10 Things You May Not Know about Disney’s Cinderella

My husband and I are right back on track after our Disney trip to resume watching all the Disney animated classics in order. This week we are watching one of my favorite Disney movies, Cinderella. I had a Cinderella-themed wedding and she is my favorite princess. I was even lucky to pick up some press releases from the 1994 VHS release (10¢) and scored a copy of the original soundtrack record ($1.50).  Cinderella was made in 1950.

The animated version of Cinderella is now in the Disney Vault so copies of it are hard to come by. If you have never shared the original animated Cinderella with your family, watching Cinderella II and Cinderella III (currently available) would introduce your family to Cinderella and her gentle spirit.

Disney’s Cinderella Trivia

1. No one knows Cinderella’s Princes’ name. Plus, the film never refers to him as “Prince Charming”. My husband and I were talking about this last night. He mistakenly thought Prince Phillip was his name (that is Aurora’s Prince). Since he has no name, I think Gordon would be a fit name because my husband Gordon is MY Prince Charming!

2. Lucifer was modeled after animator Ward Kimball’s cat. Animators were having trouble coming up with a good design for that cat, but once Walt Disney saw Kimball’s furry calico, he declared, “There’s your Lucifer.”

3. Live Practice Made a Perfect Movie. According to Marc Davis, one of the directing animators of Cinderella, at least 90% of the movie was done in live-action model before animation. Dancer Ward Ellis was the live-action model for Prince Charming. Cinderella’s carriage is actually a live-action model painted white with black lines; this was the first time this technique had actually been used.

4. The story takes place roughly in June. In the movie, the sun rises slightly before 6:00 AM (in France), as it would within a few weeks of the summer solstice. Also by this time, a pumpkin would have grown to 20-40 pounds.

5. Gus’ full name is Octavius, presumably after the Roman Emperor. I named my cat Gus-Gus and my dog is Jaq-Jaq!

6. Do you know where the hidden Mickey is in Cinderella? The carriage that Cinderella and the Prince take after the wedding has an emblem of a sword and two hidden Mickey Mouse heads around it.

7. To save money when animating the pumpkin coach, the animators drew the coach to seemingly float on air so that they would not have to animate the turning wheels or the filigrees.

8. Cinderella actually loses a shoe 3 times in the film: first, when she delivers the breakfast trays (causing Lucifer to look under the wrong cup), second, when she is running from the ball, and third, walking down the steps with her new husband. I think Cinderella is just wearing the wrong size shoes.

9. Animation Goof: Just before the stepmother locks Cinderella in her room, she asks Gus and Jaq what they are warning her about. When the stepmother takes her key, Cinderella turns around while she says “Oh, no!”, but her mouth isn’t moving.

10. Know the scene where Cinderella’s torn dress magically transforms into her beautiful ball gown? That was considered Walt Disney’s favorite piece of animation. In my opinion, it is amazing considering the technology back then. So magical!!

Looking for more Disney Movie Trivia?

• Hocus Pocus Movie Trivia
• Fantasia Movie Trivia
• Alice in Wonderland Movie Trivia

Thank You for Spreading the Pixie Dust!