Before we get into the interesting facts, let’s take a look at the history of this film. Cinderella was originally released in 1950 and was Walt Disney’s 12th animated feature film. The story is based on the fairy tale “Cinderella” by Charles Perrault. The film became very popular after its release and is still considered one of the best Disney films ever made.
Now, let’s get into those interesting facts!
- Did you know that Cinderella was actually Walt Disney’s favorite princess? He loved her story and felt that it had a lot of potential for a great film. The original storyboards for the film were created by Mary Blair, who also worked on Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.
- Cinderella was the first Disney princess to have her own film. Before her, all of the Disney princesses were featured in other films (such as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty). Cinderella was also the first Disney Princess to be voiced by a famous actress. Her voice was provided by Ilene Woods, who was a popular radio personality at the time.
- The iconic glass slipper in the film was inspired by a real life shoe. The designer of the shoe, Charles LeMaire, actually created a glass slipper for Dior in 1948. It is said that Walt Disney saw the shoe and loved it so much that he decided to use it in the film.
- Do you know who the Fairy Godmother is based on? The character is actually based on Walt Disney’s own mother! In the original story, the Fairy Godmother was supposed to be an old crone, but Walt Disney thought that having her be based on his kind and loving mother would be a nice touch.
- The mice in the film, Gus and Jaq, were based on two actual mice that lived in Walt Disney’s office. The animators would often see them running around and decided to put them in the film.
- Did you know that Cinderella was actually supposed to have two evil stepsisters? In early versions of the script, the stepsisters were named Drizella and Anastasia. However, the animators thought that having two stepsisters with those names would be confusing for audiences, so they changed one of the stepsister’s name to Anastasia and the other’s name to Drizella.
- Cinderella is the only Disney Princess who is not given a specific age. In the original story, Cinderella is said to be 18 years old. However, in the film, she is never given an exact age. This was done so that young girls who were watching the film could relate to her more easily.
- The castle in the film was actually inspired by a real life castle. The castle is named Neuschwanstein Castle and is located in Germany. The castle was built in the 1800s and was inspired by the fairy tales of Ludwig II.
- The film was actually supposed to be released in 1949, but it was delayed due to production problems. One of the main problems was that the animators were having trouble getting Cinderella’s ball gown to look just right. They eventually fixed the problem by using a new type of fabric that had never been used in animation before.
- Cinderella was originally released in theaters on February 15, 1950. The film was a huge success and went on to earn over $156 million at the box office. It is still one of the highest grossing Disney films of all time.
