Cinderella (2005, DVD)

Even though we already own Cinderella on DVD, I couldn t resist adding the Cinderella Special Addition DVD to our collection, since it is a favorite in this house.

The Plot
In this animated Disney version of the classic fairy tale, Cinderella is orphaned after the death of her father. Her stepmother forces her to work as a servant in her own home. With the help of some animal friends and her fairy godmother Cinderella manages to attend a ball, meet her prince charming and live happily ever after.

The Look and Feel
For its release to DVD, Cinderella has been remastered and the results are amazing. On our VHS the colors are dark and the whole movie has a dreary feel to it. That is gone with the DVD version. The colors are vibrant and they give the movie a much more lively feel.

Cinderella features a couple of well known Disney songs, the love song A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes and the upbeat fairy godmother incantation Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo. In many Disney movies the songs often slow the pace of the movie, particularly for the youngest members of the audience. In Cinderella the songs are kept short and movie the story along.

Our Thoughts
Cinderella was one of my favorite Disney movies as a child and it has proven to be a favorite with my girls as well. For me, Cinderella s mice friends make the movie. Who would have thought such personalities could be brought in small mice. Their squeaky voices and animated facial features are adorable.

Disney movies are often synonymous with childhood, as they are usually rated G . But now as I look at them as an adult, most are quite scary and often violent, but not Cinderella. Although Cinderella s step-mother is sometimes referred to as wicked or evil she really doesn t come across as much more than mean. There are no particularly frightening characters or even intense scenes. At just 76 minutes the movie is short enough to keep even the youngest children interested to the end.

People often complain that Cinderella, and other Disney classics portray an unrealistic view of love and relationships. Yep. And the mice wear clothes and the birds can sew. If a child s only view of the world is through animated movies certainly their thoughts will be tainted. When we had a mouse invade our home last fall I had no intention of sewing it some little clothes to wear. As far as I am concerned it is a fairy tale about never giving up hope and as one would expect a happy ending.

The DVD Extras
There are plenty of bonus features for both the adult and child fan of the movie. Mostly for the adults, there are a couple of deleted scenes comprised of songs and artwork. There are also some Cinderella sport stories that I could do without.

For the kids, there is a film short about how to act like a princess as well as and opportunity to dance with several of the Disney princesses. The interactive DVD-ROM computer program has been a big hit with my 4 year old, allowing her to design her own palace, room and princess including putting her own face on the princess.

Parental Warning: The previews include a look at Cinderella III, coming in 2007! My 4 year old had a fit about having to wait more than a year for another Cinderella move.

I'm Lean-n-mean (IV) how about you?