I really liked in class how somebody brought up the marriage of Grace Kelly to the prince of Manaco. The 50's were more glossed over in the way they perceived love and relationships. Divorce was not really accepted and I think this is evident in the Disney version of the story. Love is love and nothing gets in the way of it. I really think both of the works showed a great reflection of their respective society.

Kathryn Walker

These adaption are different in several ways. In the Disney's version their was
less explained emotions and with completely fantasy results of hardly knowing
each other. The marriage was fast, and it seemed that they didn't know each
other. In the second movie, the ball resulted was tragic. Their was character
development of the Prince to accepting the women he loved in spite of her
social class. The orphan aspect is constant as well as the Prince having to
search for the truth and true girl they loved.
Whitney

I enjoyed the contrast between the two views of what love is. In Cinderella love is purely based on appearance and the movie plays on the concept of love at first sight. In ever after love is more realistic and is based on the emotion and interaction between two people. The prince storms off in anger not only because her true social status is revealed, but also because it is reavealed to him the the person that he loves has lied to him on serveral accounts.

Lindsey W
I love this story! i like how the story of ever after adds more of a historical element rather than an element of fantasy. i love the character of danielle and how she changes her social standing. she takes such a powerful role in deciding her own fate, unlike in cinderella, where everything seems to happen by chance. plus in ever after there is s bigger element of deception on danielle's part. she knows who the prince is and knows who she is, yet in cinderella, she doesn't know who the prince really is and thinks she actually has a chance. and with the brothers grimm, we don't have the typical idea of a glass slipper...

I liked the movie Ever After a lot more than the Cinderella movie. In both stories, the prince was miss lead as to who the princess is her real identity, name and social status keep a secrete due to shame that Cinderella feels for her present situation. I think that the lies told to the prince, show of how manipulative women usually are. It is a warning to men. A more common theme is Love always comes threw and wins even in grim times. I think that Ever After inspired imagination in many kids who might have forgotten the own imaginations Also it shows if you obey authority and work hard, great things will happen for you. Whitney

I like both the movie and the stories, the Cinderella and Ever After are two good stories with basically the same motivations. Both are trapped in a situation that they do not want to be in and try to get out. Cinderella is a lot weaker of a character when it comes to escaping her situation, she has the two older sisters who are bitches to her. Ever After is told on the same lines, but is very different because it is based in the modern times. Barrymore is a good actor for the part on feminism because while she is pretty, she is not drop dead georgous.

I’ve always enjoyed the magic coming from a maternal figure in Cinderella. I feel like that connection is what allowed Cinderella to finally cope with her mother’s death and become her own woman. Than being said, I feel like Ever After falls short in this regard. I don’t get a sense of feminism from any of the interpretation of Cinderella, but I do see a conflict between fear and the quest for independence. Independence meaning the ability to prosper beyond the abusive conditions that are a result of her step-mother. If anything, women are portrayed unfairly in Cinderella. The step-mother is the evil villain, and the audience is made to hate her and her children. The father remains loveable, and gets away with beginning ignorant to the living conditions of his biological daughter. Love is portrayed as something that can occur in an instant. The decisions of marriage are up to the men in Cinderella and Ever After, the female characters are at the mercy of the Prince because they have no material possessions or status benefits to offer. It is hard for me to imagine any of these tales coming true in any time period.

From the readings and from my previous knowledge of Cinderella, the Disney and Brother's Grimm Cinderella are similar and the Ever After one is a little different. The Disney Cinderella is like this beautiful, in distress girl that every young girl in America wants to be. However, the Ever After Cinderella can appeal more to a "normal" woman. She has self-confidence and is identifiable to American woman today. The Disney and Brother's Grimm Cinderella is somewhat weak as far as standing up for herself goes, while the Drew Barrymoore character is stronger. I think having Barrymoore play the part instead of some gorgeous blond really helps out this sense of being a strong woman that doesn't just need stunning looks idea.

John Killough

In the ball scene of the first movie, Cinderella arrives beautifully and instantly grabs the attention of the prince. The prince does not know her true identity but is truely intrigued by her. In Ever After, Cinderella appears in a costume and gets the attention of the prince once again. However, this time they were already in love and her true identity is revealed due to her evil step-mother. Between the two movies the story of love seems to imply that love is something that can happen instantly regardless of social class, although the prince does storm off angrilly in Ever After once he finds out her true status. The element of fantasy makes the story more interesting and further enhances the love involved in the story.

I think that the movie Ever After and Cinderella is different specifically in the case of the ball because of the difference in not only time but age. Back in the days of Cinderella, a royal ball was the most exciting expirience of the time, where as in high school, our prom was the most important. Feminism is another role that is important, mainly because of it's appearance in Ever After and not in Cinderella. Personally, relying on a "fairy god mother" to get things done is not a resounding sign of feminism...

ben

I think the really big difference between how Cinderalla is portrayed in the different versions is basically how the characters are portrayed. In the Grimm fairytale and Disney's version Cinderalla is the archetypal girl in distress, the stepsisters and mother are the typical mean siblings, and the prince is the man whose sole role is to make her dreams come true. This is how the characters are shown, nothing more, whereas in Ever After all of the characters have their different idiosyncrasies that define them. Danielle is still a girl in distress, but shows a striking contrast to the other version's of Cinderella due to her confidence and sense-of-self. In Ever After, one of the step sisters even goes against her mother's wishes and helps Danielle, truly making her character real, rather than just solely being defined as a protagonist. Even the fairy godmother is portrayed as a real person, Leonardo Da Vinci, making the role seem more true to life.

I noticed that Ever After is the only one in which there is no mystical help. Danielle gets ready for the ball with only the help and support of her fellow servants. I find this interesting, because Ever After certainly has the strongest cinderella character. by the lack of a fairy godmother or the bird to throw down the dress, danielle has the appearance of strength and selfl-sufficiency. However, the presence of da Vinci brings into the story a character who has a mysterious air. Nonetheless, Danielle is far more responsible for her own fate than were either of the previous princesses.

The differences in the ball scenes are that Cinderella's identity was not known, but Danielle's true identity was revealed. Cinderella and Ever After both fit their time periods because of the way that the characters dressed. In Ever After, I think that Danielle knows the Prince much better than Cinderella knows the Prince because in Cinderella, all they do is dance. The element of fantasy is portrayed in both, but I think that the element of magic is really only portrayed in Cinderella because of the pumpkin turning into a coach, etc. Love is portrayed in Cinderella through her and the Prince dancing. Since they don't speak to each other, their dance is like a conversation. In Ever After, love is portrayed in a more realistic way because Danielle and the Prince spend time together to know each other.

Bridget

The most differences in the Cinderella story appear in Ever After, and I think it's also the most interesting. In the original Brother's Grimm fairy tale, and the Disney movie, Cinderella isn't exactly the easiest character to connect with. She seems kind of hollow, with not much to her. Beautiful, abused, and unfortunately kind of spineless and weak. She doesn't stand up for herself and falls into the stereotypical pitfall. However, in Ever After, Drew Barrymore is able to bring more empowerment to the role, defying the routine feminism role. Kind of a Cinderella more relevant to our times with a little melodrama thrown in, (think of the scene where she first shows up to the ball and everyone stares in awe, and she says "Just breathe.")

Hey guys, sorry i forgot to put this up yesterday. Here is the reading and a few questions:
Here are the plot summaries of the scenes I’m going to show in class from Disney’s Cinderella and Fox’s Ever After.
Be thinking about
• differences in the two ball scenes
• How were they appropriate for the time periods and audience?
• The relationship between Cinderella and the Prince
• How is love portrayed in these films?
• Feminism
• Element of magic/fantasy

Cinderella:
The scene starts with Cinderella weeping outside because her evil stepsisters tore up her gown that she was going to wear to the ball. Then magically her fairy godmother shows up and gives her a fancy coach, a beautiful dress, and of course the famous glass slippers. She is instructed that she must leave the ball by midnight because at that time everything will return to normal. Cinderella goes to the ball. The Prince is being introduced to all the women of the city. He is extremely bored until he sees Cinderella at a distance and leaves his company to go meet her. They dance and walk through the gardens, and even though they have not yet spoken, the song “So this is Love” plays in the background. Their wonderful evening is interrupted by the stroke of the clock and Cinderella rushes off. When the Prince asks where she is going she says she must leave because she has not met the Prince yet. When she is running out, she leaves behind one of her glass slippers.

Ever After:
Danielle (Cinderella) is locked in the cellar as punishment by her stepmother. Leonardo da Vinci comes to unhinge the door and encourage her to hurry up and go to the ball. Danielle’s fellow servants help her get dressed up as a fairy for the ball. She arrives just before the king is about to announce Prince Henry’s engagement to another woman. The prince stops the announcement and rushes to meet Danielle. At this point in the movie Danielle and the Prince are already in love, but the Prince thinks that Danielle’s real name is Countess Nicole de Lancrét, and that she is of high social status. When Danielle’s stepmother realizes what is happening she steps out and rips off of the wings from Danielle’s costume. She exposes Danielle’s real status and name. The Prince becomes angry and storms off, and Danielle runs off sobbing. She trips and falls leaving behind her glass slipper.

Grimm Brothers Cinderella-

But the step-mother said, "All this will not help. You cannot go with us, for you have no clothes and can not dance. We should be ashamed of you." On this she turned her back on Cinderella, and hurried away with her two proud daughters.
As no one was now at home, Cinderella went to her mother's grave beneath the hazel-tree, and cried,
"Shiver and quiver, little tree,
Silver and gold throw down over me."
Then the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her, and slippers embroidered with silk and silver. She put on the dress with all speed, and went to the wedding. Her step-sisters and the step-mother however did not know her, and thought she must be a foreign princess, for she looked so beautiful in the golden dress. They never once thought of Cinderella, and believed that she was sitting at home in the dirt, picking lentils out of the ashes. The prince approached her, took her by the hand and danced with her. He would dance with no other maiden, and never let loose of her hand, and if any one else came to invite her, he said, "This is my partner."
She danced till it was evening, and then she wanted to go home. But the king's son said, "I will go with you and bear you company," for he wished to see to whom the beautiful maiden belonged. She escaped from him, however, and sprang into the pigeon-house. The king's son waited until her father came, and then he told him that the unknown maiden had leapt into the pigeon-house. The old man thought, "Can it be Cinderella." And they had to bring him an axe and a pickaxe that he might hew the pigeon-house to pieces, but no one was inside it. And when they got home Cinderella lay in her dirty clothes among the ashes, and a dim little oil-lamp was burning on the mantle-piece, for Cinderella had jumped quickly down from the back of the pigeon-house and had run to the little hazel-tree, and there she had taken off her beautiful clothes and laid them on the grave, and the bird had taken them away again, and then she had seated herself in the kitchen amongst the ashes in her grey gown.
Next day when the festival began afresh, and her parents and the step-sisters had gone once more, Cinderella went to the hazel-tree and said,
"Shiver and quiver, my little tree,
Silver and gold throw down over me."
Then the bird threw down a much more beautiful dress than on the preceding day. And when Cinderella appeared at the wedding in this dress, every one was astonished at her beauty. The king's son had waited until she came, and instantly took her by the hand and danced with no one but her. When others came and invited her, he said, "This is my partner." When evening came she wished to leave, and the king's son followed her and wanted to see into which house she went. But she sprang away from him, and into the garden behind the house. Therein stood a beautiful tall tree on which hung the most magnificent pears. She clambered so nimbly between the branches like a squirrel that the king's son did not know where she was gone. He waited until her father came, and said to him, "The unknown maiden has escaped from me, and I believe she has climbed up the pear-tree." The father thought, "Can it be Cinderella." And had an axe brought and cut the tree down, but no one was on it. And when they got into the kitchen, Cinderella lay there among the ashes, as usual, for she had jumped down on the other side of the tree, had taken the beautiful dress to the bird on the little hazel-tree, and put on her grey gown.
On the third day, when the parents and sisters had gone away, Cinderella went once more to her mother's grave and said to the little tree,
"Shiver and quiver, my little tree,
silver and gold throw down over me."
And now the bird threw down to her a dress which was more splendid and magnificent than any she had yet had, and the slippers were golden. And when she went to the festival in the dress, no one knew how to speak for astonishment. The king's son danced with her only, and if any one invited her to dance, he said this is my partner.
When evening came, Cinderella wished to leave, and the king's son was anxious to go with her, but she escaped from him so quickly that he could not follow her. The king's son, however, had employed a ruse, and had caused the whole staircase to be smeared with pitch, and there, when she ran down, had the maiden's left slipper remained stuck. The king's son picked it up, and it was small and dainty, and all golden.
Next morning, he went with it to the father, and said to him, no one shall be my wife but she whose foot this golden slipper fits.