Disney Film Adaptation Cinderella-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Disney Film Adaptation Cinderella. Answer: The story of Cinderella evolved out of a folklore originally made popular by oral story-telling practices (Pickard, 2013). The original creator of the story is unknown, as is the original manuscript. Before Perrault formally gave the story a fairy-tale form in the 17th century, the story had had already evolved and been improvised on by many different storytellers over the time. Disney took the story for interpretation and adaptation into an animated movie, in the year 1950. Though the basic morals were similar in both the book and the film, they also shared some significant differences, based on the socio-cultural context of the society. The most essential difference between the fairy-tale version by Perrault and Disneys animated film, lies in the difference in socio-cultural background of the contemporary society, who also served as the target audience in both the cases. Perraults Cinderella was first published in 1697 in France, based on the folklore commonly known as the Glass Slipper or The Donkeyskin. On the other hand, Walt Disneys Cinderella was first featured in the theatres on 1950 in America. Consequently, the two versions have different sectors of audience as their target and have different messages to impart to their audiences through the story of Cinderella. Charles Perraults Cinderella is significantly different from the Disney film version of Cinderella based on the portrayal of male characters and absence of dominant male characteristics. Unlike the Disney version, Perraults Cinderellas father was alive and essentially dominated by his second wifeCinderellas stepmother. On the other hand, in Disneys version of Cinderella, the absence of a dominant male figure is replaced by incorporating the masculine traits of power and control into the character of the stepmother, while declaring the biological father deceased. Perraults version of the story explored deeper contexts of oedipal psychology, when Cinderellas father, the king, ends up as her suitor after her mothers death. As Walt Disneys chief aim was to catch the attention of the children and contemporary society, he deliberately omitted sections from Perraults version and modified in his own terms to avoid controversies revolving around the politics of his work. Walt Disneys Cinderella omits the actions of violence inflicted on Cinderella by the stepmother and stepsisters. Instead, he tactfully makes them ridicule and bully her, without the using physical action of aggression. As opposed to that, (Perrault, 2015) version of Cinderella incorporates vivid descriptions of physical mutilation and acts of violence and torture, mostly inflicted by the stepmother and the stepsisters on Cinderella. Keeping in mind his target audience, Disney deleted the scenes where violence was inflicted upon children by their parents or guardians; his motive was to attract children and their parents and making sure that the parents would allow their children to watch this film (Chan, 2013). Any theme that instigated conflict in ideas or controversial arguments were deliberately excluded by Disney, in order to win the support and approval of the middle and upper class, white Americans, who were the main consumers of his work. A strong point of similarity shared between the two versions is the point of morality. Both the versions of the folklore essentially emphasize on the victory of the morally good as opposed to the defeat of the evil. Both the versions of Cinderella are crafted in a way to stress on the victory of Cinderella as the victory of good over evil, where the wicked stepmother and stepsisters mirrored evil. It preaches the moral that one who does good even in the darkest hours, is rewarded for it in the best time of necessity. Similarly, the evil forces in the story end up being defeatedlosing their dignity, pride and support of the audience. The concept of good-evil binary and goods victory over evil comes back as a motif, throughout the story of both the versions. However, looking at the story of Cinderella in light of modern or contemporary consciousness exposes several sexist, misogynist and derogatory attitudes towards women in general. Based on the common oral folklore Perraults Cendrillion was written in around 1697 and naturally represented the normative attitude of the contemporary society towards women. Several years of feminist struggles, sensitization and awareness campaigns have constantly changed this attitude from a male-dominate approach to a more feminist approach. Therefore, for the modern audience the story of Cinderella and her niceness, even in the face of abuse and violence, reiterates disempowerment of women as a whole. It glorifies the powerlessness of a woman and discourages them from standing up for themselves (Maity, 2014). However, the narrative exploring the rags-to-riches journey has always been exceptionally attractive for middle class white Americans, which is why Disneys Cinderella gained much popularity and appr eciation. To conclude, Cinderella has been a relevant folklore, even today, due to its varied versions and adaptations in books and movies. Each version of Cinderella mirrors the contemporary thoughts and social understanding of the people, in relation to the specific time-period and socio-political structure. Even though Disneys version of Cinderella omits controversial areas of violence, it also reduces the essence of reality. Perraults Cinderella originally came with attached morals at the end of the story References Chan, K. (2013). Children and consumer culture. Maity, N. (2014). Damsels in Distress: A Textual Analysis of Gender roles in Disney Princess Films.IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science IOSRJHSS,19(10), 28-31. Perrault, C. (2015).Cinderella or The Little Glass Slipper. " "" """. Pickard, A. (2013). The supremacy of story: traditional tales and storytelling. InPlanning Creative Literacy Lessons(pp. 140-158). David Fulton Publishers.