The Many Influences of Disneys Cinderella

I will be exploring Disneys Cinderella and the major ways in which it

was influenced. The original fairy-tale was written by Brothers Grimm
in 1812 and is significantly different from Disneys version. As
discussed in Walt Disney and Europe by R. Allan (1999) I will be
discussing; German influence, expressionism, post war societal views
and the 1950s ideology of an idealised figure. My references when
discussing expressionism include Expressionism by A. Bassie (2010)
and A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art by I. Chilvers and
J. Glaves-Smith (2009). Furthermore, I will also be referencing
research on Mary Blair, the concept artist for Cinderella, from
Ohmydisney.com and The idea of nature in Disney animation by D.
Whitley (2012). Finally, I have also looked at The enchanted screen
by J. Zipes (2011).

Firstly, Cinderella had a lot of German influence in the way the

film looks. Mary Blair, the concept artist for Cinderella, was
majorly influenced by German style and German
expressionism (see Fig. 2). She created quite sharp, angular
patterns in her work to describe Cinderellas world, which was
in fact made more rounded in the actual film due to worries
regarding the audiences likelihood of approval. These sharp
and angular patterns in the Cinderella concept art is highly
expressionist because it is very stylistic and uses bold colours.
Also, the use of extreme shadows is very expressionist- for
example, the silhouetted women in Fig. 2. Although Mary Blairs original, highly expressionist
work had to be slightly diluted in the actual film, there is still a strong influence of German style
and expressionism seen in the final film: German influences include the castle, its columns,
staircases, curtains (Allan, 1999:209). These elements have strong German influences due to
their strong angular lines and use of shadows throughout
the film. Expressionism influence is clearly seen
throughout the film as expressionism enters at many
levels - when the stepmother first guesses that
Cinderella is the mysterious girl at the ball, her hatred
spreads outwards
till the whole
room, the world
she inhabits,
becomes dark. (Allan, 1999:208) (see Fig. 3).
Expressionism is a cultural movement that originated in
Germany in the early 20th century which uses distortion
and exaggeration for emotional effect. The exaggerated
effects used in Cinderella include the dramatic use of
lighting, such as when the fairy godmother appears to
help Cinderella (see Fig. 4), the whole background is made up out of deep blues, which could
help to suggest to the audience how Cinderella is feeling at that time. Strong shadows can also
be seen in these shots.
Disney artists were also highly influenced by the late forties/early fifties ideology of an idealised
figure. In Cinderella, Cinderella has a very stereotypical, perfect figure throughout the whole
film, even when she is dressed in rags. It becomes increasingly obvious
once she is transformed into a princess (see Fig. 5) that the animated
character is shown to have an unblemished and impeccable figure which
is remarkably inaccurate to that of a real life human person. Cinderella is
shown to be very glamorous throughout, even when she is merely the
servant to her evil stepmother and stepsisters. This cements the idea of
Cinderella being portrayed in an idealised way because in reality a
person would not look that perfect. One of the more obvious features of
Cinderellas idealised figure is her insanely small waist, which was one
of the main factors for peoples idea of a perfect figure in the late forties
/early fifties.
Furthermore, post war societal views greatly influenced Disneys
Cinderella as it was made in 1950, only 5 years after the end of World
War 2. One major societal view at this time was that once the war had
ended women were expected to return to their pre-war domestic duties.
This meant that they were expected to leave the jobs that they had been doing during the war
years when the majority of the men were away fighting in the war once the men started to
return. They were expected to return to their pre-war domestic duties of a housewife which
included doing all of the household chores, much like the role Cinderella has in her own home.
This societal view would have greatly influenced Disney in creating Cinderella as the film is
based around the idea of a women being forced to be nothing more than a servant in her home.
Although, the fact that Cinderella ends happily ever after when Cinderella is no longer stuck as
a servant, instead marrying her prince, might suggest that 5 years post war this societal view
might have been beginning to change because people might have been starting to realise that
women should be allowed to do more than just their domestic duties, although Cinderella may
not be the best example of society changing to allow women to be more free as Cinderella
leaves her servant duties behind to immediately get married.
In some way Cinderella takes the idea of domestication to a whole new level through the
complete domestication of animals, primarily the two mice named Jaq and Gus. (see Fig. 6)
The animals represented in Cinderella are almost entirely
domestic or farmyard in provenance and any trace of wilder
energies that remain within them are wholly directed towards
comedy operating within a strong comfort zone or towards
domestic tasks that support the heroine. (Whitley, 2012:35)
The complete domestication of these animals, reinforces the
societal view of domestic duties as the film is showing an
exaggerated version of this view by also including animals in
the list of people who are required to perform the domestic
duties within the household.
In conclusion, Disneys Cinderella had many influences during the making of the film, mainly
centred around the culture, societal views and beliefs of the people at the time. Their
involvement with expressionism and German style started from the concept art produced by
Mary Blair, which translated into the final film. The societal views and ideologies that were used
in the film were true of the society at the time, from the view of women having to return to their
pre-war domestic duties, shown through the Cinderella and in the exaggerated forms of the
mice, to the ideology surrounding the idealised figure of a woman.
Word count: 1041

Illustration List
Figure 1. Walt Disney Company (1950) Cinderella [poster) At:
http://www.moviepostershop.com/cinderella-movie-poster-1950/ID2963 (Accessed on 25
October 2017)
Figure 2. Blair, M (1950) Concept art of Cinderella [painting] At:
http://magicofmaryblair.com/mary-gallery.htm (Accessed on 25 October 2017)
Figure 3. Stepmother when the shoe fits Cinderella [film still] (1950) In: Cinderella Happy Ending
HD (2016) [user-generated content online] Creat. DISNEY CARTOONS USA. 16 Nov 16. At:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GeimR_WDZ0 (Accessed on 25 October 2017)
Figure 4. Fairy Godmother scene [film still] (1950) At: https://ohmy.disney.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/05/Fairy-Godmother-Scene-1.jpg (Accessed 22 November 2017)
Figure 5. Idealised figure of Cinderella [film still] At:
http://www.bookwormroom.com/2017/08/02/disneys-cinderella-love-princess-dress/cinderella-
1950/ (Accessed on 25 October 2017)
Figure 6. Domesticated Mice [film still] At: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/74661306298340883/
(Accessed on 25 October 2017)

Bibliography
Allan, R. (1999) Walt Disney and Europe. London: John Libbey & Company Ltd
Bassie, A. (2010) Expressionism [online] At: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-
ebooks/reader.action?docID=886906 (Accessed on 25 October 2017)
Chilvers,I/ Glaves-Smith, J. (2009) A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art (2nd ed.)
[online] At:
http://www.oxfordreference.com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/acref/9780199239665.001.
0001/acref-9780199239665-e-829?rskey=jZ9ybc&result=830 (Accessed on 25 October 2017)
Ohmydisney (2016) A True Contemporary: The Life and Work of Mary Blair. At:
https://ohmy.disney.com/insider/2016/06/11/mary-blair-history/ (Accessed on 24 October 2017)
Whitley, D. (2012) The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation From Snow White to WALL.E (2 nd
ed.) [online] At: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-
ebooks/reader.action?docID=906957# (Accessed on 25 October 2017)
Zipes, J. (2011) The Enchanted Screen the unknown history of fairy-tale films. Oxon: Routledge