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Cinderella

The story of Cinderella is perhaps the most magical story of all the Disney Princesses; it captures the dream of every young girl, to become a real princess.

After the death of her kind and loving father, Cinderella is left living with her stepmother Lady Tremaine. Lady Tremaine soon shows her wicked side, spending the inheritance money left by Cinderella's father while Cinderella becomes a servant for her and her two cruel daughters, Drizella and Anastasia.

Despite these hard conditions, Cinderella grows into a kind and beautiful young woman with humour and dignity; qualities that her stepsisters don't possess. As Cinderella gracefully goes about her duties, singing as she works, she befriends many of the animals that live in the houses barn, amongst them are a bloodhound called Bruno, a horse and two mice called Gus and Jaq.

Cinderella dreams of a better life, but, with days spent doing chores from dusk to dawn, it seems that these dreams may never come true. Despite moments of heartbreak, she holds onto these hopes, believing that one-day they will become reality.

When news comes of a grand ball being held by the Prince, Cinderella is determined to go and win his heart but Drizella and Anastasia spoil her plans by ruining her dress. Deep in despair Cinderella is visited by her Fairy Godmother, a kind character determined to make Cinderella the belle of the ball. With a wave of her magic wand, the Fairy Godmother turns Cinderella's torn dress into a beautiful white gown with glass slippers, a pumpkin into a sparkling coach, the horse into a coachman and Gus and Jacques into magnificent horses, ready to whisk her away to the ball.

The Prince is captivated by Cinderella's beauty and the two spend the evening dancing through the castle grounds. As the clock strikes midnight, Cinderella, remembering that the fairy godmother's spell will wear off, runs from the castle, leaving behind one of her glass slippers.

A search is launched throughout the kingdom to find the mystery girl who had worn the slipper. Despite the efforts of her ghastly stepsisters, Cinderella is revealed to be the owner of the glass slipper and she and the Prince are reunited. He asks her to marry him, to become his princess and live happily ever after. At last all of Cinderella's dreams have come true in the ultimate fairy tale ending to her story.

About the Story of Cinderella

The story of Cinderella has long been a popular fairy tale told in many languages in many different countries. Thousands of variants are known throughout Europe and beyond; almost every culture has a version of it's own, often many.

The Greek historian Strabo recorded the oldest known version of the story in the first century BC. However, it was Frenchman Charles Perrault who wrote the version of Cinderella (in 1697) that most people are familiar with today. Each variation of the Cinderella story had its own characteristics but unique to Perrault's version is both the glass slipper and fairy godmother. The glass slipper mistranslation. It was this version of the story that Disney transformed into what some consider one the most magical animated films ever created.