The story of Cinderella has extensive historical roots, with the earliest variant of the story dating all the way back to 7 BC. As time went by, certain versions of the story gained more popularity, with Charles Perrault’s version “Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre” in the 17th century bringing in certain elements we see embodied in modern day adaptations – namely the pumpkin, the fairy godmother and of course, the glass slippers.
This brings us to the 20th century and Disney’s animated tale being the first feature film to bring the story to the big screen. When we think Cinderella, this is perhaps the first film that comes to mind, and because it is a Disney classic, it will always be one of the most popular adaptations of the story. Then we arrived at the late 90s and early 2000s, where a trend of adapting older tales for the modern teen audience emerged, bringing us films like Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You and She’s the Man.
These films were usually rom-coms, focused on female protagonists and the high school experience – sometimes engaging in relevant social commentary, like gender expectations in She’s the Man, or high school politics and social class in Clueless. Usually these films were helmed by a female lead that we were familiar with, which of course makes the films more marketable. So, when it came to an adaption of Cinderella, there was no better person to play the lead role than Hilary Duff.
Duff, who became a household name after the Lizzie McGuire series, with her girl next door sunny disposition, already embodied the key traits of Cinderella herself. In the film, Duff plays Sam, who works as a janitor and dishwasher at her stepmother’s diner, a diner that used to belong to her father until he passed away. The film attempted to add more layers to the romantic pairing, by making Sam and her love interest Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray) pen pals.
Instead of the stepmother being the most terrifying woman to walk the planet, Jennifer Coolidge turned her into a different type of villain, which set a new trend of the stepmother and stepsisters becoming the comic relief in future adaptations. Regina King, who plays Rhonda, is Sam’s mentor and fulfills the fairy godmother role in this adaptation. King does such a stellar job with the character, and there are little nods to Rhonda’s own backstory, which I found to be interesting since the fairy godmother is always just there to further Cinderella’s desires and isn’t really fleshed out in the earlier classic tale.
Rotten Tomatoes called it “an uninspired, generic updating of the classic fairy tale”, with a lackluster 12% score to its name. Personally, I really love A Cinderella Story – the film has so many memorable scenes and quotable lines of dialogue. It wasn’t the most inventive teen movie to ever exist, but it did a competent job of keeping the key elements of the tale, yet updating it to suit the times.
Despite the poor critical reception, the film made US$70 million on a budget of US$19 million, and inspired four other iterations of the tale (these were straight to VOD or streaming). We had Another Cinderella Story (2008) with Selena Gomez, Lucy Hale’s A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song (2011), A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits (2016) starring Sofia Carson, and another adaptation that is as recent as two years ago, which is A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish (2019) with Laura Marano.
It was the same formula as before, with well-known actresses in the titular role, plus the added component of song and dance that wasn’t part of the original A Cinderella Story, but does in a way pay homage to the animated classic that came before. Despite the fact that we have moved on from the 2000s, the films that followed didn’t reflect the change in times in a meaningful way. Sure, they update the technology – Sam had a flip phone while Marano’s character goes viral on social media – but the storytelling is remarkably similar in this film and Gomez’s film, even though both films were made 11 years apart.
So why the constant regurgitation of the same generic story over and over again? Well, there is an audience for it. These adaptations are ridiculously camp and over the top – not in a competent way – but does play to our nostalgic sentiments, especially if we’ve watched A Cinderella Story for the hundredth time and need something new.
Then there are the more traditional versions that plays it close to the source material, like Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella in 2015. At the time, Disney was starting the whole live action adaptations of animated classics trend. While we had films like Maleficent, that really took a chance and reshaped the whole Sleeping Beauty tale, Cinderella does the opposite, focusing on fleshing out the characters a little bit more instead. There is more insight into Ella’s (Lily James) past with her parents, Prince Charming’s (Richard Madden) relationship with his father is filled with love and respect – Ella’s bond with the Prince makes more sense given how both of them know what it’s like to lose both parents.
Cate Blanchett’s stepmother is villainous and sympathetic, while Helena Bonham Carter is a hoot as the fairy godmother. Despite my skepticism that a straightforward iteration of Cinderella could work and bring something new, this film managed to do that. Also, the costumes were fantastic.
Even more beloved is the Drew Barrymore classic Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998), which gives us a more plucky, heroine version of Cinderella. Barrymore’s Danielle is outspoken, kind, and sees the world with an effusive optimism. The film takes the time to build the romance between Danielle and Prince Henry (Dougray Scott), and even more importantly, a friendship. And in the year before that, we had Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, starring Brandy and Whitney Houston. The music in this is great – with powerhouses like Brandy and Houston attached, this was a certainty – and the cast was remarkably diverse and talented.
And now, in 2021, we are getting another version of Cinderella, starring Camila Cabello in the lead role, Billy Porter as Fab G (the fairy godmother in other words) and Idina Menzel will play Evelyn, the evil stepmother. This will be a musical version, Ã la Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, which means a lot of new music. So, the music will be different, we have a different portrayal of the fairy godmother, and perhaps other new elements we aren’t privy to just yet.
When I started this article, I couldn’t understand why we needed another Cinderella film – I mean, how many ways can we tell the same story? But as I did my research and revisited some of these films, I realised how much I loved each of them in different ways. It also dawned on me that I don’t need any new adaptations because I grew up with these versions; the animated tale was with me in my childhood, Ever After will always speak to the romantic in me, and Hilary Duff was the cool girl I desperately wanted to be. Young girls need a Cinderella to call their own, and a narrative they can relate to.
The tale of Cinderella always posits kindness and compassion over cruelty and greed, and the idea that good people don’t have to finish last. I guess another Cinderella for us girls isn’t the worst thing – as long as it entertains.
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