Ahhh Cinderella. That timeless story. Of which there are SO many versions. And so many musicals... I kept expecting the Faerie Tale Theatre cast to break into song: it doesn't happen.There's not a whole lot of twist in this retold tale -- and of course FTT doesn't tend to change much. However, it is a solid entry in the FTT lineup. I like the interplay between Cinderella and her Godmother, and Cinderella blooms in that relationship more than she does with the prince, eventually learning to tease her Fairy Godmother back.
And I do rather enjoy the comeuppance that the stepmother and stepsisters receive, which is much more on the funny side of the line than the horrifying. FTT doesn't go so far back to the source material that the stepsisters are blinded by birds at the end, but it doesn't let them get away without repercussions, either.
This is a good introductory entry for FTT if you haven't seen any episodes and are curious about the show's general quality. It doesn't stand out for me, particular, in any way -- especially with as many different versions of Cinderella as there are -- but it's a well done episode and on that note, there is hardly anyone who isn't familiar with the basic Cinderella storyline so it's a good one to get an idea of the show from.
You can watch it for free on hulu.
I have the complete set of Shelley Duvall's production of these fairy tales including Cinderella. But way back in the 80s I saw another version of Cinderella and other fairy tales on TV. These episodes were introduced by a man (he had a beard) and in this version of Cinderella the fairy godmother transforms four black mice into four black coachmen. There were a lot of songs and dances in the version that I saw. I have a very faded copy of the episode that I recorded on VHS tape and converted to DVD. I would like to get this version on DVD if it is available. I have searched high and low on the Internet for this version but there seems to be absolutely no mention about it. Maybe you know something about this version. If you do please let me know at "daniel_1748@yahoo.co.in". Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWas it live-action or animated? And if you can still view the VHS or converted DVD copy that you have, can you check the credits for cast names or anything about the producer? If you can get a cast member's name it would probably be fairly easy to find it on imdb, but it might be more difficult to find on DVD.
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