Cinderella III: A Twist in Time
Director: Frank Nissen
Cast: Jennifer Hale, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Susanne Blakeslee, Tress Macneille, Russi Taylor Andre Stojka, Rob Paulsen, Corey Burton
When the villainous Lady Tremaine gets her hands on the Fairy Godmother’s wand, she casts a spell that reverses time and erases Cinderella’s year of happiness with the prince. Will Cinderella break the spell and show the prince who the true princess really is, or will her happy ending with the prince be nothing more than a forgotten dream?
Dreams play a significant part in this film, and nowhere are they illustrated more than in the character of Cinderella herself.
While in the original film, Cinderella relied on dreams to make her wish come true, in this film, she learns that sometimes you have to do much more than just wish for something; you have to fight for it and fight HARD. In the first Cinderella, yes she had a really difficult time with her stepmother and sisters and she was traumatized by them, but then the Fairy Godmother granted her wish to go to the ball and by sheer luck, she had the other slipper and the prince found her. The Fairy Godmother did pretty much everything for her after they destroyed her dress. She got Cinderella dressed up and sent her off to the ball and she left the slipper when the magic was gone so the Prince would know it was her that he danced with. The mice got her out of the locked attic. All Cinderella did was look pretty and pull the shoe out of her pocket. We didn't even see her meet the prince when she revealed the slipper…we didn't see the wedding…we just saw them live happily ever after.
In this film, I respect Cinderella much more because she saves herself...not once, not twice, but three times. She didn't have her Fairy Godmother there to save her this time and the prince only saved her once. In the first instance, the Stepmother does her magic and the slipper, along with Cinderella’s dreams of a happy ending with the prince, shatters. Cinderella could have given up her dream right there, but she didn't. She was willing to fight for her happy ending with the prince, even if he didn't realize that she was the maiden that he danced with at the ball. When she was banished in the pumpkin with Lucifer, Cinderella saves herself again (with just a little help from the mice) and again she chose to keep fighting rather than giving up and letting her evil family win. Finally, the Stepmother uses magic to transform Anastasia into Cinderella to trick the prince into marrying her, but did Cinderella give up? No she did not. She actually saved the prince from her stepmother's scheme by showing the Prince and the King who the true Cinderella really was.
While I have seen a lot of Disney sequels that have been really bad, in my humble opinion, “Cinderella III: A Twist in Time” is actually a worthy successor to the original film. I do think that a lot of attention was focused on the villains, but they were so hilariously devious that I enjoyed watching their maniacal scheme play out. I really appreciated the fact that they gave the prince and the king a stronger character arc and they created a much stronger relationship between Cinderella and the prince. I definitely felt that both were sorely lacking in the first film. The animation is very pretty and even some of the songs (like the one the mice sing to the Prince to warn him of the Stepmother’s scheme) were very catchy. If you enjoy a good Disney film, then this is one I would highly recommend.
© 2013 – 2016 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved
Director: Frank Nissen
Cast: Jennifer Hale, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Susanne Blakeslee, Tress Macneille, Russi Taylor Andre Stojka, Rob Paulsen, Corey Burton
When the villainous Lady Tremaine gets her hands on the Fairy Godmother’s wand, she casts a spell that reverses time and erases Cinderella’s year of happiness with the prince. Will Cinderella break the spell and show the prince who the true princess really is, or will her happy ending with the prince be nothing more than a forgotten dream?
Dreams play a significant part in this film, and nowhere are they illustrated more than in the character of Cinderella herself.
While in the original film, Cinderella relied on dreams to make her wish come true, in this film, she learns that sometimes you have to do much more than just wish for something; you have to fight for it and fight HARD. In the first Cinderella, yes she had a really difficult time with her stepmother and sisters and she was traumatized by them, but then the Fairy Godmother granted her wish to go to the ball and by sheer luck, she had the other slipper and the prince found her. The Fairy Godmother did pretty much everything for her after they destroyed her dress. She got Cinderella dressed up and sent her off to the ball and she left the slipper when the magic was gone so the Prince would know it was her that he danced with. The mice got her out of the locked attic. All Cinderella did was look pretty and pull the shoe out of her pocket. We didn't even see her meet the prince when she revealed the slipper…we didn't see the wedding…we just saw them live happily ever after.
In this film, I respect Cinderella much more because she saves herself...not once, not twice, but three times. She didn't have her Fairy Godmother there to save her this time and the prince only saved her once. In the first instance, the Stepmother does her magic and the slipper, along with Cinderella’s dreams of a happy ending with the prince, shatters. Cinderella could have given up her dream right there, but she didn't. She was willing to fight for her happy ending with the prince, even if he didn't realize that she was the maiden that he danced with at the ball. When she was banished in the pumpkin with Lucifer, Cinderella saves herself again (with just a little help from the mice) and again she chose to keep fighting rather than giving up and letting her evil family win. Finally, the Stepmother uses magic to transform Anastasia into Cinderella to trick the prince into marrying her, but did Cinderella give up? No she did not. She actually saved the prince from her stepmother's scheme by showing the Prince and the King who the true Cinderella really was.
While I have seen a lot of Disney sequels that have been really bad, in my humble opinion, “Cinderella III: A Twist in Time” is actually a worthy successor to the original film. I do think that a lot of attention was focused on the villains, but they were so hilariously devious that I enjoyed watching their maniacal scheme play out. I really appreciated the fact that they gave the prince and the king a stronger character arc and they created a much stronger relationship between Cinderella and the prince. I definitely felt that both were sorely lacking in the first film. The animation is very pretty and even some of the songs (like the one the mice sing to the Prince to warn him of the Stepmother’s scheme) were very catchy. If you enjoy a good Disney film, then this is one I would highly recommend.
© 2013 – 2016 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved