During the Renaissance, artists painted women in nudity to represent purity. But because Cinderella is an iconic character for children and a later period, this is not acceptable. I chose to do Cinderella in the Renaissance to show the sweet and innocent character she is and how it would be symbolised if her character was during the 14th and 17th Century.
Seminar:
Cinderella is an iconic story for young children that attracted audience worldwide after the Disney production film in 1950 as a Disney princess. But this story goes way back to the 1st Century BC in Egypt, when she was known as a different character. Nonetheless, all these interpretations that varies from films, animations, ballet, musicals, operas, a comic form and so on, all carry a similar plot: she is mistreated by her step sisters and stepmother after her father’s death but then marries a royalty (or a popular guy – in more modern versions) after losing her glass slipper.
Rhodopis is supposedly the oldest form of Cinderella recorded by the Greek historian Strabo in the 1st Century B.C.E. She was born in Greece but was kidnapped by pirates and sold into Egyptian slavery. The man who bought her is kind, but spends most of his time sleeping so fails to see how much she struggles in the hands of other servants in his household because of her ‘strange’ looks. She has blonde, curly hair, while theirs are straight and black. Her skin is fair that burns in the sun, while theirs are bronze. Her only friends are animals. One day she went down to the banks with her fellow animal friends and sang along the forest in her red slippers. One day, the Pharaoh announced that all the people of Memphis are to come feast and dance all night and day. Unfortunately, all the other servants gave her chores so it would be impossible for her to get it done before the court. While she was washing the clothes in the river, the water splashed on her slippers. She quickly took them off, but when she looked up, the falcon had already grabbed her slipper. Rhodopis was shocked, as she knew that the falcon was the god Horus that grabbed her shoe. At the court, the Pharaoh was sitting overlooking all the people when suddenly the falcon drops the slipper on his lap. This caused the Pharaoh to search through cities to find the owner of the slipper. When he arrived to Rhodopis’s house, she feared of what it could mean and hid behind the rushes while all the other servants ran down to try on the slipper. The pharaoh noticed her and asked her to try on the shoe. She proceeds to slid her foot in the shoe and pulled the other from beneath her tunic. He knew then that she has been chosen to be his Queen by the god. This story overall breaks the differences between social classes and racial classes, especially when Egyptians at the time looked down to the racially different Greeks. Not only that, but this story is also based from history, but Rhodopis is a courtesan who already knew the Pharaoh beforehand.
‘Cendrillion’, or ‘Ou La petite Pantoufle de Verre, translated in English as Cinderella or The Little Glass Slipper, is a French folk tale that incorporates a myth-element in it. The author, Charles Perrault, a French from 1628 to 1703, who also wrote Le Petit Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots) and La Belle au bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty). In 1695, at the age of 67, Perrault decided to dedicate his time to children and published ‘Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals’ that contains eight fairytales. This story has almost exactly the same storyline as the film produced by Walt Disney. It is about an ill-treated girl whose father married a widower who already has two daughters of her own. After Cinderella’s father’s death, the stepmother treated her cruelly and made her do all the housework. One day, when the prince announced that all the maiden in all the lands are to attend a ball at the palace for him to find his wife, the stepmother intentionally gave her a lot of work so she would not be able to finish it in time. But while they were gone, she was left behind sobbing that she is missing out what she has been dreaming of this whole time, a fairy godmother appears and turned each items scattered about into ball gowns and a chariot, along with those that drive it. Unfortunately, this magic does not last forever and everything will turn back to the way it was by midnight. When she arrived to the palace, she immediately caught the prince’s attention and so he approached her for a dance. But when the clock strikes midnight, she runs away from the palace as past as possible in fear of the truth to come out. Because she was in such a hurry, her glass slipper slipped off her foot. So the next day, the prince ordered a search for this ‘mysterious’ woman and that if anyone fits this shoe, she will be his wife. When the prince got to her house, the slipper did not fit the stepsisters’ but it did for her. She then pulls the other slipper from her pocket and puts it on. The two then got married and she forgives her stepsisters for their cruel ways.
La Cenerentola is an Italian operatic drama with humor composed by Gioachino Rossini in two acts, performed in Rome’s Teatro Valle in 1817. This musical work was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based from the fairytale written by Charles Perrault. Rossini composed this piece when he was 25 years, which he completed in the span of three weeks. It is considered to be one of the finest writings for solo voices and ensembles. In 19th Century, when the opera was first performed, it received a lot of criticism, but then became popular throughout Italy. In 1819, the opera reached Lisbon and later in London in 1820 and New York in 1826.
In 1899, a French director Georges Méliès produced a short film of Cinderella that is considered the first credited clip in history of this story. It is a five-minute silent clip that was attempted to produce in color by tinting each figure by hand; but unfortunately, it was considered to be a complete failure. In 1912, Méliès made another attempt to produce the film. He abandoned his initial attempt to tint each figure and focused merely on elaborate inventions. This is a black and white film that lasts twenty-four minutes. For the first half of the film, it seems as if it is full of delightful magic shows and the second half focuses on Cinderella’s fears of her reversion as a maid.
In 1911 several Cinderella films were released. The first was released in early November called ‘The Modern Cinderella”. It was directed by J. Searle Dawley. This version has a different slipper plot as Cinderella was by the beach, she slipped off her shoes and stockings to go wade in the waves. The prince in this silent, black and white film is described as an attractive summer man. After his appearance, she runs to hide her feet under her skirt, leaving one shoe and stocking behind. When he offered them to her, she claimed that it was not hers as she is embarrassed at her predicament. Consequently to this, he goes on and tell everyone that belongs to a certain Miss Cinderella. One day when he left Camp Arcady, the place where the prince lives, he rows across in attempt to regain her property… The second film that was released that year was in December. It is yet again a silent film that is fifteen-minute long. In this version, Florence La Badie is featured as the main lady. This version was directed by George Nichols and produced by Thanhouser Company in the United States.
In 1922, Walt Disney produced his first and less successful version of Cinderella at the beginning of his career with his friends at the Laugh-O-Gram studio in Kansas. It is a black and white, animated film that only lasts for seven minutes. Laugh-O-Gram are ‘modernized fairy tales’ that used traditional children’s stories as a springboard for sarcasm. Although this version contains a sarcastic adaptation, it still has romantic story plot.
This Cinderella version is the most famous amongst all. It was filmed and produced by Walt Disney in 1950 and was his third attempt on this story. Prior to the release of this film, the studio was in debt for $4 million and was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the outbreak of World Ward II. Fortunately, after two years of production, Cinderella was released and became the greatest commercial hit for the studio since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, which also help reversed the fortunes. The film also received three Academy Award nominations, which includes the original song “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”. In this film, the plot is almost a replica of the fairytales written by Charles Perrault.
Ever After is one of the most successful re-telling of the original story that was released in 1998, starring Drew Barrymore and Dougray Scott and was directed by Andy Tennant. 91% of the critics gave a positive review on the film and gave a score of 7.5/10. It is a fictional story based from the tale written by Charles Perrault but involves many historical figures, places, and events like Leonardo Da Vinci, Francis I, his queen, the Grimm Brothers, Prince Henry, the university, the ruins at Amboise, and such. Just like all the Cinderella stories, Danielle (Cinderella) is forced into servitude after her father’s death. While her stepmother tries to marry off her daughters, Danielle does all the cleaning and the cooking in the household; but her life changed after she met the charming Prince Henry.
A Cinderella Story is a modern spin off version from Cinderella that was released in 2004, starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray. Yet again, Sam (Cinderella)’s father married a widow. Her father then died a few years later from an earthquake, leaving her behind to live with her stepmother and the two stepsisters. Growing up, she had to work in the diner that her stepmother owns, as well as go to school. But what she did not know was that she is secretly texting the most ‘popular’ guy in school. Eventually the truth came out and she was bullied by her two stepsisters and was put to shame by the whole school; but just when she was about to give up on high school and her ‘prince’, he has already fallen for her. The two got together and went to Princeton together (which is supposedly her dream – like marrying the prince in the original tale).
This Cinderella version is the most recent film releases. The movie is directed by Kenneth Branagh and starred by Lily James and Richard Madden. It is not a spin off film from the original tale and is almost a replica version of the Disney version that includes real actors and actresses, although, it is almost an hour longer. The box office is $542.7 million, which is Branagh’s highest-grossing film known to date, while also receiving a nomination for the Best Costume Design at the 88th Academy Awards.
I chose Cinderella for this project because it is my favorite story as a child. I grew up watching the Disney production film repeatedly, imagining myself as her, or sometimes even Anastasia, the stepsister. Not only did I constantly watch the film, I also read the book over in both Thai and English. I personally think of this film as the ‘main’ Cinderella film, though it is now the one released just recently in 2015 as they target the children of this generation. The 1950 version film was made really well for that period of time, although, I was not aware of how old it was when I was watching it as a child. It surprises me how much of a difference two decades make in terms of technology, from a seven-minute, black and white animation, to a whole hour. While doing the research for this project, it surprises me by how far this story goes and the amount of reproductions (or attempts) of the films there are. Growing up a little older at the age of around eight, the movie ‘A Cinderella Story’ was released. This too became my favorite movie and I could remember almost all the lines in the films. Though I love this story very much, I have not yet seen all the films that was produced from its original tale.
