Cinderella is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' animated film of the same name released in 1950. Voiced by Ilene Woods, the character is adapted from the character from folk tales, primarily the French version written by Charles Perrault in 1697. For the sequels and subsequent film and television appearances, Woods was replaced by actresses Jennifer Hale and Tami Tappan, who provide the character's speaking and singing voices, although Hale later assumed the singing role in both Sofia the First and Disney's centenary short film Once Upon a Studio.
In the wake of her father's untimely demise, Cinderella is left in the care of her cruel stepmother and two jealous stepsisters, who constantly mistreat her, forcing Cinderella to work as a scullery maid in her own home. When Prince Charming holds a ball, the evil stepmother does not allow her to go. Cinderella, aided by her kind Fairy Godmother and equipped with a beautiful silver gown and a unique pair of glass slippers, attends, only to have to leave at midnight when the Fairy Godmother's spell is broken.
Reception towards Cinderella has been mixed, with some film critics describing the character as much too passive, one-dimensional and less interesting than the film's supporting characters. Other critics found her endearing, charming and timeless. Woods' vocal performance has also been praised. Cinderella has nonetheless become one of the most famous and recognizable princesses in the history of film. She is also the second Disney Princess. With her iconic glass slippers, silver gown, hairstyle and transformation, one of the first on-screen makeovers of its kind, the character has been established as a fashion icon, receiving accolades and recognition from InStyle, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour and Oprah.com, as well as footwear designer and fashion icon Christian Louboutin, who, in 2012, designed and released a shoe based on Cinderella's glass slippers. Lily James played a live-action version of the character in the 2015 live-action adaptation of the original film. Brandy Norwood portrayed her in the live-action films Descendants: The Rise of Red and Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, with Morgan Dudley playing her teenage self in The Rise of Red.
Development The Disney version of Cinderella was based on the French version of the tale by Charles Perrault, Cendrillon written in 1697 in Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé.
Personality The script for the original film went through revisions by various writers, sometimes with different interpretations of the character. Maurice Rapf tried to make her a less passive character than Snow White, and more rebellious against her stepfamily. Rapf explained, "My thinking was you can't have somebody who comes in and changes everything for you. You can't be delivered it on a platter. You've got to earn it. So in my version, the Fairy Godmother said, 'It's okay till midnight but from then on it's up to you.' I made her earn it, and what she had to do to achieve it was to rebel against her stepmother and stepsisters, to stop being a slave in her own home. So I had a scene where they're ordering her around and she throws the stuff back at them. She revolts, so they lock her up in the attic. I don't think anyone took (my idea) very seriously."
Appearance The character was animated by Marc Davis and Eric Larson, but the two animators did not have the same perception of the character, accentuating the elegance of Davis and Larson's opting for simplicity. As with other Disney films, Walt Disney hired actress Helene Stanley to perform the live-action reference for Cinderella and the artists drew animated frames based on the movements of the actress. This technique was also used for the characters of Princess Aurora (Mary Costa) in Sleeping Beauty and Anita Radcliff (Lisa Davis) in 101 Dalmatians. Inspiration for Cinderella's facial features were said to have been inspired by Ingrid Bergman.
According to Christopher Finch, author of The Art of Walt Disney:
Voice
In the original 1950 film, Cinderella is voiced by American singer and actress Ilene Woods. In 1948, Woods was a young eighteen-year-old singer working as a radio personality at the time and hosting her own eponymous radio program The Ilene Woods Show. While working at ABC Radio, Woods would regularly be visited and approached by various songwriters who wanted the singer to perform their compositions, which is ultimately how she met and befriended Cinderella songwriters Mack David and Jerry Livingston. Ultimately, David and Livingston "would play ... an important role in Woods's career."
At the behest of David and Livingston, casually described as "a favor", Woods agreed to record a series of demos of three songs that the songwriters had recently written for the studio's then-upcoming animated film Cinderella. Woods recorded the songs "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo", "So This Is Love", and "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes", which the songwriters then submitted to Disney himself. Upon reviewing and listening to the tracks, Disney, impressed, decided to contact Woods personally. Two days afterward, Woods received a telephone call from Disney, with whom she immediately scheduled an interview. Woods recalled in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, "We met and talked for a while, and he said, 'How would you like to be Cinderella?'", to which she agreed.
International voices Cinderella was originally dubbed into eight other languages aside from English upon its release in 1950. In later years, more countries would dub the film and its sequels, and several dubs were replaced or redubbed.
+LanguageRelease years of dubVoiceCinderellaCinderella IICinderella IIICinderella (live-action)CinderellaCinderella IICinderella IIICinderella (live-action)Arabic (Egypt)199820022022داليا فريد (Dalia Farid)Arabic (Modern Standard)2014201420142015سارة الجوهري (Sarah Al-Gawhary)سارة الجوهري (Sarah Al-Gawhary)سارة الجوهري (Sarah Al-Gawhary)إيناس صبري (Inas Sabry)20222022داليا فريد (Dalia Farid)داليا فريد (Dalia Farid)Belarusian colspan="3" 2021 colspan="3" Bulgarian20052018 rowspan="2" 2015Петя Абаджиева (Petya Abadzhieva) (speaking) rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Avgustina-Kalina PetkovaНели Андреева (Neli Andreeva) (singing)Cantonese1996 rowspan="2" 20072015 rowspan="2" rowspan="2" (speaking) (singing)Chinese (China)2010200220152015白雪 (Bái Xuě) colspan="2" rowspan="4" 张雪凌 (Zhāng Xuě-Líng) (speaking)李潇潇 (Lǐ Xiāo-Xiāo "Eva Li") (singing)Chinese (Taiwan)1991 rowspan="2" (speaking) rowspan="2" 宋文 (Sòng Wén "Ariel Sung) (singing)Croatian2005 colspan="3" rowspan="2" (speaking) colspan="3" rowspan="2" Mima Karaula (singing)Czech1970200220072015Klára Jerneková (speaking)Tereza ChudobováTereza Chudobová (speaking)Barbora ŠediváMarie Sikulová (singing)2005Tereza Chudobová (speaking)Štepánka Heřmánková (singing)Štepánka Heřmánková (singing)Danish2005200220072015Lise RingheimKaya BrüelSofie Topp-DussDutch1950200220072015Loekie Landweer (speaking and singing "Sing Sweet Nightengale)1991Joke de KruijfZiggy Wijnberg (singing all but "Sing Sweet Nightengale")English195020022007Ilene WoodsJennifer HaleJennifer Hale (speaking)Lily JamesTami Tappan-Damiano (singing)Filipino colspan="3" 2019 colspan="3" Finnish1967200220072015Ritva LehteläAlina Tomnikov1992Flemish colspan="3" 2015 colspan="3" French (Canada) rowspan="2" 200220072015 rowspan="2" (speaking) (speaking and singing "Sing Sweet Nightengale)Nancy Fortin (singing)Élise Cormier (singing all but "Sing Sweet Nightengale")French (France)1950200220072015Paule Marsay (speaking) (speaking)Alexia Papineschi (singing)1991Karine Costa (singing)German1951200220072015Eva Ingeborg Scholz (speaking)Jana Werner (singing)Greek1999200220072015 (speaking)Ινώ Στεφανή (Inó Stefaní) (speaking)Άννα Ρόσση (Anna Rossi) (singing)Έλενα Στρατηγοπούλου (Elena Stratigopoulou) (singing)Hebrew1991200220222015אלונה אלכסנדר (Alona Alexander)Hindi2005200220072002 colspan="4" Hungarian1958200220072015 (speaking and singing all songs except "So This is Love") (speaking) (singing "So This is Love") (singing)Icelandic199820022007 rowspan="2" (speaking and singing A Dream is a Wish, Part 1) rowspan="2" (singing all songs except A Dream is a Wish, Part 1)Indonesian201320132011Tisa JulantiItalian1950200220072015Giuliana Maroni (speaking)Monica WardMonica Ward (speaking)Letizia Ciampa (speaking) (singing)1967Fiorella Betti (speaking)Rossella Ruini (singing) (singing)Japanese196120022007 (speaking)浜田尚子 (Hamada Naoko) (singing)1992Kazakh201520162016Айнұр Бермұхамбетова (Ainūr Bermūhambetova) colspan="2" Шехназа Қызыханова (Şehnaza Qyzyhanova)Korean199820022007 (speaking) (speaking)박지윤 (Park Ji-yoon) (singing)고은선 Go Eun-seon (singing)Malay2013 colspan="2" Nurul Izzati binti Saad colspan="2" Marathi colspan="2" 2015 colspan="2" केतकी माटेगावकर (Ketaki Mategaonkar)Norwegian1992200220072015Edle Stray PedersenMathilde Jakobsen Skarpsno Polish196120022007Maria Ciesielska (speaking) (speaking)Irena Santor (singing)2012 (speaking) (singing) (singing)Portuguese (Brazil)195120022007Simone de MoraesFernanda FernandesFernanda Fernandes (speaking)Natali PazeteItauana Ciribelli (singing)Portuguese (Portugal)200520022007Sandra de CastroRute PimentaSandra de CastroRomanian201020112011Carmen Palcu (speaking)Carmen PalcuCarmen Palcu (speaking)Anca IlieseMediana Vlad (singing)Mediana Vlad (singing)Russian200520022007 (speaking) (speaking)Анна Слынько (Anna Slyn'ko)Елена Галицкая (Yelena Galitskaya) (singing)Елена Галицкая (Yelena Galitskaya) (singing)Serbian2012 colspan="3" rowspan="2" (speaking) colspan="3" rowspan="2" Ирина Зорић (Irina Zorić) (singing)Slovak1970201220122015 (speaking)Monika HilmerováBianka BuckováB. Čupková (singing)2012Monika HilmerováSpanish (Latin America)195020022007Evangelina ElizondoNatalia SosaAnnie Rojas1997Natalia SosaSpanish (Spain)19972002Yolanda Mateos (speaking)Yolanda MateosYolanda Mateos (speaking)Cani González (singing)Cani González (singing)Swedish1950200220071967Alice BabsThai20022007อรวรรณ เย็นพูนสุข (Orawan Yenphunsuk)กฤติยา วุฒิหิรัญปรีดา (Krittiya Wutthihiranprida)Turkish200320122007 (speaking)Aysun Topar (speaking)Elif Atakan (speaking) (speaking)Ukrainian201220182018Вікторія Івасишина (Viktoriia Ivasyshyna)Єлизавета Мастаєва (Elyzaveta Mastaieva)Vietnamese2019 colspan="2" 2019Nguyễn Duyên Quỳnh colspan="2" Nguyễn Duyên Quỳnh
Characteristics Cinderella is a young woman with medium-length dusty-blonde hair, blue eyes and fair complexion. After her father dies, she is forced into servitude in her own home and is tormented by her evil stepmother, Lady Tremaine, and stepsister duo, Drizella and Anastasia. Lady Tremaine's hatred stems from the fact that Cinderella is more beautiful than her own daughters. Despite this, she maintains hope through her dreams and remains a kind, gentle and sweet person. She has faith that someday her dreams of happiness will come true and her kindness will be repaid. Cinderella is shown to have a down-to-earth attitude, but she is also a daydreamer. For example, in "Sing Sweet Nightingale", she becomes distracted with the bubbles, allowing Lucifer to smudge the floor she was cleaning. Also, after hearing that the Grand Duke is traveling the kingdom with the missing slipper, she dreamily dances back to the attic humming the song she heard at the ball. She is also shown to have a sarcastic side and a sharp wit.