Cinderella Blu-Ray
Cinderella: Diamond Edition
Published November 7, 2012
By Albert Gutierrez

"Rucifee mean!" - Jaq
"I suppose it would be
frightfully dull and completely - completely
wonderful..." - Cinderella
"Good heavens, child! You're not
going like that." - Fairy Godmother

Cinderella: Diamond Edition
Original Release: March 4,
1950
Blu-Ray/DVD Release: October
2, 2012
Film Length: 74 Minutes

The Movie:
Our heroine Cinderella is awaken
by friendly birds, leading her to sing about how
"a dream is a wish your heart makes." Soon, that
nasty ole killjoy known as the Clock starts
ringing, warning her of how little time she has
to herself. She needs to get ready for the day's
long list chores, starting with breakfast for
her stepfamily. While she is washing the floor,
a messenger arrives with a letter from the
palace. The King is throwing a ball to celebrate
the return of the Prince, with every eligible
maiden invited to attend. The stepsisters -
Anastasia and Drizella - rejoice at the news and
the prospect of meeting the Prince. Cinderella,
too, is excited as this will be a chance to go
out and have fun. Her stepmother, Lady Tremaine,
tells her she can go IF she gets her work done
and IF she finds something suitable to wear.
Immediately, the stepsisters give Cinderella
plenty of tasks to keep her busy. As evening
draws nearer, Cinderella has presumably finished
her chores, but has no dress to wear.
Fortunately, her little friends
- mice and birds - have been working secretly to
make her a dress, based on a pattern Cinderella
shows interest in, and using her mother's dress
as the template. Cinderella, grateful for the
gift, immediately changes and runs downstairs
before her stepfamily can leave. Anastasia and
Drizella are enraged, but Lady Tremaine points
out that Cinderella did do as she was told. She
also points out some noticeably "borrowed" items
(which the mice took): beads and a sash. The
stepsisters, in a fit of fury, remove both from
Cinderella, and in their anger, completely tear
up her dress. The family then leaves, while
Cinderella runs off to the garden in tears. As
she is crying, her Fairy Godmother appears,
promising to fix things for her. She turns a
pumpkin into a coach, her horse Major into its
driver, faithful dog Bruno into a footman, and
four mice (Jaq, Gus, and the twins) into horses.
And for Cinderella, a sparkling new silver dress
(that strangely turns blue as the night goes on.
Oh, Disney restoration team...), complete with
glass slippers. Cinderella can go out, but has
to return by midnight, when the spell is broken.

Behind the Scenes:
Walt Disney's relationship with
Cinderella actually began in his Kansas
City days. He had produced an animated version
of the fairy tale for his "Laugh-O-Grams" series
in 1922, a full twenty-eight years before his
acclaimed animated feature was released to the
public. That film, while an intriguing short to
watch, contains little of the charm and magic of
his later film, but remains a historical curio.
1950's Cinderella, however, is still
timeless and magical, enthralling audiences
today just as it did sixty-two years ago.
Cinderella would mark a
return to both fairy tales and feature-length
animated films for Walt Disney's animation
studio. From 1943 to 1949, Disney animation was
mainly done as "package features," films that
were comprised of shorter works, in order to
keep the studio afloat during and after World
War II. The first two, Saludos, Amigos
and The Three Caballeros, could each be
said to contain a singular story, but were still
comprised of shorter works within a larger
framing narrative. Make Mine Music and
Melody Time were nothing but short films
packaged together. In an effort to flesh out
these shorts, Disney looked to some of their
feature films in development before the war.
Features based on "Jack and the Beanstalk" and
"Bongo the Bear" were shortened and paired up in
Fun and Fancy Free, with Mickey, Donald,
and Goofy co-starring in the "Jack and the
Beanstalk" story. Likewise, Disney's development
for "The Wind in the Willows" and "The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow" were also turned into half-hour
stories and paired up in The Adventures of
Ichabod and Mr. Toad. However, Disney knew
they would have to return to feature-length
films with one singular story.

1946's Song of the South
might have been that film. Walt had wanted to
make an animated feature based on the Uncle
Remus stories. However, he also wanted a
live-action Uncle Remus to tell the stories.
Taking a cue from his "Alice in Cartoonland"
shorts and The Three Caballeros, he
decided that the film would instead be a blend
of live-action sequences and animated vignettes.
1948's So Dear to My Heart would also
feature a live-action story with animated
scenes, but still was not quite what Disney
intended. He had wanted the picture to be 100%
live-action, but was forced to include animated
sequences, as animation was what Disney was
known for. More importantly, fully-animated
feature length films was what Disney was known
for, and he knew he had to deliver, even though
he had a vested interest in live-action
filmmaking.
Thus, Walt looked to what other
stories were still in development before the
war, and which were strong enough to start
production again. The three chosen were Peter
Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and
Cinderella. Between them, Walt chose
Cinderella as the one to begin production
first. It was furthest in development, and its
roots as a fairy tale would harken back to
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney's
first animated feature, and a huge success for
the studio. And like Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs, Cinderella would also be a
gamble. The package films kept the studio
afloat, but they needed a surefire hit.
Fortunately, Cinderella was that surefire
hit, saving the studio from near-bankruptcy and
paving the way for Disney's second Golden Age.
In the sixty-two years since its original
release, Cinderella remains a popular and
financially successful film, turning its $2.9
million budget into $85 million at the box
office, garnered from various theatrical outings
throughout the years.

My Thoughts:
Author's Note: A portion of My
Thoughts have been repurposed from a
"Saturday
Matinee" I wrote last year regarding the
characterizations Cinderella and the Prince. As
they still remain relevant to my views on the
film today, they are included here.
In my summary of the film, I did
my best to only tell the story from Cinderella's
point of view. I intentionally left out as much
as I could of the Jaq-Gus & Lucifer battles, the
King and his desires to have grandchildren, and
the stepsisters' lack of social or musical
skills. The story of Cinderella should be
all about Cinderella. And honestly, that's where
some of my problems lie with the film. More time
is spent with everyone else, that Cinderella -
the titular character - is left with little to
actually do on her own. Granted, it would have
been boring to see Cinderella just doing chore
after chore, or crying helplessly in her room
for ten minutes. Apparently, it's more exciting
to see how Jaq and Gus get their breakfast,
gather items for the dress, and transport a key
up several flights of stairs. As a child, I
loved the Jaq and Gus scenes. They were fun
antics and seemed like Disney's answer to the
hugely-popular Tom & Jerry, from MGM Studios.
As I grew older, all these extra
bits were still fun to watch, but they became
invasive to the heart of the story: Cinderella
herself. I didn't care about them as much as I
used to, and it felt like they were taking over
what should be a truly romantic story. What
little romance that is actually in the film
still works, but there should be more of it.
Truthfully, all that's romantic is contained in
"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," "So This Is Love," and
the finale. Everything else is filler. I wanted
to know more about Cinderella, who she was, how
she'd react, what made her tick. This is usually
why I still like Cinderella III: A Twist in
Time more than Cinderella. She's
actually doing something, and we actually spend
time with her. With 1950's Cinderella, we
get a passive heroine, someone who's been
emotionally abused and scarred for years and
forced to be a slave in her own home. From the
get-go, we see that her entire arc in the story
will be to keep the faith, and as a result, she
gets back-burned in order for the audience to
see how everyone else will react to that.

The best parts in the film are
when Cinderella's at her emotional highs and
lows, beginning with the first time she actually
doubts herself - after the long day of work and
the Torn Dress Moment. It is important that
Cinderella is at her lowest point, as that
enables her to rise above it and her faith is
now rewarded. This occurs again later in the
film, when behind a locked door, she's once
again reduced to tears and faith. She went from
the emotional high (finding out "that guy" was a
Prince... and he wants to marry her!) to an
emotional low (a simple locked door) in such
quick time that all she can do once again is
have faith. Surely she could have found a hair
pin or other device to pick the lock. Instead,
she's now completely broken and despondent. This
limitation of action does her a disservice, I
feel, since such an emotional low could prompt
others to finally take action. But it wouldn't
be true to her character's arc of keeping the
faith. I'm not suggesting that simply believing
in something will cause it to come true, that's
silly. But within the confines of this story,
it's essential. Believing is the magic that gets
Cinderella out of the house and into the palace.
The palace for Cinderella is
never really about the riches and power, even
though many call "Cinderella" a rags-to-riches
story. If anything, the palace represents the
life and love that she needs. The prince himself
becomes the embodiment for this, even if we only
see him in two scenes. All we really know of the
Prince is what the King says of him (he's
avoided his royal duties) and what Cinderella
thinks of him (she's in love, even if she didn't
know he was the Prince). We don't need much more
than that, because he serves the story best as a
catalyst for the action in the second half of
the film. The one true important aspect of the
Prince is his role in Cinderella's life; he is
the reason for her to escape her family.
However, we must remember that Cinderella
doesn't leave her family merely for a man. She
leaves them for what he represents: pure,
unadulterated, and unconditional love - all
based on one magical night. Cinderella needs
that kind of love, especially after her years of
neglect and unhappiness. As a result, that's all
that Disney needs to tell us of the Prince.
Everything else can best be left to the
audience's imagination. For instance, most
Disney fans unofficially recognizes him as
"Prince Charming," but I've taken to giving him
a much longer name: Prince Chancellor Callum
Cleophas Courtland Caldwell the IV.

Still, for a romantic film, I
would like to know more about Cinderella and the
Prince beyond their magical night. Timelines in
Disney fairy tales often seem to only take place
over a few days, because "love at first sight"
is meant to take care of the why-for of a
character's relationship. For a modern audience,
it's a bit hard to swallow. Rather, these fairy
tales with their grandiose and epic love stories
should be taken merely as escapist cinema. A
modern cynic could attribute "love at first
sight" in real life as more likely being
"physical attraction at repeated starings,"
which is partly true. A first impression of a
person generally can change after repeated
encounters, neither of which Cinderella or the
Prince is afforded. They've got one night, and
that's it. Fortunately, one night is all that's
needed in a fairy tale, and I'll happily accept
it as their ever after.
Honestly, even with some of
these story issues, I really don't want to be
too critical of Cinderella. When
considering the state of Walt Disney Studios at
the time, and how this film was as big a gamble
as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, such
story issues should not get in the way. After
all, the film is still beautifully animated. The
package films of the 1940's all served as
teasers to what Disney could do with Mary
Blair's style, and we get the first of those
results in Cinderella. There's a charming
whimsy to the film; it's a very calm picture,
which helps to reflect the calm and reserved
nature of Cinderella. The few, but essential,
dramatic moments in the film take full advantage
of lighting and shadow opportunities, like the
midnight chase or Lady Tremaine's terrifying
stares that darken a room. And the
transformations - be it Torn Dress to Silver
Dress, Pumpkin to Coach, or Drizella's Foot
Fitting Into Slipper - are some of the best work
by Disney animators. Even the mice's adventures
are given top-notch treatment. Gus's eyes when
he sees Lucifer about to roar at him is one of
my favorite shots in the entire film (briefly
covered in this
Saturday Matinee).
These individual elements add up to create a
wonderfully produced picture, with winning songs
and enjoyable characters, as well as the hints
of danger and intrigue that help provide some
dramatic tension to a fairly simple plot.

Lady Tremaine is shocked that
deep down, I still love this film.
I should admit that no matter
how much I might try to find fault in
Cinderella, I will forever have a bias in
favor of the film. I've had that bias since I
was three years old. That was when I first
watched the film, making it the very first
Disney Animated Classic that I ever saw. It was
an enchanting experience that made me believe in
the Disney Magic, sweeping me away with the wave
of a magic wand, the dance in the misty blue
light, and the bells of a joyous wedding. Try as
I might to criticize the film for an inactive
heroine, overemphasis on mice, and nameless
prince... I can never bring myself to ever truly
dislike it. Cinderella was my gateway to
all things Disney, for which I'm forever
grateful. To bring this to a close, I'll just
share my favorite ad from Disney's 2001 "Magic
Happens" campaign. It's - no surprise here - the
Cinderella one, which can still bring tears to
my eyes:

Just like Cinderella, you may
find yourselves torn after reading this next
section...
The Disc:
Video: 1.33:1 Academy
Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD MA
(1), English 1.0 DTS-HD MA (2), French 5.1
Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix (3), Spanish
5.1 Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix (4)
Subtitles: English (1),
English HoH (2), French (3), Spanish (4)
Chapters: 24
Before I talk about the video,
let me just get the audio assessment out of the
way. It sounds great. If there are any problems,
my ears didn't catch them. Both mixes (7.1 and
1.0) are crisp and clean, as are the foreign
language tracks. There, that was easy.
So how does the video compare?
Well, if this is your first time ever seeing the
film, or if you just want to sit back and enjoy
it, Cinderella will look gorgeous on your
television. Colors are beautifully rendered and
mostly consistent (more on that in a moment).
The image is sharp and crisp; everything looks
like it was just inked to the cel yesterday.
This is a beautiful picture, rich in pastels,
and its Mary Blair style artwork makes this one
of the nicest looking picture from 1950's
Disney. On aesthetics alone, I rank it second
after Sleeping Beauty. Were this an
entirely new film, it would look like something
straight out of the 90's CAPS era: hand drawn,
digitally inked, and remarkable. It should
deserve the highest marks for a video
assessment.
Unfortunately, now things get
complicated. Fans who complain about the DVD &
Blu-ray's color palette seem to ignore when such
instances work in the film's favor. Take a look
at the images below. The one on the left is from
the 1995 Laserdisc. The right is the 2005 & 2012
transfer. What we need to remember is that for
the 2005 restoration, colors were chosen based
on the ink-and-painted animation cels from the
original production. While that seems like it
should be the closest source for how the film
look, colors will change when photographed, due
to lighting and the Technicolor dye-transfer
process. Disney's animation studio mixed all
their own paints, creating their own shades that
would become the color they intend when a cel is
shot and color-timed with the Technicolor
camera. Therefore, if we wanted to know what the
"true" colors of the film would be, we would
have to consult the original negatives and color
timing notes. Colors on a cel are not what would
be projected on the screen, and therefore, not
the intended look for the film. Imagine it like
seeing a clown 75% done with their make-up. You
can recognize what look they are going for, but
are not quite there yet.

Click "here" and "here" to see
the individual images at an uncompressed size
In this shot, the difference in
Cinderella's dress is obvious, and one in which
I - and others, I'm sure - do prefer the 1995
Laserdisc. We get a silvery-blue color for her
dress, which we expect the dress to be. However,
for the 2005 DVD and 2012 Blu-Ray, it's suddenly
a bright blue. On the flipside, the Prince's
pants are darker in the 2005/2012 version, which
better sells the darkness of midnight. When
inside the ballroom, they are bright red, and
yet that bright red is only slightly darkened
for the Laserdisc when outdoors in this shot.
The much-darker version seen here is more
accurate to the time of day (er, night).
Likewise, the backgrounds are darker - and
sharper - in this version, than in the 1995
Laserdisc, which make it look like early
evening. Thus, we see how the cel colors can be
both good and bad for the intent of a
shot. At the end of the day, every fan will have
their own conception on how the film should
look, but no one really has a "say" in it except
Disney themselves. For now, I'll begrudgingly
accept that this is the version they want to
issue on home media.
I should also mention how DNR -
Digital Noise Reduction - has affected the film.
The automated process is intended to smooth out
an image by removing extant grain and other
noise that is picked up when an analog source
(in this case, 35mm film) is scanned digitally.
For animated films, a grain-free image can look
great, and Cinderella does. However, in
some shots - which I haven't been able to
accurately capture, but others have posted
examples online - some hand-drawn lines were
mistaken for noise, and DNR removed them. Under
a watchful eye, such mistakes can be caught and
corrected. For the most part, the restoration
team for Cinderella (Lowry Digital
Images, now known as Reliance MediaWorks) did
that in 2005. Still, human error has led to
several shots in the film in which missing lines
are quite obvious when paused.
While these color palette issues
and DNR-caused mistakes can be considered a
problem with the presentation, most viewers may
not even be aware of it unless someone pointed
it out. Whether or not they decide to cry
"foul!" is up to them. If you decide to cry
"foul!", my advice is to write to
Disney
Customer Service (link "Disney Customer Service"
to here: )
to voice your dissatisfaction with the product.
If Disney is aware of these issues, and if a
fair amount of consumers voice their opinion
regarding them, hopefully a future release of
the film will correct them. In the meantime, the
most that consumers can do beyond writing to
them is voting with their wallet: decide if the
error is a large enough factor to prevent a
purchase of this Blu-Ray.
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