The story of Cinderella has been told for centuries, but many people in the modern world associate the story with the classic Disney version. You know the one: a young woman lives with her evil stepmother and two jealous stepsisters, who force her to toil all day long and try to prevent her from meeting (and marrying) Prince Charming. Since Disney released the animated film in 1950, we’ve seen a variety of adaptations, including henceforth with Drew Barrymore and cinderella story With Hillary Duff. However, the best version is the wonderful 2004 film Ella is fascinated.
Ella is fascinated Anne Hathaway stars as Ella to Freyr, and Hugh Dancy plays Prince Charlemont (or, as his fan club calls him). Yes, it’s a love story filled with fantasy elements, such as elves, ogres, and giants—and, of course, a fairy godmother—but that’s about as close as it gets to other Cinderella adaptations. It’s a completely unique story that, in my opinion, never gets enough recognition.
I recently rewatched the movie with my 8-year-old daughter (who is obsessed, by the way) and found myself enjoying it just as much as I did before. The contrast with the typical Cinderella story is what makes Ella so special. Here are some of my favorites.
Ella is cursed.
In most Cinderella adaptations, Cinderella’s parents are dead and she must live with an evil stepmother and two equally terrible stepsisters, both of whom treat her as a servant rather than a member of the family. The happy ending is that she is no longer under their control and as a reward, she gets to move into the palace as the prince’s wife.
exist Ella is fascinatedElla’s mother died and her father remarried, but he was still alive and well (although he traveled frequently for work). Ella was different from her stepfamily, but she was not treated as free labor. Instead, the main conflict is that when she is born, Ella’s fairy godmother Lucinda appears and gives her a gift. Unfortunately for Ella, this is the gift of obedience. So whenever someone tells Ella what to do, she has to do it.
After one of her stepsisters discovers Ella’s “gift,” she uses it in various ways, leading Ella on a journey to find Lucinda and begging her to take it back.
Ella isn’t trying to fall in love, she’s trying to influence politics.
Ella meets Prince Charles while out looking for Lucinda. He expects her to be basically a fan of his, and is surprised when she’s aloof at best. She was dissatisfied with the way her uncle was running the kingdom after Prince Charles’ father died. He quarantined all the fairy tale creatures (elves, giants, and ogres) claiming that it was because they were the cause of the king’s untimely death (spoiler: this was actually a lion king Death situations, if you know what I mean). What Prince Char doesn’t know is that his uncle also orders the elves and giants to live a life of slavery, which Ella doesn’t take kindly to.
Prince Char took an interest in Ella, saving her life several times after her curse got her into trouble, and she took him on a journey so that he could see for himself what was going on in the kingdom. . Her agenda here is entirely political. She wasn’t trying to climb any social ladder or escape her life; She was simply trying to influence the prince to undo the damage his uncle had done since he became king.
Prince Charles is not an idiot.
One of the most infuriating plot points in many Cinderella stories is that the prince is such an idiot that he can’t recognize Cinderella in her ball gown (I’m looking specifically at you, Austin Ames/Chad MacMurray), A hunt ensues so he can find her after the dance. exist Ella is fascinatedthis is not a thing at all. There is no masquerade ball or missing shoes, there is a ball to which the prince invites Ella, where he intends to propose.
Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned as Prince Char’s uncle learns of Ella’s curse and tries to get her to carry out his plan to kill the prince. This is a bummer for Ella and Prince Char, but I would put this storyline in context of the prince checking on all the women’s feet every day.
This movie is hilarious.
Don’t disrespect Jennifer Coolidge’s iconic performance as the evil stepmother in “Fiona.” cinderella storybut Ella is fascinated This is by far the funniest adaptation of Cinderella I’ve ever seen. There are some musicals with dancing that are so cheesy that you can’t help but laugh.
Ella’s aunt has magical powers, but her spells are terrible, leading to some very interesting misadventures. Speaking of magic, Ella’s fairy godmother is someone who drank too much at a giant’s wedding, got kicked out of her community, and has absolutely no idea why people don’t like her – she’s awesome.
My favorite comedy plot point is the Prince Charles Fan Club. It was filled with girls holding posters of him and squealing with joy in front of him (basically the same behavior I did as a kid obsessed with *NSYNC). One of Ella’s stepsisters is the club president and when she meets the prince she proudly tells all she knows about him without being self-aware that she gives off a creepy vibe .
As a mother of two daughters who are obsessed with princesses, I have seen a a lot of version of Cinderella, but I still haven’t seen another movie from the past 20 years that rivals Cinderella Ella is fascinated. Its fairy tale roots are obvious, but it still has everything you want in a lighthearted, silly romantic comedy. It cannot be defeated.
