History Film / Cinderella

* ActorAllusion: Ginger Rogers, then in her fifties, plays the Queen in 1965. When the King suggests a dance after she remains seated for most of the ball sequence, she all but winks at the viewer while commenting that she thought he'd never ask.

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Lesley Ann Warren and Brandy spin during their respective dress transformation scenes.
-->'''Fairy Godmother ('97)''': Spin around, don't make me do all the work!

--> '''King Maximillian''': "Why, if I were a young man I'd..."
--> '''Queen Constantina''': "Yes, dear?"
--> {{Beat}}.
--> '''King Maximillian''': "Well, I'd be younger, wouldn't I?"
--> '''Queen Constantina''': "Yes, dear."

-->Madame: I married your father for love--he died, I cried. I married Cinderella's father for money--he died, I got a house.

* TheGirlWhoFitsThisSlipper: Averted; the prince recognizes Cinderella anyway.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: The viewers never actually see Cinderella's dress transform: The scene cuts from Cinderella in rags, to the Godmother waving her wand, to Cinderella in a fancy robe. During the following commercial break, Julie Andrews went backstage to don her actual ballgown.

* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: While the first two versions' fairy godmothers wielded {{magic wand}}s, this one uses sparkling magic dust.

** Julie Andrews did not spin in the live 1957 version because she acquired her ballgown in between scene changes.[[note]]This production's transformation cuts from Cinderella in rags, to the Godmother waving her wand, to Cinderella in a fancy robe. During the following commercial break, Julie Andrews went backstage to don her actual ballgown.[[/note]]

* MakeAWish: Cinderella's wishing summons the Fairy Godmother in at least two of the TV versions.

** Julie Andrews did not spin because the 1957 version was broadcast live, and her transformation uses effects one might use in a stage production.

* IAmSong / IWantSong: "In My Own Little Corner" and its reprise, respectively.
** In all honesty, "In My Own Little Corner" is a deconstruction of an IWantSong, since it is about how Cinderella is trying to be content in her life already.

* ShownTheirWork: Practically the only adaption of Perrault's Cinderella to get right that the Fairy Godmother is Cinderella's literal godmother.

* BrokenAesop: The fairy godmother encourages Cinderella to stop sitting around and dreaming and just get out there and make it happen. After which she proceeds to magically give Cinderella the carriage and ballgown she wished for. Fixed when they reach the palace, and the godmother leaves Cinderella to go inside alone; she'll easily get Prince Christopher's attention, but she'll have to make him love her for herself.
-->'''Fairy Godmother''': I got you to the ball. The rest is up to you.

* TheGirlWhoFitsThisSlipper: But of course. This ''is'' the story that [[TropeNamer named that trope]], after all.

* AdaptationDistillation / AdaptationExpansion

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The stepmother, who is rich and domineering, is white. Cinderella, who works for her as a mistreated household servant, is black.
** Although it is relieving that one of the stepsisters and the queen are both black, so this was most likely unintentional.
** Notably, There is a mild case of fridge brilliance over the attitude of the stepmother compared to the prince towards Cinderella. The prince, being of mixed descent, has none of the prejudices that the stepmother has.

* NoIndoorVoice: "I WANT A CHANCE AT HIM!"
** As well as the stepmother in her last few minutes onscreen.
* OfCorsetHurts: "Beauty knows no pain, girls!"
** This may be a nod to the girl in the first film who also fell victim to this trope.

* PluckyComicRelief: Lionel seems to serve no real purpose other than to be this.
** ESPECIALLY when he starts to announce any member of the royal family, using their full OverlyLongName.

* OhCrap: During "A Lovely Night," Cinderella describes what she "supposes" the ball was like, in a detailed and accurate fashion, charming her stepfamily into joining the song...but then she tops it off with the exact same curtsey she used at the ball. This trope is written all over the stepmother's face as she puts two and two together.

* WhamShot: Ella almost loses a glass slipper, but she picks it up before Topher could get it, making it the first time an event has happened among all Cinderella adaptations. Averted when she leaves the banquet when she purposely takes off her shoe and leaves it behind.

* FollowTheLeader: CBS hired Rodgers and Hammerstein to help them compete against NBC's televised presentations of ''Theatre/PeterPan'' by writing a work in which Creator/JulieAndrews would go from RagsToRiches in a manner similar to [[Theatre/MyFairLady her most popular role at the time.]]

* TheCastShowoff: The melancholy portion of "A Lovely Night" got replaced with an upbeat instrumental, allowing Lesley Ann Warren to demonstrate her ballet talents.

* BillingDisplacement: Brandy's name is last in the credits (among the leads). Whitney Houston, Jason Alexander, and Bernadette Peters come first.
** Although the opening credits start with Brandy's name and go through the rest in alphabetical order.

* TheCastShowoff:
** The fairy godmother usually only sings "Impossible/It's Possible" and one line at Cinderella's wedding (the same line used for this page's quote), but Whitney Houston closes this remake with another song, "There's Music in You." It originally came from an obscure MGM musical titled, ''Main Street to Broadway''. Also, most versions don't have the fairy godmother show up until the night of the ball, but this one has Houston appear at the beginning, and sing a rendition of "Impossible."
** Creator/WhoopiGoldberg also gets to do more singing than either of the queens before her. She starts off "The Prince is Giving a Ball", and replaces Prince Christopher as the performer of the reprise of "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" (presumably renamed, "Do You Love Her Because She's Beautiful?").

* BigNo: The stepmother yells this after Cinderella tries on the glass slipper and it's revealed to be a perfect fit before she faints and Lionel says, "Quiet, woman!"

* BrokenAesop: The fairy godmother encourages Cinderella to stop sitting around and dreaming and just get out there and make it happen. After which she proceeds to magically give Cinderella the carriage and ballgown she wished for. When they reach the palace, the godmother attempts to repair the Aesop by leaving Cinderella to go inside alone, and make Prince Christopher love her for herself.

--> '''King Maximillian''': "Why, if I were a young man I'd-"

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: There's a very short clip at the ball that involves ''[[LesYay the stepmother dancing with a woman.]]''
** I'm pretty sure she was shooing her off so that her daughter could dance with the Prince.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: After the shoe fails to fit either of the stepsisters, Cinderella's stepmother becomes so desperate she'll do anything for the prince's money. She locks Cinderella in the kitchen, offers ''herself'' to the prince by trying on the shoe, helplessly begs him to marry one of her daughters, and then when all else fails, she gives a BigNo and then passes out.

* IJustWantToBeFree: Cinderella.

* LoveAtFirstSight: Played straight between Prince Christopher and Cinderella at the ball, but averted earlier when they just become friends.

* NoIndoorVoice: I WANT A CHANCE AT HIM!

* OfCorsetHurts: Beauty knows no pain, girls!

* OhCrap: During "A Lovely Night," Cinderella [[TooDumbToLive is already being stupid enough to describe what she "supposes" the ball was like, in a detailed and accurate fashion]], but she tops it off with the exact same curtsey she used at the ball. Upon recognizing this, this trope is written all over the stepmother's face.

--> '''Lionel''': Yes, a continent.

Creator/{{Rodgers and Hammerstein}}'s musical adaptation of [[Literature/{{Cinderella}} the fairytale.]] It was originally written and performed live on TV in 1957, starring Creator/JulieAndrews. A 1965 remake, starring Lesley Ann Warren and with a revised script (plus a CutSong from ''SouthPacific'') was rerun well into TheEighties.

* IWantSong: Prince Christopher's "Loneliness of Evening", originally a CutSong from ''SouthPacific''.

* HollywoodOld: The only reason we know Bernadette Peters is in her middle ages in this movie is because [[OlderThanTheyLook the dialogue tells us so.]]

* ShoutOut: There are many references to the 1955 film TheGlassSlipper, notably Crazy Marie is an {{Expy}} of Ms. Tocquet.
** The plot is also very similar to the film version of ''EllaEnchanted'', with the Prince being an orphan PuppetKing who is unaware that his EvilChancellor is stealing lands and rights from the people until Ella opens his eyes to the situation.

{{Rodgers and Hammerstein}}'s musical adaptation of [[Literature/{{Cinderella}} the fairytale.]] It was originally written and performed live on TV in 1957, starring Creator/JulieAndrews. A 1965 remake, starring Lesley Ann Warren and with a revised script (plus a CutSong from ''SouthPacific'') was rerun well into TheEighties.

* BrokenAesop: The fairy godmother encourages Cinderella to stop sitting around and dreaming and just get out there and make it happen. After which she proceeds to magically give Cinderella everything she wishes for.
** But only ''after'' Cinderella has resolved to fix her dress and ''hitchhike'' to the ball if that's what it takes to make her dream come true.

* TheCastShowoff: The fairy godmother usually only sings "Impossible/It's Possible" and one line at Cinderella's wedding (the same line used for this page's quote), but Whitney Houston closes this remake with another song, "There's Music in You." It originally came from an obscure MGM musical titled, ''Main Street to Broadway''.
** Also, most versions don't have the fairy godmother show up until the night of the ball, but this one has Houston appear at the beginning, and sing a rendition of "Impossible."

A rewritten 1997 remake, which premiered on ''[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents The Wonderful World of Disney]]'', starred Music/{{Brandy}}, along with Music/WhitneyHouston as both the co-producer and the fairy godmother. This version had a slightly more modern feel to it and featured a multiracial cast, along with an added character named Lionel and three other Richard Rodgers songs added to the score. While the original is clearly an old-fashioned medieval atmosphere, the remake is more surreal and colorful, and it's pretty debatable what country they're in (mostly due to the mixed races). Most theater fans prefer the 1957 original, but the remake is also quite popular among teenagers. The 60's remake is a huge CultClassic, though, for the people who grew up from the sixties to the early nineties.

** The plot is also very similar to the film version of ''EllaEnchanted'', with the Prince being an orpahn PuppetKing who is unaware that his EvilChancellor is stealing lands and rights from the people until Ella opens his eyes to the situation.