Cinderella (2021)
Directed by Kay Cannon
Cinderella, an orphaned girl with an evil stepmother, has big dreams and with the help of her Fabulous Godmother, she perseveres to make them come true.
4 connections found
View:
4 films that influenced Cinderella
What critics say influenced Cinderella
The Cinderella fairy tale has been adapted time and time and time again for the movies and TV, from the 1950 Disney animated version to the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals from 1957 and 1997 to Kenneth Branagh’s 2015 take to outliers such as “Ella Enchanted” and the Jerry Lewis comedy “Cinderfella” — and now we’ve got a new jukebox musical update with some modern and progressive themes about gender roles, and it’s a most welcome addition to the library.
Contemporary takes on the oft-told classic Cinderella story are nothing new, with movies like Ever After (1998), A Cinderella Story and Ella Enchanted (both released in 2004) being some of the prime examples.
Recent versions focused on more diversity (the Brandy/Whitney Houston version), more agency ("Ever After"), or at least a better explanation for her obedience ("Ella Enchanted").
There’s plenty of storybook elements from bright colors, corny sidekicks, to a soothing rendition of “Need Somebody To Love,” but wait, didn’t “Ella Enchanted” already claim that feat?
1998’s Ever After and 2004’s Ella Enchanted both put an empowering spin on the Cinderella story by giving their Ellas progressive ideals and the courage to seek out a more equal society, while incidentally falling in love along the way.
On top of all this, Cinderella is a musical, primarily a jukebox of the Moulin Rouge! variety, though the song choices are less than inspired.
Think of it like Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 hit musical Moulin Rouge! and you’ll get the idea.
Cannon keeps the musical numbers coming fast, establishing her film’s fictional kingdom with Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation,” introducing her prince by way of Queen’s “Somebody To Love,” doling out exposition via British rapper Doc Brown, and giving Cinderella the catchy original pop ballad “Million To One.” It’s the same proudly anachronistic spirit that animated A Knight’s Tale , heightened to Broadway musical fever dream proportions—although, sadly, not to the sublime levels of Moulin Rouge!
The Pitch Perfect creator has, perhaps unsurprisingly, reimagined Cinderella as a karaoke jukebox musical, with hints of Moulin Rouge! and The Greatest Showman abounding.
Cinderella (2011): This TV adaptation transports the classic fairy tale to Rome in the 1950, and centers on a pianist named Aurora.
Needless to say, there’s no musical moment here as magnificent as Whitney and Brandy singing Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Impossible,” nor one as quietly lovely as Cinderella and the prince dancing to the underrated “So This Is Love” in the 1950 animated Disney version.
Say hello to Kay Cannon’s “Pitch Perfect” inspired take on “Cinderella” starring Camilla Cabello.
Cannon combines the infectious musical spirit of her Pitch Perfect screenplays with the deadpan comedic sensibility she brought to the teen half of her directorial debut, Blockers , resulting in a movie musical that’s decidedly better than its disastrous trailer suggested.
Perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone familiar with writer/director Kay Cannon‘s previous work, which includes Blockers , all three Pitch Perfect films, and New Girl .
Written and directed by Kay Cannon of Blockers and Pitch Perfect fame, this is clearly an attempt to be the kind of progressive fairytale that Disney is typically accused of not being.
After having its cinema release curtailed by the pandemic, Blockers director and Pitch Perfect scribe Kay Cannon’s take on the classic fairy tale is now landing on Amazon Prime in a strange, uncomfortable explosion of barmy ideas.
But the screenplay by writer/director Kay Cannon ("Pitch Perfect") overcorrects "Cinderella" and leaves the storyline unbalanced.