Cinderellas Galore

 

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Did you know that there are more than 700 Cinderella stories?  The theme of the mistreated and underestimated person who rises in the world through true love calls to some deep-seated need in us all, because people never seem to tire of variations on this story.   

Many movies testify to our love of the archetype, from Drew Barrymore’s political strong girl Cinderella in Ever After...

to Julia Roberts hooker-with-heart-and-humor Cinderella in Pretty Woman. 

Even Shakespeare got into the act and turned the Cinderella story into a tragedy in King Lear.

Because Disney adapted the Charles Perrault’s seventeenth century French version with its court and carriage, ball and glass slippers, this is the one that most children know.

 

But in the Celtic world and Native American worlds, Cinderella is less about fancy dance balls and much more in keeping with those cultures.

Both among the Ojibwe and the Iroquois nations, there is a version of Cinderella, in which the young sister is badly burned and scarred by fire, her black hair singed and raggedy. The “handsome prince” of the stories is a magical being, powerful, invisible, drawing a sledge with a rope made sometimes of the rainbow, sometimes of the Milky Way.  To marry him, the girls of the tribe must be able to see him and his magical harness. This adds a component of spirituality to the stories typical of Native Nations values; see well, tell truly. In the Native versions of the story, it is often the sister of the hero who plays “fairy godmother,” admonishing all the girls to be truthful, rewarding the cinder girl for her true vision-- not with coaches and horsemen, but with a ritual bath or baptism of complete transformation.  This is also in keeping with the matriarchal wisdom archetypes of Native Nations.

In an Irish versions of this beloved story, the Cinderella character is a boy.  He’s a short fellow (atypical to the Celts, who were generally over six feet tall), with huge feet, able to cover great distances in a bound.  His “fairy godfather” is a bull, who gives the boy his own tail as protection and talisman. His many adventures occur in multiples of three, which is the sacred Celtic number. Eventually, the cattle boy slays a dragon, wins a princess and leaves behind a giant boot.  The stubborn princess will marry no prince.  She’ll have only the cattle boy who owns the boot.  -- from: "Sisters in Story"

Movies and Books by Victoria Chatham

For my seventh birthday, I was treated to a trip to the movies to see Walt Disney’s Cinderella. 

Cinderella and her Prince colored my world in a way that books didn’t and since then I've been a die-hard (no pun intended) movie fan. Don’t get me wrong, I love books. I was taught to read at home, pre-school. I was, and am, an avid reader of anything that takes my fancy. My books fueled my imagination, but movies had me holding my breath and perching on the edge of my seat as I watched the action.

I think I was eight or nine when I started going to the Saturday morning movies on a regular basis. It very much depended on whether there was a movie theater where we lived. Moving around with my soldier dad was a bit of a potluck lifestyle. I do remember having to do chores to earn the one shilling and sixpence ticket price to enter those magic portals and sit through a B movie, Pathé news, and then – WOW – the all-important feature film.

The cinemas I remember were more like theaters with their music pits in front of the screen, sometimes with actual live music depending on the movie, curved tiers of seating and fancy boxes and always those magnificent tasseled, velvet drapes. Oh, the anticipation when the lights were dimmed and they opened to reveal that magical silver screen. Girls carrying trays of ice-creams and cigarettes paraded the aisles during the breaks. How I envied them! In my innocence, I thought they saw all the movies they wanted for free. The truth, as I later discovered from a friend who actually got a job in a movie theater, was very different.

I still love going to the movies, but today I see them through different eyes as I’m far more aware of the beats in a movie – especially since reading Blake Snyder’s book ‘Save the Cat.’ Although Blake passed away in 2009, his trilogy of books on screenwriting and story structure make him a still recognized writing mentor. I’ve never been interested in scriptwriting, but I’ve found his book and his beat sheets have helped me with my own story structure as did Michael Hague’s workshop on the three-act structure.

There are so many good craft books and great workshops and I know I’ll never get bored with learning about the craft of writing. But there comes a time when, regardless of structure or how many craft books writers have on their shelves, you just have to let loose and bleed on the page. That’s where story comes from, the heart and soul of the writer. Write the story first, then apply the finesse of the craft.

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Ten Minutes Ago I Met You...A Cinderella Retrospective by Jamie Hill

Holidays are a great time to think back on old family traditions and memories. This year, with the release of the Cinderella remake, I'm reminded of a tradition my family had for a chunk of my childhood.

First, some history from Wikipedia:

**In the 1950's, television adaptations of musicals were becoming all the rage. One of the most popular come in 1955, when NBC broadcast the Broadway musical Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin. It was so popular that the network  looked for more family-oriented musical projects.

Cinderella is the only Rodgers and Hammerstein musical written for television. It was originally broadcast live on CBS on March 31, 1957 as a vehicle for Julie Andrews, who played the title role. The broadcast was viewed by more than 100 million people. It was subsequently remade for television twice, in 1965 and 1997. The 1965 version starred Lesley Ann Warren, and the 1997 one starred Brandy Norwood in the title role. Both remakes add songs from other Richard Rodgers musicals.

After the musical's success as a stage production, the network decided another television version of Cinderella was needed. The 1957 premiere had been broadcast before videotape was available, so only one performance could be shown. CBS mounted another production in 1965 with Richard Rodgers as Executive Producer. This re-make, commissioned by Rodgers (Hammerstein had died in 1960) and written by Joseph Schrank, used a new script that hewed closer to the traditional tale, although nearly all of the original songs were retained and sung in their original settings. 

The 1965 version was recorded on videotape for later broadcast. The cast featured Ginger Rogers and Walter Pidgeon as the King and Queen; Celeste Holm as the Fairy Godmother; Jo Van Fleet as the Stepmother, with Pat Carroll and Barbara Ruick as her daughters Prunella and Esmerelda; and Stuart Damon as the Prince. Lesley Ann Warren, at age 18, played the title role.

The first broadcast was on February 22, 1965, and it was rebroadcast eight times through February 1974. The 1965 debut had a Nielsen rating of 42.3, making it the highest-rated non-sports special on CBS from the beginning of the Nielsen ratings until 2009.**

I think my siblings and I watched all eight broadcasts of this movie, because I still remember the words to some of the songs. When I discovered them on YouTube, I could even sing along. "In My Own Little Corner" was a particular favorite. I've since seen Lesley Ann Warren in lots of other things but this role, one of her first, will always be special to me.

In My Own Little Corner

I'll admit it seems a little cheesy with the passage of time, but it might have been cheesy back then, and we just didn't care. It was a feel-good movie, and the world can use more of those.

I also remember vividly the scenes with the prince (who now just makes me think of General Hospital after his thirty years of portraying the character Dr. Alan Quartermaine.) My brother would dance around the room with my sisters and I as we sang along. (He's not reading this, is he?) 

 Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?

But my favorite song would have to be "Ten Minutes Ago". That one I could sing to this day, and even got most of the lyrics right. "My head started reeling, you gave me the feeling the room had no ceiling or floor."

Ten Minutes Ago

The age of family-oriented programming is mostly gone and I'll admit, I get into the gory Walking Dead and the breast-filled Game of Thrones. But part of me will always enjoy young adult novels and cheesy movies like 1965's Cinderella. My husband and I were going to watch Frozen just to see what all the hype was about (Let it go!) but sadly, we've just never made time for it. Ah, for another ten minutes...

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Happy Easter to those who celebrate it!

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It's no Cinderella story, but if you're a sucker for romance check out my Blame Game series, beginning with the first novel, Blame it on the Stars. No prince, but a sexy man we got! Click the cover to read more about it at Amazon, also available at most sites where ebooks are sold.

Find all my Books We Love titles here: http://bookswelove.net/authors/hill-jamie/