colour.

### Palace Pets

Cinderella's Palace Pets are Pumpkin, Bibbidy, Slipper, Brie, Midnight, and La Grande.

## Disney Parks

Cinderella is a staple character at Disney theme parks around the world. She is often the spokeswoman for "Princess themed" scenes in the various show and parades. Her castle, Cinderella Castle, has become an icon at both Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland and is often used as the primary symbol for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in general. She is commonly found in entertainment offerings and meet-and-greet sessions.

### Disneyland Resort

Cinderella took TV viewers on a tour behind the scenes of the Main Street Electrical Parade during the farewell season.

Cinderella also makes an appearance during the finale of World of Color. In her scene, it shows her transforming into a princess from the Fairy Godmother's magic.

In Disneyland's version of Fantasmic!, she appears on the Mark Twain Riverboat with the other characters in the finale.

### Walt Disney World Resort

In Stitch's Great Escape!, Cinderella makes a brief cameo (though only her voice is heard) at the end of the ride where Stitch attempts to woo her at her castle by pretending he is Prince Charming. She quickly shoves him out when she realizes that he is not the prince.

Cinderella used to have a starring role in a Magic Kingdom Castle Show is known as Cinderella's Surprise Celebration. The plot was that she wished to share many special gifts, with a little assistance from Mickey and the gang, with the visitors of the Kingdom.

In the first phase of Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland expansion, the Tremaine château was to be featured as a walkthrough and meet and greet called Dreams Come True With Cinderella. Guests would see Cinderella singing with audio-animatronic birds and mice, the making of the dress, the stepsisters ruining the dress, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo and Cinderella being transformed into her princess incarnation and Cinderella would then teach guests how to dance or be Knights. This idea was eventually scrapped and the area that it was to occupy is now part of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

In Disney's Hollywood Studios' version of Fantasmic!, Cinderella appears in the bubble montage during the princess-themed medley.

Cinderella also has a spell card known as "Cinderella's Magic Ribbon" in the attraction Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. Also in the Magic Kingdom, Cinderella can be seen in the Festival of Fantasy parade.

In 2016, Cinderella and Prince Charming hosted a ceremony at the Magic Kingdom in which they introduced Princess Elena of Avalor into the Disney theme parks.

### Tokyo Disney Resort

Cinderella starred in her own sequence in the Tokyo DisneySea version of Fantasmic!.

Cinderella used to star in a night-time spectacular called Cinderella's Royal Coronation, which as the title suggests, celebrated her coronation as a Princess.

In Tokyo Disneyland's night-time spectacular Once Upon a Time, there is a Cinderella segment where guests see the dress-making scene and "So This is Love".

### Shanghai Disneyland

In the park's Enchanted Storybook Castle, Cinderella is depicted on one of the walls carving displays.

Cinderella appears during the final montage of Ignite the Dream: A Nighttime Spectacular of Magic and Light. Her iconic transformation sets off the finale.

### Disney Cruise Line

On the Disney Cruise Line, Cinderella can be seen in the shows The Golden Mickeys, Believe, Dreams, and Twice Charmed.