Notes on the themes and issues found in Cinderella

• Starts with a book that opens, "Once upon a time, in a faraway land" - voice over introducing the story. (Fairy tale)
• Cinderella was just with her dad, who married her step mother and then died, leaving her with just her step mother/step sisters - Broken family.
  
• Horrible life of slavery - Cinderella is unhappy with her life and aspired for more.
  
• Broadway musical style songs.
• Fantasy - The mice and birds all helping clean and singing along/ they can talk to Cinderella.
  

• Friendship - the animals are all friends with Cinderella, - they welcome in the new mouse [Guss] and give him clothes and accept him straight away, the mice make Cinderella a dress when they see she is too busy to make one herself.


• "If you don't want to loose your bed, you better get rid of those dreams," - Cinderella says this to Bruno, but it could just as easily apply to herself.


• Cinderella is kind to all the animals, kind hearted protagonist, - she is the outcast, humble, pretty wth a nice singing voice- opposite of her step sisters and step mother. She's even kind to her step sisters and step mother and their evil cat Lucifer, despite the fact they're evil to her.


• Love is introduced with the King wanting his son to find a wife.
• Femininity - Cinderella cooks, cleans, makes tea, makes dresses, house keeping, has a traditional feminine appearance, pink bows, blonde hair, big blue eyes etc. Very polite and obedient and compassionate. The girl mouse says "Leave the sewing to the women, you go get the trimming" to a boy mouse, keeping in the traditional representation of the genders. The step sisters are more masculine and butch and ugly, although they wear dresses. They both have huge feet that don't fit in Cinderellas petite glass slippers.


• Evil step mother takes pleasure in upsetting Cinderella - antagonist. As well as the step sisters, who destroy all hope in Cinderella, ripping up the dress that the mice made her.


• When Cinderella is crying, all the animals are very sad too - showing close friendship.



• Fairy God mother is more of a mother to Cinderella than anyone else - closest thing she has to family apart from the animals. - Magic, fairytale.
• Love at first sight between the Prince and Cinderella.
  
• The King is bad tempered, but not evil.


• The step mother only wanted Cinderella's father for his money, then the step sisters only want the Prince for his money/power/status, but Cinderella's love for him is true.
  
• Friendship - When Cinderella is locked up by her evil step mother, the mice go through great lengths to get the key for her, and the birds get Bruno so that Cinderella can escape and show that the shoe belongs to her.
• Love - The Prince didn't stop searching until he found Cinderella again.

• Wedding to end - Cinderella's dream has come true.
• "And they lived happily ever after" - the book closes, again using fairytale/storybook reference.