History Headscratchers / Cinderella

*** In the Chinese version the heroine had feet naturally small, gain without pain, and that is why her sisters were so jealous of her. Must have been uncomfortable though...

*** And then ''Cinderella III: Twist In Time'' took it further: [[spoiler:the stepmother uses magic to make the shoe fit Anastasia's foot first and so they go to the palace instead of Cinderella. When the prince sees Anastasia, he knows that she isn't the woman he danced with and realizes the possibility that the shoe could have fit multiple girls.]]

*** Mercedes Lackey suggests in the ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'' series that godmothers are 1. ''extremely'' busy and 2. don't have much magic of their own. While the BackgroundMagicField that runs fairy tales is happy to give them a boost when the plot demands it, they don't have the time or the magic to do more than intervene at just the right moment.

** Mercedes Lackey suggests in the ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'' series that godmothers are 1. ''extremely'' busy and 2. don't have much magic of their own. While the BackgroundMagicField that runs fairy tales is happy to give them a boost when the plot demands it, they don't have the time or the magic to do more than intervene at just the right moment.

** She doesn't want to lose the servant girl she's enjoyed her power trip over for years.

* Why was Lady Tremaine so determined to stop Cinderella from trying on the slipper once she came downstairs? At this point, both her daughters had already tried it on and it was clear it didn't fit either of them. So what was she hoping to gain by tripping the footman with her cane and causing the slipper to shatter? Besides, that was outright defiance of the king's orders and not a smart move for her to do in the Grand Duke's presence, as she could get severely punished for that.

* Why would the mice bother to steal the sash and string of beads from the stepsisters? Could they not make Cinderella's dress pretty enough just using what they had in the room? Granted, they did witness the stepsisters reject them, calling them "trash", but it still didn't seem like a smart move for them. It's not like the stepsisters wouldn't recognize them when they saw Cinderella wearing them, or even accuse her of being "a thief" (which they do). The stepsisters clearly did not want Cinderella to go to the ball, and the mice just allowed the stepsisters a supposedly perfect excuse for keeping her from going. They are spoiled brats, after all.

** As referenced above, balls were massive social events and basically ''the'' way to meet people. Plenty of young men are going to turn up at a party that includes every eligible woman in the kingdom; after all, the Prince can only dance with one girl at a time.

*** Well, by this point, she's too much in love to resume working for her step-family and would plan on trying to return to her prince, no matter the cost ([[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1 similar to Ariel]]). And since we've got a Fairy Godmother, it's possible that love would [[ThePowerOfLove also be magical]]. Thus, the only way to stop Cinderella from finally having her wish would be to murder her.

** And wouldn't the Prince also invite his friends?

* Why isn't Lady Tremaine punished somehow in the end? Sure, Cinderella is to kind to play any karma against her step family (leaving them to marry the prince is already a punishment in its own). But Lady Tremaine is in trouble with the LAW! She pulled wool over the government's eyes by A) Not bringing Cinderella with them to the ball when royal command insisted that EVERY eligible maid attend! And B) LYING to a palace representative that she and her daughters
were the only residences of their estate. (Right before Cinderella stepped in to prove her wrong, making her deception MORE humiliating) There's no way the Tremaines should get off scott-free in this predicament.

** The ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad'' retelling lampshades this by having ''Nanny Ogg'' of all people possess the same foot size.

** Cindy hadn't asked for help before. In the Disney version, she's cheerful despite the way they treat her until they destroy the dress. In the earlier fairy tales, while she's unhappy as a servant, the magic help only appears when she cries at her mother's grave and expresses a wish that she could go to the ball ( she's never even given a chance to make a dress in those versions.)

*** Perhaps Fairy Godmother was under the same rules as Flora, Fauna and Merriweather? She's allowed to give one really big gift with her magic to a child in her care but only one, everything else must ben either so minor as to be unnoticeable or indirect. So she waited until she could grant a gift that could change Cinderella's life for the better long term rather than something superficial or short term.

** Presumably, yes. Her mother died prior to the movie (possibly even during infancy -I though her mom died when she was 5 since she obviously remembers her mom wearing the dress she planned to fix up) and her father died when she was still a small child. If she had other relatives, they surely would've stepped in or even been living with her and father. Also, the reason her father remarried was he felt she needed "a mother's care". An aunt or grandmother could've easily filled that role if she had any.

*** Well, by this point, she's too much in love to resume working for her step-family and would plan on trying to return to her prince, no matter the cost ([[Disney/TheLittleMermaid similar to Ariel]]). And since we've got a Fairy Godmother, it's possible that love would [[ThePowerOfLove also be magical]]. Thus, the only way to stop Cinderella from finally having her wish would be to murder her.

* In Disney/CinderellaIIDreamsComeTrue: Why is Pom-Pom trying to catch Human!Jaq? It makes no sense for her to hunt him in his human form. Does she really think she can kill a 6ft2 human?

** That's correct, but just because the ball was meant to find a wife for the prince, that doesn't mean there wouldn't be any other men there for Cindy to dance with. The invitations said that "every maiden" was to attend, but not that only maidens were allowed or expected to.

* How in this or ''any other conceivable world'' did Lady Tremaine think she was going to marry off one of her daughters to the Crown Prince? Anastasia and Drizella have precisely ''zero'' redeeming qualities. They're not pretty. They're not nice. They have no discernable skills or talents. They don't come from money. Where, exactly, are you going to find an eligible bachelor who could stand one of them for more than two minutes, let alone marry them? I know, I know, it's just a fairy tale, but still...

* I’ve heard it said that Cinderella didn’t know the young man at the ball she fell in love with was the Prince and was just a guest at the ball. Um…what? That never made sense to me. Didn’t she realize the whole point of the ball was to find a potential wife for the Prince?

*** ^ That's just genuinely how titles and surnames work. She'd be Lady Margret, or the Lady of Salisbury, but never Lady Pole.

** Well the funny thing about titles is that sometimes the title ''did'' become your name. For example Mary Tudor's governess was Lady Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury. But she was often called Salisbury or Lady Salisbury. It's entirely possible only Lady Tremaine's husband would call her by her first name. The proper way to address her would be 'madam' by others.

* In CinderellaIIDreamsComeTrue: Why is Pom-Pom trying to catch Human!Jaq? It makes no sense for her to hunt him in his human form. Does she really think she can kill a 6ft2 human?

** Well as soon as the Prince met Cinderella again, he'd recognise her. She'd also be able to tell him what they did and/ or talked about - which was something they did ''privately''. She had plenty of evidence to back up who she was besides the shoe.

*** According to WordOfGod (the infamous David Koenig's MouseUnderGlass), the writers felt that it would make Cinderella unsympathetic to have the fairy godmother just hand her a happy ending. Having the little mice and birds, who Cinderella has spent years protecting and acting as a mother figure towards, be the ones who rescue her avoids this issue, since it makes it a KarmicJackpot.