MCS #14: Cinderella

Cinderella (1950)

IMDB blurb
When Cinderella's cruel stepmother prevents her from attending the Royal Ball, she gets some unexpected help from the lovable mice Gus and Jaq, and from her Fairy Godmother.

Oh man, where to start? Walt Disney said "She believed in dreams, all right, but she also believed in doing something about them. When Prince Charming didn’t come along, she went over to the palace and got him.”

Except she didn’t.

She kind of continued cleaning, tried on a dress made by the mice/birds, let her stepsisters tear up the dress made by the mice/birds, ran crying into the backyard, was startled by the arrival of her fairy godmother, and let said startling fairy godmother make a dress/send her to the ball.

Where in here is Cinderella doing something?

Needless to say, this wasn’t my favorite Disney movie. I actually can’t remember when last I watched it or if I even watched the entire thing.

And then there’s the sweet irony that I was cast as Cinderella’s mother when I was in Into the Woods in college.

K, now, Cinderella isn’t all bad. It had some fun songs, namely the mouse’s song. Please don’t get me started on how annoying Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo is? I won’t torture you with it.

Actually, yes, yes I will.

That’s what friends are for, right?

I’m a big fan of Cinderella retellings, especially ones where she does stuff. So to make up for that musical business earlier, I’ll supply you with some awesome Cinderella reading material.

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)
by Marissa Meyer

Goodreads blurb

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

I actually love this entire series. They are sci-fi retellings of Cinderella, Little Red, Rapunzel, and Snow White. The last book comes out at the beginning of next year, and I’m very impatiently waiting.

“The Wrong Foot”
by Stephanie Burgis

This was published in Daily Science Fiction a while back. I loved it and then promptly read Burgis’s novel-length work. So let this be a stepping stone for you to get your glass slipper-clad foot to some great books.

Last week: The Black Cauldron

And join me next week for Cinderella II.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

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