Cinderella The good points with me in a Cinderella story: first of all, Cinderella has another name than Cinderella (frankly, I doubt her mother called her like this when she was born, huh?), Ella (short for Eleanor) being apparently a favourite (but it's still a name :)). Secondly Cinderella and the prince getting to know each other before falling in love is a great point! Thirdly a story without any fairy godmother would appeal to me (I have some difficulties believing in that, but I can't tell it aloud because it's well-known each time someone says it, a fairy dies somewhere!). Nevertheless the third point can be overlooked (even the first, though there's always something bothering me in that), like in Ella Enchanted or even The Slipper and the Rose. Oh, and please, give a name to the prince! Even 'Charming' is better than nothing! Novels Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine: spellbouding. It gives an explanation for so many things and allows the Prince and Cinderella to get to know each other before the final ball. Just Ella, by Margaret Peterson Haddix: interesting. This book could be taken for the sequel to Ella Enchanted, which it is not. But it is the sequel to the story of Cinderella. No fairy in this one, just a strong willed girl. One thing I didn't like: the royal family and the people of the castle are far too superficial. Never After, by Rebecca Lickiss: great book. Actually, Never After can fit in more than one category, but there is a call to Cinderella and it's very funny. Short Stories Knives, by Jane Yolen (in the anthology Snow White, Blood Red): short poem, kind of puzzling if you want my opinion, but interesting. I think I need to re-read it, though :) Evidences, by Vivian Vande Velde (in Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird): a very good point: how is it the shoes are still here after midnight? Vivian Vande Velde's answer is very funny. Movies Cinderella: cute. Everybody knows this Disney classic, so I'm not going to speak of it over and over. Cinderella II: disappointing (but it's a Disney sequel, so...). Three stories, each of them quite previsible. A big problem in the first one: why would Cinderella be unable to dance with books on her head while she was able to climb the stairs with a tray on her head and others in her hands?? Ever After: my favourite! Drew Barrymore is perfect as Cinderella (sorry, Danielle), she and the Prince get to know each other, there is an explanation of why Danielle doesn't leave her stepmother and the changes in the Prince's character are welcome and well brought. A must-see. The Slipper and the Rose: very nice. I can't say Richard Chamberlain is my favourite actor, but he's good for the role. The songs are extremely good, haunting (I especially like Tell him anything and I can't forget the melody) and the twist at the end is more than welcome (at least a piece caring for the problem of the marriage between a prince and a common girl!). The solution is a bit strange but who cares? :) Although this story has almost everything for me to dislike it as the three points I specified, I have to say that the fairy is very good (great Annette Crosbie!), the stepmother perfectly hateful (I love the way she exaggerates everything!) and the plot is not as simple as it could appear for a Cinderella story! Of course the familiar elements are there (the stepsisters, the fairy, the ball, the shoe) but others are new and perfectly well-brought! Music Cinderella (Rogers & Hammerstein): famous for a good reason. I bought the version with Julie Andrews and though some songs are definitely not my favourite (In my own little corner being an example), others are just perfect. I have also the movie version with Lesley Ann Warren (not the one with Whitney Houston though) and though the words outside the songs are more than simple (argh, someone get that man in green to be silent, he can only state the obvious!), I liked the fact that the prince began to see Cinderella as kind in the first place. The problem is that they forget to use that later. Come on, has the prince so short a memory for not remembering the girl at the well when trying the shoe?? One thing I liked also is the way the prince behaves at the ball. His replies are witty and funny. But I didn't like the fairy at all! Far too simplistic! For a good fairy, look at Annette Crosbie in The Slipper and the Rose! Into the Woods (Sondheim): like Never After, Into the Woods mixes several fairy tales, with Cinderella in it, of course. She doesn't really know what she wants at the beginning but learns progressively how to build her own life. Her future with the prince is rather compromised (for not saying more...) but gives something to think about: except for the version of Disney, the "happily ever after" has nothing really happy... The DVD is available also. A Tale of Cinderella (David Weiss): not easy to find, but quite nice. It gives an explanation to why Cinderella's father married the stepmother. The stepsisters are really mean and that's just hilarious :). My only problem with the story is that it almost seems that "Cinderella Angiolina" falls in love with two people (which are the same, naturally)... Cendrillon (Jules Massenet): French opera. There are some good parts, like the meeting of Cinderella and the Prince after the ball (and before the search for the owner of the shoe). What's more, while Cinderella's father is still alive (and actually cares for his daughter) he's too weak to contradict his new wife but still pities his daughter. La Cenerentola (Giacomo Rossini): Italian opera. There're some twists worth of a Marivaux's plot, especially with the prince and his servant switching roles. Some other things fall flat though, like Cinderella claiming that only kindness and virtue can interest her but who falls in love at first sight with the prince... Huh, someone explain to me how she can see straight that he is kind and virtuous? ;)

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