History Film / Cinderella2015

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Averted, quite surprisingly given the GoodCannotComprehendEvil example below; Lady Tremaine ''does'' understand that Ella's kindness and sincerity are genuine rather than a self-serving performance, and actually hates her ''because'' of this. This is clearly shown during her MotiveRant scene, where Ella's rather unconvincing assertion that she was given the glass slippers (and by extension the dress, carriage etc.) is barely questioned at all, and Tremaine's offer/demand to support Ella in becoming queen in exchange for favors afterwards has no way of stopping Ella from reneging afterwards, but it never seems to occur to either of them that Ella might be dishonest.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: The Captain is ready to give up on searching for Cinderella and bypass the Tremaine home, but the Grand Duke insists they stop there. Had the Duke followed the Captain's lead, he could have credibly claimed to have searched everywhere and failed to find the Prince's love.

** Lady Tremaine in [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} the 1950 animated film]] isn't ''ugly,'' but she is depicted as austere and aging, with greying hair and dressed in high-necked, dark-colored clothing. In this film she's younger, more stylish, and played by ''Creator/CateBlanchett''.

* AdaptationalContextChange: A slight one for the phrase "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo." While in the animated version, it's the Fairy Godmother's all-purpose incantation for every spell she casts, here it only turn animals into humans. The pumpkin and dress transformations are done without magic words.

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: Gus Gus retains his name from [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} the animated film]], but no mention is given of his real name "Octavius," from which Augustus/Gus is a nickname of.

* AdaptationalKarma: [[spoiler:Lady Tremaine gets exiled here, as opposed to her fate being unconfirmed in the animated film. Cinderella also gets a proper defeat on her - forgiving her as she leaves the house, much to the stepmother's shock.]]
* AdaptationNameChange: If one goes by [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} the animated Disney film]], Cinderella was actually the girl's real name. Here - though it's following many other versions of the story - Ella is her real name, with 'Cinderella' being the nickname her step-family gives to her. Likewise, the prince is here named Kit, as opposed to "Prince Charming."
* AdaptationalSympathy: Lady Tremaine was little more than a RichBitch known for her DeathGlare in the original movie. Here, her mistreatment of Cinderella stems from the fact that losing both her husbands--the first she married because she was genuinely in love and the second so she could keep her daughters supported--and not being able to stand the idea that her step-daughter has kept true to herself in spite of all the tragedy while she was never able to.

** Kit is a rare male victim of this trope, with the Duke marrying him off to the Princess Chelina (how directly involved she is in all this is unclear.)
** Strangely, in a twist, Lady Tremaine is at one point willing to force Cinderella to marry her prince...as long as she is made Queen Dowager. When Cinderella refuses to let her exploit the man she loves like she did her father, Tremaine leaves her in the tower room to rot.

* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: [[spoiler:Villain example: Lady Tremaine tells Ella the story about a young girl who married for love, and was happy, until her husband died. Out of concern for her daughters' wellbeing, the girl, now a grown woman, decided to marry again to provide them with financial support. But then ''that'' husband died, too. Her last attempt was to get her daughters to marry the prince of their kingdom, but the prince was instead wooed by a simple servant girl, "and ''I'' lived unhappily ever after."]]

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Mice live a very short life - 3 years at the most, but Gus Gus and Jacqueline are shown to have long enough lifespans to witness Cinderella growing up from a little girl to a young woman. Given that they seem to be somewhat more sentient than regular mice, presumably in this universe they have longer life spans.

* AscendedFridgeHorror: A small case where the film asks the question 'what would Cinderella become if she didn't hold onto her positive attitude?' The film's answer is that she would become [[spoiler:Lady Tremaine]].

'''Lady Tremaine:''' [''smiling sweetly''] Yes.
* BondingOverMissingParents: At the ball, Ella and Kit's budding romance is deepened when Kit privately reveals to Ella that [[spoiler: his father the King is dying]], and Ella, who of course lost her own parents, expresses sympathy. A deleted scene also has them discuss their [[MissingMom late mothers.]] And in the final scene, as newlyweds, they gaze together at portraits of their parents, [[spoiler: by now all deceased]], and remark that they would have loved each other.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: In one instance. The scene in the [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} the animated movie]] where Cinderella's homemade dress for the ball is torn to shreds by her stepsisters is toned down to Lady Tremaine ripping a few portions, possibly because it would be more difficult to rip a dress apart by hand in live-action (which would double as a PragmaticAdaptation). Also, showing such a brutal and violent scene in live action would’ve surely gotten the film a PG-13 rating.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: This version of the Fairy Godmother. She doesn't seem to know what she's doing at first - "actually I've forgotten what the trick is" - and she nearly crushes Ella and herself by making the pumpkin grow. But she does get the job done in the end.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Both Ella and her saintly mother are blonde - to contrast with her stepmother and stepsisters who have darker hair. The Fairy Godmother becomes a blonde, too.

* ManlyTears: Ella's father has tears in his eyes at his wife's deathbed, and [[spoiler: Kit weeps at his father's deathbed.]]

* NotHisSled: The twist in [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} the animated Disney film]] was that [[spoiler:Lady Tremaine breaks the glass slipper Cinderella lost (seemingly preventing her from trying it on) only for Cinderella to reveal that she has the ''other'' slipper - confirming her to be the right girl. In this, however, Lady Tremaine finds the un-lost slipper in Ella's belongings and breaks it, and Ella ends up trying on the one the Prince still has (although he recognized her anyway). The prince is also present when Ella tries the slipper on]].

* PimpedOutDress: Cinderella gets a grand one for the ball, as well as the many grand dresses also worn there. Even the Fairy Godmother also gets one - in contrast to her rather simple blue cloak in the animated Disney film. The first dress Ella wants to wear to the ball is considerably much grander than it was in the animated incarnation - which was an old dress with alterations made from the stepsisters' old cast-offs.

** The film reconstructs Disney's [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} own animated version]] by playing the story straight - but addressing any issues people might have with the original; Cinderella's role as ThePollyanna is born out of a desire to follow her late mother's wishes to be good to everyone, the WickedStepmother is given an excuse for her abuse, the lovers get to have actual conversations and get to know each other, the quest to try on the slipper is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d repeatedly, and the FairyGodmother is given a reason to help the girl.
** The film as a whole reconstructs the PrinceCharming character. Since the '90s, parodies and subversions of this character spawned [[PrinceCharmless their own trope]]. Kit here is indeed an actual Prince Charming - but with character growth and development.

* RuleOfSymbolism: Ella transforms from scullery maid into PrincessClassic, and her dress has butterfly ornaments on it - symbolising a caterpillar's transformation into a butterfly.

** There are a couple of these to the ''Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast'' fairytale. Firstly, the FairyGodmother doesn't appear until Cinderella has helped her, via a SecretTestOfCharacter. Secondly, when Cinderella's father goes away on business, the two stepdaughters ask for superficial gifts while Ella asks for a plant - as Beauty's sisters ask for gowns and jewels, while Beauty asks for a rose.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: In this film, "Drisella" [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin is spelt with, well, an "S"]], rather than a "Z" as in the animated film.
* SpiritedYoungLady: Lady Tremaine is hinted to have once been this. She certainly starts out this trope when Ella's father was still alive as she's constantly throwing parties that she's the life of and she's strong-willed and extroverted.

-->'''Ella''': Yes, stepmother.\\
'''Lady Tremaine''': Oh, you needn't call me that. "''Madam''" will do.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Ella's mother is a kind and saintly woman...who of course dies tragically of an undisclosed illness.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: The Grand Duke, who isn't being mean just for the sake of it - unlike Lady Tremaine - but believes his scheme to be for the good of the kingdom.

* WickedStepmother: You'd better believe it, but this version implies that Lady Tremaine may have been willing to play happy families - until she realized that her new husband still preferred his old wife, [[{{Hypocrite}} despite Tremaine acknowledging that she likewise preferred her first husband]]. So when her second husband bites it she starts heaping abuse upon her stepdaughter.

** The prince's name is Kit, which is a common nickname for Christopher... [[Film/{{Cinderella}} Rupert Windemere Vladimir Carl Alexander]] [[OverlyLongName Francois Reginald Lancelot Herman Gregory James]].

* BondingOverMissingParents: At the ball, Ella and Kit's budding romance is deepened when Kit privately reveals to Ella that [[spoiler: his father the King is dying]], and Ella, who of course lost her own parents, expresses sympathy. A deleted scene also has them discuss their [[MissingMother late mothers.]] And in the final scene, as newlyweds, they gaze together at portraits of their parents, [[spoiler: by now all deceased]], and remark that they would have loved each other.

** Likewise, Creator/RichardMadden plays a royalty who falls in love with a girl considered below his social status, just like his role on ''Series/GameOfThrones'', except this time it has a HappyEnding. Interestingly, his character's name is Kit, just like [[Creator/KitHarington the actor]] who plays his on-screen half-brother [[spoiler: (actually cousin)]] in the same show.

** The king and the duke want Prince Kit to marry Princess Chelina of Zaragoza. In another Cinderella remake called ''Film/EverAfter'', the royal family tried to marry off the Prince to a princess from Spain.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Ella's father is a NiceGuy, but he does love Ella more than his new wife and stepdaughters. Lady Tremaine overhears him tell her this, and it becomes the seed of a lot of the abuse she deals later.

* ManlyTears: [[spoiler: Ella's father has tears in his eyes at his wife's deathbed, and Kit weeps at his father's deathbed.]]