Cinderella

In short

Cinderella keeps showing a heroine who stays gentle, polite, grateful and hard-working while being treated badly, plus very loyal, brave little friends (the mice and Bruno) who help her. Nearly all the bad behaviour comes from the stepmother and stepsisters: constant bossing, mocking, lying, put-downs within the family and cold cruelty, which the film clearly shows as wrong and defeats at the end. The comic King and Duke add lots of gentle humour, though the King's temper and name-calling are played for laughs. Watch for the scene where the sisters tear Cinderella's dress and she sobs, the stepmother locking her in, and the cat chasing the mice; the story also leans on looks and falling in love at a ball as the happy ending.

All 15 values

Moments to check (9)

Lines that might mean more than the words say. Watch these bits yourself.

• 00:30:01I said 'ifmediumStepmother's promise is a deliberate trap; sarcasm flips meaning
• 00:32:28Leave the sewing to the womenlowdated gender-role line
• 00:39:11Oh, what a shamemediumfake sympathy from stepmother
• 00:41:22(SISTERS YELLING)highdress being torn off her only implied by sound
• 00:47:59Dance, be gaylowolder meaning 'cheerful'; children may ask
• 00:52:08if anything goes wrong...lowunfinished threat from King to Duke
• 00:58:43Treason! ... No, Sire. No!mediumKing's attack on Duke shown only as action, not described
• 01:09:40(YOWLING)mediumcat-dog fight and Lucifer's fate implied only by sound
• 01:12:39Oh, no... this is terriblemediumglass slipper broken off-text; stepmother's sabotage implied