History WesternAnimation / CinderellaIIIATwistInTime

* NearVillainVictory: Lady Tremaine's schemes come within [[TheyDo two words]] of succeeding. Fortunately, Anastasia has her HeelFaceTurn.

%%[[caption-width-right:300:[[{{Tagline}} What if the slipper didn't fit?]]]]

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Bruno the faithful dog, Major the loyal horse, and all the mice except for Jaq and Gus are completely absent from this film, which is rather odd.

* ArtImitatesArt: The end credits imitate at least two famous artworks: Edvard Munch's "TheScream" and Thomas Gainsborough's "Little Boy Blue". The other works are not as clearly parody, but imitate Rococo works such as Fragonard's "The Swing", a classic war hero's portrait, a still life (ruined by the mice), and a photo booth strip.

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: [[spoiler: Anastasia spends the entire movie--and, if her dialogue is any indication, her entire ''life''--dreaming of her HappilyEverAfter with a "perfectly perfect love." Toward the end of the movie, she's been transformed into Cinderella's exact clone and is standing on the altar with Prince Charming, about to finally achieve the marriage she's always wanted...but she turns it down with an "I don't." She knows that Charming's feelings for her aren't real, and she's decided that she wants someone to love her for 'herself'', even if it means giving up the happy ending she's fantasized about for so long.]]

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Lady Tremaine's biggest flaw in her plan is that she keeps underestimating the PowerOfLove and Cinderella's [[TheDeterminator unbreakable spirit]]. She didn't count on the prince being able to break free from his brainwashing due to his love for Cinderella, nor did she think that her own daughter would pull a HeelFaceTurn and go against the plan.

* IChooseToStay: [[spoiler:At the end of the film, Fairy Godmother offers to return things to how they were in the original timeline, but both Cinderella and Charming reject it in favor of the new one.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: The darkest the original film got was when Cinderella is being chased by the palace guards and locked in the attic. This film has Cinderella's stepmother mind wiping her prince, ruining the original's happy ending, and attempting to get her killed.

* HoistByHerOwnPetard: At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Lady Tremaine's use of Fairy Godmother's wand turns against her after Cinderella and the Prince step into protect Anastasia. After that, Lady Tremaine and Drizella transform into frogs. Eventually, they return to human form and work as maids]].

* ExactWords[=/=]LoopholeAbuse:

* MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight: Lady Tremaine's evil plot.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the Wicked Stepsister and "False Bride" archetype present in many fairy tales. Most of these characters are presented as purely cruel and greedy, are quickly outed as liars and then punished, often [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence quite gruesomely]] without a second thought from the true heroine. Here, however, the story is presented quite a bit from Anastasia's view, showing how she's forced into the charade by the WickedStepmother, her conflict and guilt over her actions, and how her motivation is wanting [[IJustWantToBeLoved love]] rather than status. The film also takes time to show how much concern Cinderella has for Anastasia, knowing her stepsister is also a victim of Lady Tremaine's abuse. It's even proven that as much as Anastasia can magically take on Cinderella's physical characteristics, she can't replicate the personal qualities that made the Prince fall in love with her, and so their relationship is awkward and loveless.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: With Anastasia, she has several of these moments.

** When Anastasia turns the fairy godmother to stone, she is outright horrified at what she did and starts apologizing. This foreshadows that [[spoiler: She actually isn't even that bad - at the very least she [[EvenEvilHasStandards had standards]].]]
** The wand's magic turns green when Lady Tremaine gets her hands on it, as does Drizella, but when Anastasia uses it, the magic remains white. [[spoiler: This is another hint towards her change of heart.]]

* GreenEyedMonster: Anastasia suffers this. [[spoiler:She realizes it's wrong and grows out of it, though after realizing that trying to be loved isn't worth pretending to be something she's not.]]

* IJustWantToBeLoved: Anastasia. At first she thinks she'll be happy with the prince's love, but then she realizes that she wants someone who loves her [[JustTheWayYouAre for who she really is]], not because they're under a spell. She also craves for her mother's approval and love, which explains a lot about [[spoiler:how she went with Tremaine's plan anyway.]]

** Lady Tremaine. She is '''worse''' than the original movie, and she was already an abusive parent. [[spoiler:She poofs Cinderella in a twisted pumpkin carriage with Lucifer as its human driver, and attempts to get Lucifer to kill Cinderella. Especially heinous because up until that point she was satisfied with just making Cinderella's life a living hell. She also has Anastasia posing as Cinderella to fool the prince. If anyone doesn't know, this is rape by deception... and for worse, she tries to use one of her own flesh and blood daughters for this, and right when Anastasia is becoming more and more sympathetic. Finally, Tremaine herself eventually ends up earning the wrath of the king and the prince, meaning she continues to go through with her wicked scheme for no reason except to spite not only Cinderella but also Anastasia.]]

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the Wicked Stepsister and "False Bride" archetype present in many fairy tales. Most of these characters are present as purely cruel and greedy are quickly outed as liars and then are punished, often [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence quite gruesomely]] without a second thought from the true heroine. Here, however the story is presented quite a bit from Anastasia view. Showing how much she's feeling conflicted and guilty over the whole situation, how her motivation is wanting [[IJustWantToBeLoved love]] rather then status and the film takes time to show how much concern Cinderella has for Anastasia, as she believes Anastasia is also a victim of Lady Tremaine's abuse. The film shows that as much as Anastasia can take on the physical characteristics of Cinderella, she can't replicate the personal qualities that made the Prince fall in love with Cinderella, and so their relationship is awkward and loveless.
* DeconReconSwitch: This film takes many of the tropes from the original film and plays with them. While many tropes are deconstructed and questioned (TheGirlWhoFitsThisSlipper and LoveAtFirstSight), it still maintains many of the original tropes, while adding a touch of realism to them (the prince doesn't just fall for the first girl who can wear the slipper, he wonders if she's truly the one he fell in love with).

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[[caption-width-right:650:Anastasia accidentaly steps on Prince's feet]]

** The prince invokes this on his father midway through the movie. After going to find Cinderella, the king forbids Prince Charming to take another step down the stairs. Prince Charming agrees, and then dives out of a nearby window.

* {{Hypnotize the Prince|ss}}: Lady Tremaine brainwashes Prince Charming to marry Anastasia.

* CosmicRetcon: Due to the course of the first movie being changed through time travel, ''Cinderella II: Dreams Come True'' is presumably retconned out of existence (though some characters from it still exist in the new continuity, such as Prudence and [[spoiler:Anastasia's love interest]]). Though even then, it's implied that the events of ''II'' weren't even canon to begin with since Anastasia is still longing for true love when we first see her and Drizella.

* BrideAndSwitch: After her spell on the Prince is broken, Lady Tremaine tries one last time to ruin Cinderella’s happy ending and marry her own child into the throne by [[spoiler: teleporting Cinderella away and having Anastasia take her place in the wedding, magically disguised to look exactly like her stepsister.]]

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the Wicked Stepsister and "False Bride" archetype present in many fairy tales. Most of these characters are present as purely cruel and greedy are quickly outed as liars and then are punished, often [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence quite gruesomely]] without a second thought from the true heroine. Here, however the story is presented quite a bit from Anastasia view. Showing how much she's feeling conflicted and guilty over the whole situation, how her motivation is wanting [[IJustWantToBeLoved love]] rather then status and the film takes time to show how much concern Cinderella has for Anastasia, as she also believes Anastasia is a victim of Lady Tremaine's abuse. The film shows that as much as Anastasia can take on the physical characteristics of Cinderella, she can't replicate the personal qualities that made the Prince fall in love with Cinderella, and so their relationship is awkward and loveless.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the Wicked Stepsister and "False Bride" archetype present in many fairy tales. Most of these characters are present as purely cruel and greedy are quickly outed as liars and then are punished, often [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence quite gruesomely]] without a second thought from the true heroine. Here, however the story is presented quite a bit from Anastasia view. Showing how much she's feeling conflicted and guilty over the whole situation, how her motivation is wanting [[IJustWantToBeLoved love]] rather then status and the film takes time to show how much concern Cinderella has for Anastasia, as she also believes Anastasia is a victim of Lady Tremaine's abuse.

* WhyWasteAWedding: [[spoiler:The disguised Anastasia saying, "I don't" and Cinderella crashing the royal wedding ruin what was to be the wedding between Charming and a fake Cinderella. Once her stepmother is defeated, Anastasia reverses her disguise in redemption and the real Cinderella takes her place.]]

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the Wicked Stepsister and "False Bride" archetype present in many fairy tales. Most of these characters are present as purely cruel and greedy are quickly outed as liars and then are punished, often [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence quite gruesomely]] without a second thought from the true heroine. Here, however the story is presented quite a bit from Anastasia view. Showing how much she's feeling conflicted and guilty over the whole situation, how her motivation is wanting [[IJustWantToBeLoved love]] rather then status and the film takes time to show how much concern Cinderella has for Anastasia rather than just treating her as an obstacle to overcome.