*Spoiler alert* This article is an in-depth analysis of the movies, spoilers are inevitable.

The original Disney’s Cinderella was released in 1950 and is considered one of the major classics of the company. In 2015, Disney released the first of many live-action remakes, starting with Cinderella.
The general story of Disney’s Cinderella is that of a young girl who is a servant for her evil stepmother and misguided stepsisters. When the kingdom announces a ball at which the prince may marry any eligible maiden, Cinderella longs to go. However, her stepfamily destroys her dress and prevents her from going. Her fairy godmother blesses Cinderella with a carriage, servants, a new dress, and glass slippers, but the magic will only last till midnight. As a result of the time limit, Cinderella rushes from the ball and loses one of her glass slippers, and the prince does not know her identity. So he then decides that whomever the slipper fits will be the girl he marries. The stepmother sees her chance to marry off her daughters to the prince. So she tries in many ways to prevent Cinderella from seeing the prince. But following the typical fairy tale ending, Cinderella marries the prince and lives happily ever after.

While the basic storyline of Cinderella is kept in both the new and old versions, there are many subtle differences in its presentation. Most notably are the decreased roles of the animals and the absence of the classic Disney songs in the new version.

The 1950 Cinderella has the mice, specifically Jacque and Gus-Gus, as supporting protagonists that are Cinderella’s friends and help her in tight places. While the mice still play that role in the 2015 remake, they no longer talk and the little feud between the mice and Lucifer is gone. Lucifer himself is no longer an antagonist but merely a nasty pet. The character of Bruno the dog is completely taken away in the 2015 version and replaced by a hilarious goose who has a talent for showing up in the most unlikely of places.

The songs of the animation version, for which Disney gained much recognition, were taken away, replaced by a short but pleasing ditty.

One good result of these changes was a chance to delve further into the characters in the newer movie.

Two characters that received much more screen time in the 2015 version are Cinderella’s parents. Much of the beginning of the movie is taken up showing Cinderella’s connection with her mother and father. Most importantly, before the mother dies, she passes on a valuable bit of encouragement, which Cinderella comes back to throughout the movie: Have courage and be kind.

Another character who received more recognition was the prince himself. In the animated version, the prince is a distant and remote character who says almost nothing and of whom we know nothing. In the remake, there is a 1) conflict between him and his father, and 2) a friendship struck up with Cinderella. These added story threads give a broader view of the prince’s character.

The stepsisters were not of much importance in the animation except to show contrast with Cinderella; the same goes in the live-action. They are silly in manner and grace to a pitiable degree. They are also the cause of much hilarity in their desperate antics to gain the attention of the prince.

In the animation, the stepmother, Lady Tremaine, was a cruel lady attempting to procure ‘successful’ marriages for her daughters. In this live-action, it is much the same, with the exception that the stepmother tells Cinderella her backstory: one of pain and sorrow.

The fairy godmother was a character that changed very much from the original. In the animation, she is a calm and elderly ‘grandmother’ figure, bubbly and sure of herself. In the live-action though, she is much younger and a little ditzy, but utterly hilarious. The song, ‘Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo’ is not sung in the live-action, which was a great shame.

Lastly, Cinderella herself is not much changed from the animation. The extra small story threads between herself and the other characters show less of a fairy tale princess and more of just a struggling human, but she did not lose her original charm, grace, and optimism.

In all, taking into account the differences in character depth and crowd appeal, the Cinderella live-action can be said to be better than the animation. The extra connection between the characters and the audience in the live-action makes up for the removal and/or depletion of the animals and songs.

Views express the opinion of the author and not necessarily those of MODG News.