02/10/2025
In honor of Cinderella’s 75th anniversary, here are some random things you may not know about the Cinderella story. 👑
The Cinderella story is one that’s been around for ages, going as far back as the 1st century B.C.
In fact, there’s probably a lot of things you might not know about the servant girl turned Disney princess.
🐁Yes, the Cinderella story does in fact date back to the 1st century BC.
An ancient Greek geographer is said to have spun a tale about a slave girl from Ancient Egypt whose sandal was snatched by an eagle. When the sandal is recovered by a king who admires its beautiful shape, he seeks out the shoe’s owner and eventually makes the woman his wife.
The more popular published versions arrived in 1634, 1697 and 1812, with the latter two – Cendrillon, by Perrault (pictured above) and Aschenputtel, by the Brothers Grimm – truly giving shape to the character most associate with the 1950 animated Disney classic.
One More Thing: The name Cinderella comes from the French word Cendrillon, which in English translates to “little ash girl.”
🧚♀️Cinderella hasn’t always worn a glass slipper or had a fairy godmother.
It was Charles Perrault who first introduced the glass slipper and fairy godmother to the Cinderella story in 1697’s Cendrillon. Other versions have found the heroine wearing a magic ring or magic gold, silver or fur slippers. Similarly, the spirit of Cinderella’s deceased mother has at times portrayed the fairy godmother-type character.
One More Thing: According to the third Cinderella movie, her shoe size is a women’s 4 1/2. Do they still make glass slippers in a 4 1/2?
🎃 Cinderella helped save Walt Disney
When Walt Disney decided to make an animated feature starring Cinderella in 1948, in some ways it was the biggest risk of his career. The studio wasn’t doing well at the time, with their last hit being Snow White in 1937. At the end of World War II, Disney was $4 million in debt, and Cinderella was considered to be a big ole’ roll of the dice for Disney Animation. If the movie lost money, Walt may have had to cease making feature films and shut down Disney Animation.
Luckily for us (and Disney), the film was a major hit.
One More Thing: During the war years, Disney was kept afloat by making training videos for the United States government. It was during this time that the company also began dabbling in live-action films simply to get by.
Due to the company’s economic hardships at the time, Walt Disney couldn’t afford to pour funds into Cinderellalike he had done for Fantasia and Pinnochio. So instead he shot the entire movie in live action first, then used the footage in a number of ways – from designing the sets to assisting the animators, who weren’t thrilled with the fact that it limited them creatively.
One More Thing: The entire production took about two years to complete.
🧹Cinderella is mad old… for a Disney princess, that is.
At around 19 or 20 years old, Cinderella is considered to be the oldest of all the Disney princesses, with 19-year-old Tiana right there behind her. At 14 years old, Snow White is the youngest princess, while Frozen’s Anna – is 18 years old.
👸🏽 Cinderella (1950) features Walt Disney’s favorite piece of animation
The scene where Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother transforms her torn dress into a beautiful ballgown is said to be Walt Disney’s favorite piece of animation ever.
👠Those poor stepsisters
Cinderella’s dear old stepsisters got off pretty easy in the 1950 animated movie, but not so in earlier versions of the tale. Like the Grimm interpretation, in which birds pecked out the sisters’ eyes. And then Perrault – Perrault! – went so far as having the stepsisters cut off parts of their feet in order to fit them into a tiny slipper, prior to making a revision. How do you say “ouch!” in French?
🏰 Mickey Mouse’s secret Cinderella cameo
For decades, Disney animators have hidden Mickey Mouse ears – and sometimes Mickey himself – inside their movies, as well as the theme parks. Cinderella(1950) is no exception. If you look real closely you can spot Mickey’s head among the bubbles while Cinderella sings “Sweet Nightingale.”
One More Thing: These days, Disney hides all sorts of characters in their movies. For example, you can find shout-outs to both Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph in Big Hero 6. And, instead of a hidden Mickey Mouse, you’ll find a hidden Oswald sticker stuck to Hiro’s ceiling.
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