Roger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella 1997
The 1997 adaptation of Walt Disney’s original 1950
version of Cinderella was nothing short of being diverse. As In the original
Cinderella, the theme of evil, kindness and finding one’s true love not based
on material items or looks is still evident. Roger and Hammerstein kept the
plot, including an evil stepmother and the two evil step sisters the same as in
the original and added in some cultural diversity in terms of Cinderella, the
prince and the prince’s parents.
The main point of the movie is for the prince to find a
wife and his parents are very adamant about throwing a royal ball for him to do
so. The fairy godmother helped portray the theme of the movie with her songs Impossible and It’s Possible. The fairy godmother helped Cinderella find her
courage with these two sings and were used by the fairy godmother to instill in
Cinderella that nothing was impossible and even she could attend the ball. With
the help of her fairy godmother, Cinderella did just that; she attended the
ball and fell in love with the prince leaving behind only her glass slipper for
him to find her.
The role of the prince also stayed true to the original
version in many ways. The prince had only the single glass slipper to find his
mysterious lover and he did everything in his power to search for Cinderella.
The role of Cinderella also stayed accurate to the original version. She was a
servant to her evil stepmother and two evil step sisters with a pure and gentle
heart not wanting to harm anyone and just be happy with her simple life.
This movie was geared to young adults but children and
adults of all ages could benefit from viewing this movie adaptation. The
cultural diversity was pure genius because it showed its viewers that people
from all backgrounds and ethnicities are created equal and no one should be
judged by their ethnic background.
The cultural diversity in the adaptation of Cinderella
is a strength of the movie and showed courage of the producer/director. It is
not unusual to have widely diverse families in modern day 2017 but this movie
was made 20 years ago and biracial marriages were not as common then as they
are now. This movie was well thought out therefore held all strengths in my
opinion.
In a movie with strong themes of true love having no
boundaries, Roger and Hammerstein did a fabulous job in their adaptation of
Walt Disney’s original Cinderella keeping the plot intact and adding modern
cultural diversity in a seamless way to please their audience.
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