Disney Movie Reflection: Cinderella

I have a confession. I watched Cinderella as I packed for my trip to Florida back in February. I wanted to watch a Disney movie that was going to gear me up for when I went to the park but I was so nervous that I barely paid attention. I thought about just crossing it off but the movie is so important to the cannon that I knew I needed to give it another shot. I'm glad I did.

Disney invested a lot of money into making Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland at the same time. They were the first movies to be created after the war time compilation movies and they would either make or break his studio. Walt decided to lead with Cinderella as it was strong story that hearkened back to Snow White. It was a commercial success and lead to the future success of the studio.

Cinderella is Walt's second princess. She is a has better head on her shoulder than Snow White and can fend for herself better than Aurora. She has a certain level of wit and charm that transcends her beauty. There is also a little bit of a Pinterest queen inside her.

I will be honest that Cinderella is one of the classics that I never connect with. I know I saw it and it was always a pleasant watch but I never really got into it. I always loved Disneyland so I never connect with Cinderella's castle like the rest of my Walt Disney World colleagues. If I was going to choose a favorite princess, it was always going to be someone strange like Belle or Pocahontas or Tiana. Cinderella was too Stepford wife for me. She was too perfect and polished while being just human enough to hate. She reminded me of those girls who loved high school and then loved college even more. The first time I watched it this year I dismissed if for the same reasons.

Then for some reason, it kind of clicked last night. Maybe because Jake is gone and I would love to have him wedge my foot into a weird glass shoe. Maybe it was because the house was a mess and the last thing I wanted to do was clean and I just wanted helpful mice friends but Cinderella is just a lesson of perseverance. I mean that lady can find a silver lining for anything. If you cast aside of the silly romantic fairy tale nonsense what you really take away is that you can get through anything if you truly have hope which is an often missed message in this movie but probably more important than love manifesting in a single evening.