Cinderella Vs Brothers Grimm Analysis
Dan Ledden
English 102
September 29th, 2015
Professor Schleicher
Disney’s Cinderella vs The Brothers Grimm
The story of Cinderella is a very well-known folk tale that dates back centuries. Today, most people know the tale from the popular Disney movie made in the early 1950’s. This movie did do a pretty good job of capturing the overall theme of the original folk-tale; however, there are many differing factors between this version and the older version to which I’ll be comparing it (the Brothers Grimm version written in the 19th century). It is very clear that Walt Disney’s version may have purposely changed and/or modified some key details from the Brothers Grimm story (in some aspects) in order to portray a different meaning. Although there …show more content…
In the Brothers Grimm version, the animals help Cinderella by cleaning the lentils out of the ashes for her so that she can get ready for the ball. In the Disney story (where she must do a handful of chores rather than clean out lentils), the animals help by not doing her work for her but instead making her a dress for the ball. Why would Walt Disney make this change? Personally, I would like to believe that he was trying to teach people the idea of being responsible for doing your own work rather than relying on others to do your work for you. But overall the animals’ main objective--to help Cinderell--is the same in both …show more content…
Once more, we find that the Disney version contradicts the Grimm’s, and actually has the father doing as much as he can to try and improve the life of Cinderella. We are even told that his back-firing idea to get re-married (after the mother passed) was an attempt to help Cinderella by giving her a mother figure. Tragically, Cinderella’s father’s attempts to help were cut short by his untimely death, so his role in actually helping her overcome her problem was nonexistent.
All of this being said, the story as a whole still has the same overall theme and portrays the same meaning in both versions. Although there may be few aspects of the Disney story that could have been kept the same as the brothers Grimm version, I think that some of the changes made were definitely for the better. It is also true that there are many other differences and similarities that were left out; but I feel as though these are some of the more drastic and important
English 102
September 29th, 2015
Professor Schleicher
Disney’s Cinderella vs The Brothers Grimm
The story of Cinderella is a very well-known folk tale that dates back centuries. Today, most people know the tale from the popular Disney movie made in the early 1950’s. This movie did do a pretty good job of capturing the overall theme of the original folk-tale; however, there are many differing factors between this version and the older version to which I’ll be comparing it (the Brothers Grimm version written in the 19th century). It is very clear that Walt Disney’s version may have purposely changed and/or modified some key details from the Brothers Grimm story (in some aspects) in order to portray a different meaning. Although there …show more content…
In the Brothers Grimm version, the animals help Cinderella by cleaning the lentils out of the ashes for her so that she can get ready for the ball. In the Disney story (where she must do a handful of chores rather than clean out lentils), the animals help by not doing her work for her but instead making her a dress for the ball. Why would Walt Disney make this change? Personally, I would like to believe that he was trying to teach people the idea of being responsible for doing your own work rather than relying on others to do your work for you. But overall the animals’ main objective--to help Cinderell--is the same in both …show more content…
Once more, we find that the Disney version contradicts the Grimm’s, and actually has the father doing as much as he can to try and improve the life of Cinderella. We are even told that his back-firing idea to get re-married (after the mother passed) was an attempt to help Cinderella by giving her a mother figure. Tragically, Cinderella’s father’s attempts to help were cut short by his untimely death, so his role in actually helping her overcome her problem was nonexistent.
All of this being said, the story as a whole still has the same overall theme and portrays the same meaning in both versions. Although there may be few aspects of the Disney story that could have been kept the same as the brothers Grimm version, I think that some of the changes made were definitely for the better. It is also true that there are many other differences and similarities that were left out; but I feel as though these are some of the more drastic and important