Cinderella III: A Twist In Time

***Cinderella III: A Twist in Time*** (known as *Cinderella: A Twist in Time* in the United Kingdom) is a 2007 American direct-to-video fantasy adventure film, and the second direct-to-DVD sequel to the critically acclaimed Disney animated canon feature, *Cinderella*. It was directed by Frank Nissen and features a screenplay by Dan Berendsen, Margaret Heidenry, Colleen Ventimilia and Eddie Guzelian.

## Plot

Cinderella's wicked stepmother Lady Tremaine gets her hands on the Fairy Godmother's wand and rewinds time to the day Cinderella tried on the glass slipper, altering it to fit Anastasia's foot instead before erasing Prince Charming's memories of meeting Cinderella. When Cinderella learns of the evil scheme, she sets out to reclaim her beloved prince and stop Lady Tremaine.

## Why It's a Twist in Time

1. First of all, this movie in its entirety is a **major** improvement over the previous *Cinderella* sequel, as almost every single aspect of it is changed here for the better. It just shows how this was truly meant to be the true sequel to the original *Cinderella* film.
	* The film in some ways even improves elements from the original *Cinderella* film, even going so far as to poke fun at the absurdities of said film in a good way.
2. The animation is top-notch, especially for a direct-to-DVD Disney sequel, and is a massive step-up from both the first and second films (granted, most of the animation in films like this aren't "bad" per se, unless it's the kind that's actually a bunch of rejected pilot episodes for a failed television series, but this film still has some of the best animation used for one of these sequels).
	* Speaking of which, the animation quality is an improvement from the first film in a way by having more expressive animation for its characters, especially the human characters.
3. The whole story of this film is incredibly interesting, as it completely subverts the previous films' typical fairytale themes for a "villain tries to undo the hero's 'happily ever after'" story. Unlike some other sequels with a drastic change in story themes and story like *Ice Age: Collison Course* or *Cars 2*, this movie doesn't feel completely detached from its predecessors and its concepts don't feel completely out-of-place for the universe that the story takes place in. As magic is something that has already been established in the *Cinderella* universe, the film's story is actually quite believable.
	* The movie itself is also very unpredictable, unlike many other direct-to-DVD Disney sequels.
4. The characters aren't just faithful to their counterparts from the first film, but many of them are actually improved here and given more depth and personality.
	* Cinderella herself is made into an action girl. This is best shown when she storms the castle which was, at the time, being managed by Lady Tremaine, with Jaq and Gus in order to take the villain down in a downright epic spy movie-esque scene.
	* Prince Charming was a pretty generic character in the first and second films. Here, he gains a lot more development and has a more humorous and sarcastic personality, also showing that he has a tendency to be rebellious in spite of his status as a prince.
	* The King is notably a much more pleasant character here than he was in the previous films. He's less short-tempered and stubborn and more compassionate. It's also worth noting that he plays a large part in Anastasia's redemption. As the latter's mother was manipulating things in order for her to be able to marry Prince Charming instead of Cinderella, the King was the one who taught her about love, using his own love for his departed wife as an example. He even gifts her with the seashell his wife once gave him.
	* Anastasia's redemption arc is executed here even better than it was in the previous sequel, *Dreams Come True*. Here, rather than Anastasia simply starting off as being reformed with no explanation and having the whole thing itself take place off-screen, she actually becomes a nicer and more compassionate person on-screen, with her character development itself also having plenty of build-up to justify it happening. A good example of this is evident when even before Anastasia reforms she, deep down, is even shown to care for Cinderella (like after Lady Tremaine turned back time with the stolen Fairy Godmother's magic wand, Anastasia then asks her **"Where's Cinderella?"**), and is unwilling to go through her mother's idea of marrying Prince Charming for power throughout the entire film.
5. Phenomenal voice acting, as can be expected from movies of the Disney Animated Canon. All of the voice actors do amazing jobs voicing their characters and they feel perfectly casted as well.
6. Many memorable songs, even for Disney direct-to-video standards, such as *Perfectly Perfect, More Than a Dream* and *At the Ball*.
7. Amazing action sequences, which are something that had **never** been done before in *Cinderella* films (as well as rarely being done in Disney Princess films at all, at least at the time). A major example of this is when Cinderella crashes the wedding after punching her way out of the demented pumpkin carriage.
8. Tons of hilarious moments, among of them include (but are not limited to):
	* **"Am I/Are we in the right room?"**
	* The infamous scene where Prince Charming jumps out of the window, much to the King's shock.
	* The food fight scene involving Anastasia and Drizella, which ends with the wedding cake falling on the former.
	* Almost every scene featuring Jaq and Gus, including the scenes where Lucifer is added in the mix, which is way funnier than in the first film.
	* The hilariously awkward scene when Prince Charming refers to Cinderella as "Cinderelly" (her nickname as given by the mice) when he proposes to her.
9. The film gives out a great lesson to kids where happiness needs to be earned on your own rather than easily given to you by magic.
10. **Great Ending:** After Lady Tremaine and Drizella are turned into toads by the Fairy Godmother's wand, Anastasia is assured by the King that everyone deserves love and a second chance when she offers him the seashell he gave to her back as she feels that she doesn't deserve it. Cinderella and Anastasia reconcile, and they restore the Fairy Godmother together. The Fairy Godmother briefly considers undoing Lady Tremaine's change of events in the timeline, but upon seeing how much stronger Cinderella and the Prince's love has grown thanks to their adventure, she decides to instead let them continue as they are. During the credits, we see Anastasia meeting the kindly baker from *Dreams Come True*, whilst Lady Tremaine and Drizella (having been reverted back to normal) get their most satisfying "just desserts" as they're forced to do all of the chores they'd previously put Cinderella through as punishment for their villainous actions.

## Mixed Qualities

1. In spite of how well the story is executed, it still has certain elements that technically don't work and mess with the tone of the original film.
2. The entire scene involving the demented pumpkin carriage driven by a human Lucifer, while amazing and cool, can be quite scary to some younger viewers.

## Bad Qualities

1. Due to the lower animation budget for this film as opposed to the original film, any scene in which the Fairy Godmother changes someone's outfit basically consists of one character model fading into another, which comes off as awkward as a result.
2. Lady Tremaine, the main antagonist, is far more unlikable than she was in the first two films due to her more physically abusive nature, where is heavily implied that she is very abusive to even her own daughters Anastasia and Drizella, and once she acquires Fairy Godmother's magic wand, she becomes a full-blown evil, power-hungry psychopath. Thankfully she got her comeuppance in the end.
3. Some of Cinderella's other allies such as Bruno the dog, Major the horse, and the rest of the mice other than Jaq and Gus are notably absent from the film for unknown reasons.

## Reception

*Cinderella III: A Twist in Time* was mostly well-received by critics and acclaimed by Disney and Cinderella fans alike for its maturing and deepening of the original *Cinderella* film's story and characters. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 75% "fresh" rating, while IMDb currently has a score of 6/10.

## Trivia

* This was the first Direct-to-DVD film to contain the new Walt Disney Pictures logo from 2006 onwards.
* This film was the second time Christopher Daniel Barnes voices a prince. The first was Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid (1989).