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1. Recently Walt Disney, a leader in family
entertainment, announced the remake of a well-loved child's classic
"Cinderella"
2. The Walt Disney company, already renown for
their animated version of the same tale, expressed a desire for this new version
to relate to the young people of today.
3. According to Disney producers and directors,
this remake was to be an attempt "to create a multiethnic, completely
colorblind fairytale.... that had some relevance to a '9Os audience."
4. Whether or not this is what Disney
accomplished is the topic of an article written by Rick Kushman, t.v. Columnist
for the Sacramento Bee.
5. After reading Kushman's article I have
concluded that Kushman felt that Walt Disney did not succeed in their attempt to
"reconcile western culture's with 1990s sensibilities", to a certain
point I agree with Kushman's conclusion of the movie.
6. I agree with Kushman in that even though this
new version is full of a multiracial cast the story still has some of the old
waits for prince charming to rescue you story.
7. I do feel that the attempt at the multiracial
cast was a success, because it does open the vision of this story being met for
anyone.
8. In his article Kushman comments on the
difference in the ethnic background of the king, queen, and prince.
9. I feel that we should not look at it as the
impossibility of someone from an African American background and a Caucasian
background as having a filipino son.
10. The purpose is to look beyond these
difference, and if you can't than just remember that this is all make-believe.
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11. In his article Kushman points out a few
places in the movie where the contradictions appear, yet he also reminds us that
it is a fairytale so not all should seem real.
12. One of these points is where the
"prince insists that he wants to marry someone who he can talk to and share
his life with", and then Kushman comments on the ballroom full of beautiful
women that are willing to marry just because he is the prince.
13. Before the prince knows about the ball he is
seen outside in the town where he first runs into Cinderella.
14. You see them meeting and he is drawn to her
even though he does not know who she is.
15. The prince is angry with his parents when he
discovers that they are going ahead with the ball even though he said he did not
want one.
16. He agrees to the ball when he gets his
parents to also agree that if he doesn't find the girl of his dreams at the ball
that they would let him have the time he needs to find her on his own.
11. The prince has the desire to marry for love
and he is shown at the ball as barely tolerating the cooing ladies whom he finds
as boring.
18. He requests from his valet Lionel to speed
the introductions up in order for this to get finished as soon as possible.
19. It is then that everyone in the ballroom is
drawn to the top of the stairs where a late arriving guest stands.
20. I feel that it is her late arrival that
gives Cinderella the advantage of catching the prince's eye because it puts her
at the center of attention.
21. Once she does catch his eye and they are
dancing the prince has a sense of meeting her before.
22. He does not recognize her as the girl he met earlier in the town because the difference in the clothes makes her seem different.
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25. Which brings up another Kushman point, that
is Cinderella does not seem able to attend the ball without the help of
"some outside force."
26. Here I see Kushman's point yet I don't see
any way in changing the aspect of magic getting her to the ball.
27. In every version of the Cinderella story I
have ever seen there is some other force or aid that allows her to attend the
ball.
28. These outside forces and aids vary from
magical fairy godmothers, to prominent friends, and magical acorns.
29. I see this as the point that you will always
need help and guidance in doing things in life.
30. There will always be something or someone
directing you along the road of life.
31. Who is to say that we don't have something
special within us that allows magical things to happen around us.
32. Are there not things happening every day
that are found to be unexplainable.
33. It is everything coming to an end at
midnight that is hard to explain.
34. As Kushman states it is as if that when the
magic expires at midnight it seems as if she has lost the power within her.
35. This is where the relevance to the '9Os way
of thinking was not met.
36. I'm not even sure how it could be changed to
adapt it to the actual script.
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37. This brings me to another point that I would
like to make about this Disney version of Cinderella.
38. I think that the main mistake that Disney
made in this version is that it was actually a remake.
39. I'm not sure if Kushman even considered this
point but I would like to make it.
40. This version of Cinderella was a remake of
the Rogers and Hammerstein musical.
41. With this being already written and
copyrighted I don't think that there was really too much that could be changed
with out Disney infringing on the copyright laws.
42. That is why I see the failure of the up to
date version of this movie.
43. If Disney had started with a whole new
script than I think it would have been easier for them to change the
contradictions that Kushman comments on in his article.
44. The one thing that we have to remember when
we are telling these stories to our children is that it is how we answer the
questions that they ask that gives them their understanding of what they were
told.
45. So all in all I think that this was a good
remake of an old tale.
46. Though the next time Disney wants to bring
an old tale into the '9Os I hope they really look at what they are starting with
and what they can actually change in it.