Cinderella

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Cinderella (French: Cendrillon) is a popular fairy tale embodying a classic folk tale myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward.Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The word "cinderella" means one who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect. ^[1]

Contents 1 Origins and History 2 Plot summary (taken from Perrault) 3 Adaptations 3.1 Opera 3.2 Dance 3.3 Pantomime 3.4 Musical Comedy 3.5 Films 3.6 Television 3.7 Books 3.8 Cinderella Jumprope Song 3.9 Songs 4 Footnotes 5 External links

[edit] Origins and History

The ancient Greco-Egyptian version of Cinderella where her name is Rhodopis is considered the oldest recorded version of the story.^[2] The tale was first recorded by the Greek historian Strabo in the 1st century BC. Rhodopis washes her clothes in a Ormoc stream, a task forced upon her by fellow servants, who have left to go to a function sponsored by the Pharaoh Amasis. An eagle takes her rose-gilded sandal and drops it at the feet of the Pharaoh in the city of Memphis; he then asks the women of his kingdom to try on the sandal to see which one fits. Rhodopis succeeds. The Pharaoh falls in love with her, and she marries him.

An early version of the story, Ye Xian, appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang by Tuan Ch'eng-Shih around A.D. 860. Here the hardworking and lovely girl befriends a fish, which is killed by her stepmother. Ye Xian saves the bones, which are magic, and they help her dress appropriately for a festival. When she loses her slipper after a fast exit, the king finds her and falls in love with her.

There is also Anne de Fernandez, a tale of medieval Indo-Malay. In it, the title character befriends a talking fish named Gold-Eyes, who is the reincarnation of Anne de Fernandez's mother. Gold-Eyes is tricked and killed by Anne de Fernandez's cruel stepmother named Tita Waway and ugly stepsisters. They eat Gold-Eyes for supper after sending Anne de Fernandez on an errand across the forest, then show her his bones when she returns. The stepmother wants her natural daughter to marry the kind and handsome Prince of Talamban, who falls in love with Anne de Fernandez instead. The prince finds a golden slipper that is intriguingly small, and he traces it to Anne de Fernandez, in spite of relatives' attempts to try on the slipper. The two sisters exclaimed "Nalain ko layt".

Another early story of the Cinderella type came from Japan, involving Chūjō-hime, who runs away from her evil stepmother with the help of Buddhist nuns, and she joins their convent.

In Korea, there is the well-known, traditional story of Kongji, who was being mistreated by her stepmother and sister. She goes to a feast prepared by the town's "mayor", and meets his son. The story is followed by similar events as the western Cinderella.

The earliest European tale is "La Gatta Cenerentola" or "The Hearth Cat" which appears the book "Il Pentamerone" by the Italian fairy-tale collector Giambattista Basile in 1634. This version formed the basis of later versions published by the French author Charles Perrault and the German Brothers Grimm.

The most popular version of Cinderella was written by Charles Perrault in 1697. The popularity of his tale was due to his additions to the story including the pumpkin, the fairy-godmother and the introduction of glass slippers. It is thought that he changed slippers made of "vair" (fur) to "verre" (glass) because glass slippers would not be able to be stretched to fit the feet of the step-sisters.

Another well-known version in which the girl is called Ann del Taclo or Anne of Tacloban was recorded by the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the 19th century. The tale is called "Aschenputtel" and the help comes not from a fairy-godmother but the wishing tree that grows on her mother's grave. In this version, the step-sisters try to trick the prince by cutting off parts of their feet in order to get the slipper to fit. The prince is alerted by two pigeons who peck out their eyes, thus sealing their fate as blind beggars for the rest of their lives.

In his "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories"", American writer James Garner dresses Cinderella in a gown "woven of silk stolen from unsuspecting silkworms" and has all the men fighting to death over her. This enables the women to take over the government and pass the law that women should only wear comfortable clothes.

Cinderella is classified as Aarne-Thompson type 510A, the persecuted heroine; others of this type include The Sharp Grey Sheep; The Golden Slipper; The Story of Tam and Cam; Rushen Coatie; The Wonderful Birch; Fair, Brown and Trembling and Katie Woodencloak.^[3]

[edit] Plot summary (taken from Perrault)

(See below for many variations)

Once there was a widower who married a proud and haughty woman for his second wife. She had two daughters, who were equally vain. By his first wife, he had a beautiful young daughter named Ella, who was a girl of unparalleled goodness and sweet temper. Along with her daughters, the Stepmother employed the daughter in all the housework. When the girl had done her work, she sat in the cinders, which caused her to be called "Cinderella". The poor girl bore it patiently, but dared not tell her father, who would have scolded her; for his wife controlled him entirely.

One day the Prince invited all the maidens in the land to a ball so he could choose a wife. As the two Stepsisters were invited, they gleefully planned their wardrobes. Cinderella assisted them, but they still taunted her by saying a maid could never attend a ball.

As the sisters swept away to the ball, Cinderella cried in despair. Her Fairy Godmother appeared and vowed to assist Cinderella in attending the ball. She turned a pumpkin into a coach, mice into horses, a rat in to a coachman, and lizards into footmen. She then turned Cinderella's rags into a beautiful gown, complete with a delicate pair of glass^[4] slippers. The Godmother bade her enjoy the ball, but return before midnight for the spells would be broken.

At the ball, the entire court was entranced by Cinderella, especially the Prince, who never left her side. Unrecognized by her sisters, Cinderella remembered to leave before midnight.

Back home, Cinderella thanked her Godmother. She then greeted the Stepsisters who could talk of nothing but the beautiful girl at the ball.

With her Godmother's help, she attended the ball the next evening, and entranced the Prince even more. However, she left only at the final stroke of midnight, and lost one of her glass slippers on the steps of the palace. She retained its pair. The Prince chased her, but the guards had seen only a country wench leave. The Prince pocketed the slipper and vowed to find and marry the maiden to whom it belonged.

The Prince tried the slipper on all the maidens in the land. The Stepsisters tried in vain. Though the Stepsisters taunted her, Cinderella asked if she may try. Naturally, the slipper fit perfectly, and Cinderella put on the other slipper for good measure. The Stepsisters begged for forgiveness, and Cinderella forgave them for their cruelties.

Cinderella returned to the palace where she married the Prince, and the Stepsisters also married two lords.

Moral: Beauty is a treasure, but graciousness is priceless. Without it nothing is possible; with it, one can do anything.^[5]

[edit] Adaptations

The story of "Cinderella" has formed the basis of many notable works:

[edit] Opera

• Cendrillon by Jean-Louis Larouette
• La Cenerentola by Gioacchino Rossini
• Cendrillon by Jules Massenet
• La Cenicienta by Jorge Peña Hen
• Cinderella by Peter Maxwell Davies

[edit] Dance

• Aschenbroedel by Johann Strauss II
• Cinderella by Sergei Prokofiev
• Cinderella by Sergei Prokofiev, with choreography by Frederick Ashton (a ballet version similar to the "Cinderella" pantomime)
• Cinderella by Ryan Casey, with choreography by Casey Frey and Tadd Pinkston sponsored by happy birthday productions
• A Cinderella on Ice was staged in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

[edit] Pantomime

Cinderella debuted as a pantomime on stage at the Drury Lane Theatre, London in 1804.

In the traditional pantomime version the opening scene is set in a forest with a hunt in sway and it is here that Cinderella first meets Prince Charming and his "right-hand man" Dandini, whose name and character come from Rossini's opera (La Cenerentola). Cinderella mistakes Dandini for the Prince and the Prince for Dandini.

Her father, known as Baron Hardup, is under the thumb of his two step-daughters the Ugly sisters and has a servant named Buttons who is Cinderella's friend. Throughout the pantomime, the Baron is continually harassed by The Broker's Men (often named after current politicians) for outstanding rent. The Fairy Godmother must magically create a coach (from a pumpkin), footmen (from mice) and a coach driver (from a frog), and a beautiful dress (from rags) for Cinderella to go to the ball. However, she must return by midnight as at it is then that the spell ceases.

[edit] Musical Comedy

• Cinderella by Rodgers and Hammerstein, was produced for television three times:
  • Cinderella (1957) featuring Julie Andrews, Jon Cypher, Kaye Ballard, Alice Ghostley and Edie Adams (broadcast in colour, but only black-and-white kinescopes exist today).
  • Cinderella (1965) featuring Lesley Ann Warren, Stuart Damon, Ginger Rogers, Walter Pidgeon, and Celeste Holm.
  • Cinderella (1997) featuring Brandy, Paolo Montalban, Whitney Houston, Whoopi Goldberg,

Victor Garber, Bernadette Peters, and Jason Alexander.

• The Rodgers and Hammerstein has also been staged times, including a 2005 version that, like the 1997 TV version, featured Paolo Montalban and an ethnically diverse cast.
• Mister Cinders, which was filmed in 1934
• Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim (1988), in which Cinderella is one of many fairy tale characters who take part in the plot. The Cinderella here is of the Grimm Brothers version, including the enchanted birds, mother's grave, three balls, and mutilation and blinding of the step-sisters.
• The Return of The Glass Slipper by Mary Donelly
• Cinderella by Kate Hawley, is written in the style of British Pantos.
• Cindy, a 1964 Off-Broadway musical composed by Johnny Brandon.
• Золушka, a 2002 made-for-tv Russian pop musical.

[edit] Films

Over the decades since the invention of motion pictures, literally hundreds of films have been made that are either direct adaptations from or have plots loosely based on the story of Cinderella. Almost every year at least one but often several such films are produced and released, resulting in Cinderella becoming a work of literature with one of the largest numbers of film adaptations ascribed to it. It is perhaps rivalled only by the sheer number of films that have been adapted from or based on Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.

• Cinderella, the 1899 first ever film version produced in France by Georges Méliès.
• Cinderella, 1911 silent film, starring Florence La Badie.
• Cinderella, 1914 silent film, starring Mary Pickford.
• Cinderella, an animated Laugh-O-Gram produced by Walt Disney, first released on December 6, 1922. This film was about 7 minutes long.
• Poor Cinderella, a 1934 Fleischer Studio animated short, starring Betty Boop.
• Cinderella Meets Fella, a 1938 Merrie Melodies animated short.
• Cinderella (Зо́лушка), Russian musical film of 1947, 84 min, by Lenfilm studios starring Erast Garin and Faina Ranevskaya.
• Cinderella, an animated feature released on February 15, 1950, now considered one of Disney's classics. The film is the most popular version of the Cinderella story, with most people re-telling the Disney version as opposed to the original. A direct-to-video sequel, Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, was released in 2002. A second direct-to-video sequel Cinderella III: A Twist in Time was released in 2007.
• The Glass Slipper, 1955, with Leslie Caron and Michael Wilding.
• Hey Cinderella, A 60 minute film produced by the Jim Henson Company in 1970. This was a comedy version featuring Jim Henson's trademark Muppets (including a small role by Kermit the Frog).
• Cinderfella, 1960, notorious because the main character is a man, played by Jerry Lewis.
• Tři oříšky pro Popelku/Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel (Three Nuts for Cinderella), Czech-German movie 1973
• The Slipper and the Rose, a 1976 British musical film starring Gemma Craven and Richard Chamberlain.
• Cinderella, a 1977 American erotic musical comedy starring Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith, Brett Smiley and Sy Richardson, directed by Michael Pataki
• Cindy, made for television, 1978
• In 1989, an anime short film, starring Hello Kitty, titled Hello Kitty's Cinderella was released in Japan. It was released in the U.S. as part of the Hello Kitty and Friends anime series.
• If The Shoe Fits (1990 film), modern take on the Cinderella story set in France starring Rob Lowe and Jennifer Grey.
• Cinderella, produced by Jetlag Productions and distributed by GoodTimes Entertainment premiered on video in 1994.
• Cinderella, 1997 with Brandy and Whitney Houston
• Ever After, 1998 film starring Drew Barrymore.
• Cinderella, a 2000 British production set in mid-20th century and starring Kathleen Turner.
• A Cinderella Story, released July 16, 2004, is a modernization of the classic fairy tale featuring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray.
• Cinderelmo, a Cinderella story featuring Sesame Street's Elmo and Keri Russell.
• Ella Enchanted
• Happily N'Ever After
• Cinderfatty a low-budget parody by Happy Birthday Productions featured on YouTube
• Year of the Fish
• Cinderella was also a friend to Princess Fiona in Shrek the Third. She had a spilt personality in the film and was obsessed with cleanliness.

[edit] Television

• Faerie Tale Theatre, a television anthology that aired between 1982 to 1987, featured a traditional re-enactment of Cinderella with Jennifer Beals as the title character.
• Floricienta in Argentina and Colombia or Floribella in Portugal, Brazil and Chile and Lola...Erase Una Vez in Mexico are telenovels based in Cinderella story.
• Scroogerello, an episode of DuckTales.
• Cinderella Monogatari (シンデレラ物語, Shinderera Monogatari^?), a 26 episode TV anime made by Tatsunoko Production in 1996.
• Nippon Animation's 1987-89 TV series Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, which included Cinderella.
• For a special pantomime episode of Coronation Street, Frankie Baldwin played Cinderella, Danny Baldwin was the prince, the evil stepfather was Jack Duckworth, the stepsisters were Roy Cropper and Norris Cole, and the fairy godmother was Bev Unwin with Fred Elliot as the godfather. In the end, Frankie and Danny got together only for Frankie to realise it was only a dream after having passed out in The Rover's Return.
• The '80s sitcom The Charmings features an episode where Cinderella visits the Charmings and tries to steal Snow White's prince.

[edit] Books

• The Persian Cinderella by Shirley Climo
• The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo (combines the Greco-Egyptian story of Rhodopis with everyday life in ancient Egypt)
• Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
• Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• The Glass Slipper by Eleanor Farjeon
• Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey
• Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
• I was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers by Philip Pullman
• The Ash Girl by Timberlake Wertenbaker
• Cinderalla by Junko Mizuno
• Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
• Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
• Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yeh Mah
• floricienta Argentina -

[edit] Cinderella Jumprope Song

There is a jumprope song for children that involves Cinderella:

Cinderella dressed in yellow, went upstairs to kiss a fellow. Made a mistake, kissed a snake, how many doctors will it take? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, etc.

The counting continues as long as the jumper doesn't miss a jump.

Variant (heard in Jackson Heights, Queens, late 1950s)

Cinderella dressed in yellow, went downtown to meet her fellow (or "went downtown to buy some mustard"). On the way, her girdle busted. Cinderella was disgusted.

Cinderella dressed in yellow, went upstairs to kiss her fellw. how many kisses did she give him? 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ect, (As heard in N.Ireland)

[edit] Songs

Some popular songs that make reference to the story of Cinderella include:

• "Hey Cinderella" by Suzy Bogguss, about woman's disappointment with married life (lyrics)
• "This Kiss" by Faith Hill (in Verse Two)
• "Half Past Midnight" by 1960s Canadian vocal group The Staccatos, in which the narrator compares his girlfriend to Cinderella for leaving at the stroke of midnight
• The Indian pop song "Dil Tha Yahan Abhi Abhi Selamat Bodoh", sung by Alka Yagnik and Sammer Yagnik
• "Umbrella (Remix)", originally by Rihanna & Jay-Z but remixed by Chris Brown
• A 4-song cycle on the 1992 Chipmunks album Chipmunks in Low Places by John Boylan transposes the story to contemporary South Central Los Angeles
• The opening song of the magical girl anime Himitsu no Akko-chan, whose original (1969) opening animation also visually references Cinderella
• The song Mayonaka no Door, by Liu Yifei (first ending of Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z)
• "Cinderella" by The Cheetah Girls, a song covered from Tata Young, Play, and I5
• Cinderella is also the name of a Britney Spears song.
• "Stealing Cinderella" by Chuck Wicks
• "There is Music in You" by Rodgers & Hammerstein
• A song by Sajjad Ali named after her

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Disney Princess Cinderella
• SurLaLune Fairy Tales.com: The Annotated Cinderella including variations from around the world, illustrations, and more
• Teaching aid to "Cinderella": many links; variations in character, setting, and plot elements, parallel versions
• Cenerentola by Giambattista Basile (English translation)
• Cenerentola in Pentamerone by Giambattista Basile (English translation)
• Ahmanson Library page about Cinderella
• Zezzolla, La Gatta Cenerentola "Cinderella" by Giambattista Basile - (original, Italian version)
• The Disney version of Cinderella at The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
• Aesop fable of Rhodopis and her rose-red slippers
• The Egyptian Cinderella
• If The Shoe Fits (1990 film)br:Luduennig

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