Line #36 WesternAnimation/TheMagicRiddle


1	[[quoteright:186:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/themagicriddle_5.jpg]]
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3	''The Magic Riddle'' is a 1991 Australian fantasy musical animated film directed by Creator/YoramGross. The story follows Cindy (inspired by Cinderella), a servant to her wicked stepmother and stepsisters who desires to have love. Along the way, she goes through a bunch of parts of different fairy tales, being narrated by an old woman who keeps on mixing them up, combining into her own story. The film was first released in Australia in September of 1991, and eventually had a theatrical release in the Philippines in 1994. The film has since been criticized for it's jumbled story, less than favorable animation and being a carbon copy of different Creator/{{Disney}} films that preceded the movie.
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6	!!''The Magic Riddle'' provides examples of:
7	* AdaptationalHeroism: In the fairytale Literature/{{Cinderella}}, both stepsisters are mean towards the heroine, but in this adaptation, one of them (Ertha) helps Cindy.
8	* AgonyOfTheFeet: It's only when Cindy gets her foot stepped on by Pinocchio that she realizes she needs shoes. Guess all of the other times she was perfectly fine having none.
9	* AmbiguousTimePeriod: Does anyone know what time period this movie is supposed to take place in? This is a fairytale and there are elements of it being set in the 19th century, but THEN you have elements that exceed WAY into the future. Fairytales must be more whack than we thought...
10	** It may be {{justified\|Trope}} that in the beginning of the movie, during the first song sequence, the old woman who plays Cindy's grandmother in the story, was just making it up as it goes due to her poor memory.
11	* AmbiguouslyRelated: Exactly how the widow and her daughters are related to Cindy is never elaborated on in the film itself. Given the CinderellaPlot, one would assume they're her stepmother and stepsisters, but the only time this is said to be the case is in the trailer, not the actual film. There's also the question of how the widow obtained Cindy's grandfather's estate, especially considering his wife is still alive.
12	* AnimatedMusical: The movie has a total of 15 sung songs in the movie. Guess how many are sung by the characters?
13	* {{Animesque}}: In some scenes of the movie, they look as if they came out of a Japanese production. Cindy herself has this anime girl like design throughout the film. It only makes it more noticeable when one finds out that one of the directors (Junko Aoyama) previously worked as an animator for some 80s anime.
14	* AwardBaitSong: Ordinary Miracles.
15	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Cindy eventually gets the inheritance and marries Philippe, finally living the life she wanted for so long and everyone she loves and befriended get to stay for the wedding. Happily ever after right? Well... The dwarves and Pinocchio eventually have to turn back into wood at the sound of wedding bells since they finished helping Cindy. No one is happy about this and it's tears all around...]] [[spoiler: Oh wait scratch that Pinocchio lives and is married to Ertha. That was quick.]]
16	* CharacterCatchphrase: Pinocchio has this habit of saying he's the best ___ in the world. He has an ego problem it seems.
17	* CharacterDevelopment: Ertha originally is played as a typical mean stepsister, but as the story progresses, she becomes more willing to help Cindy, and even falls in love with Pinocchio, destined to find him and stand against the Widow.
18	* ChekhovsGun: Not as much of a severe instance of this trope, but Pinocchio's shoe serves for a few important moments in the story. First used as Cindy's shoes for the ball, then used as a token item to find Pinocchio, THEN the other shoe is used as an escape device to find the way out of the castle of a hundred doors.
19	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Everyone except for Cindy and Philippe qualifies in some way to this trope.
20	* ColorCodedCharacters: The Dwarves and Pinocchio qualify as this, as all of their attires represent a different colour (Kind of like the rainbow)
21	** Goodby: Red
22	** Loony: Orange
23	** Pitsy: Yellow
24	** Moody: Green
25	** Funny: Turquoise
26	** Mitzi: Blue
27	** Pinocchio: Purple
28	** Rudy: Burgundy Pink.
29	* CoolHorse: Philippe's horse has got some super hearing, super speed, super strength and has got a badass colour scheme. His name is even "Hero".
30	* CuteMute: Cindy's cat puss. Though at one point he does sing so does that mean he's a talking cat or a regular cat? Writers make up your mind.
31	* DownOnTheFarm: Though subtle, parts of the manor where Cindy and her family live indicate that they live on some rural farm. This includes the stables and the barn they have.
32	* DudeShesLikeInAComa: Philippe kisses Cindy while she's unconscious.
33	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Slightly subverted. After being abused by the Widow and having to endure some chaos for so long, Cindy finally gets the will and marries Philippe, but she never really did anything to earn it. She wasn't unlikeable, just a useless trope.
34	* FlatCharacter: ALL of the characters are some form of a one dimensional trope with the exception of Ertha. We got Cindy who's the damsel trope, Philippe being the heroic prince trope, The Widow being the villain trope, it's all there in bold lines.
35	* FracturedFairytale: It's a mix of different fairytales including Literature/{{Cinderella}}, ''Literature/SnowWhite'', Literature/TheUglyDuckling, Literature/LittleRedRidingHood, Literature/SleepingBeauty, Literature/{{Pinocchio}} or Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs. Kinda like an older version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' with less humor.
36	* InformedAttribute: In some adaptations the dwarves would have personalities that fit their names. For example, in this adaptation one of the dwarves (Loony) is described as "The brains of the crew", yet he barely is involved in the film and sometimes doesn't even act as the smart guy. In fact it seems all of the dwarves act just about the same.
37	* IWantSong: Cindy's song about being an "ugly duckling" and wondering when she'll turn into a swan. All while having a thin curvy body, {{animesque}} eyes and long flowing hair in contrast to her old, wrinkly oppressor.
38	* ParentalSubstitute: Because Cindy's parents are most likely dead and the Widow is, well you know, Grandma took the place of taking care of the daughters for a while before the Widow told her to screw off. Grandma would eventually return to help Cindy finish her chores while she was asleep.
39	* PinocchioNose: Obviously on Pinocchio, who appears in the film.
40	* SuddenlySuitableSuitor: Cindy initially turns down Phillip's marriage proposal on the simple principle that she's too poor to contribute anything to their marriage. It's only after Grandfather's will states she can only receive the riches to provide for him if she marries him. So that takes care of that.
41	* ThatRemindsMeOfASong: Literature/TheUglyDuckling and Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs serve no purpose to be in this movie. They just make an excuse for Cindy to sing about something.
42	* ThePowerOfLove: At the movie's end, Pinocchio and the dwarfs [[spoiler: are turned into wood, but Pinocchio comes to live again thanks to Erthas kiss.]]
43	* UnexplainedAccent: You really can't tell WHERE this fairytale is supposed to take place in with all of the different accents. Bertha, in particular, seems to get a new voice each scene she's in.
44	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: As the movie continues, the second stepsister doesn't appear after a certain part of the movie, not even by turning up at the end of the film.

Context WesternAnimation / TheMagicRiddle