When most people think of the movie, “Cinderella”, they think of the
animated Disney version with the little mice and the happy ending where
Cinderella marries the prince and they live happily ever after. While the movie
“Ever After” is based on “Cinderella”, it is not animated, but still has
many of the same characteristics as the Disney version. Of course it is not
exactly the same, and since it is not animated there are many differences. In
“Ever After”, Drew Barrymore portrays the character Cinderella, who in the
beginning of this movie is called Danielle. In the very beginning, it shows how
Danielle’s father died and how she went off to live with her wicked stepmother
and stepsisters. In “Cinderella”, both of the stepsisters are wicked, but in
“Ever After”, her sister Jacqueline is not so wicked and usually sides with
Danielle. In “Ever After”, Jacqueline is the not so pretty and quiet sister
and Marguerite is the loud obnoxious pretty one. One similarity is that in both
movies, Cinderella and Danielle are servants to their stepmother and
stepsisters. They are also not allowed to eat with them, only serve them. In
“Ever After”, Danielle’s only friends are the other servants of the house,
this is similar to how Cinderella is friends with the mice that live in her
house. In both cases their friends are always protective and willing to help. In
“Cinderella”, Cinderella doesn’t meet the prince before the ball, she
doesn’t even really expect to be going to the ball. In “Ever After”,
Danielle meets the prince in a confrontation where the prince was actually
stealing one of their horses. Danielle starts pegging him with apples, but just
as she realizes that he is the prince, she kneels down before him. She
apologizes, but the prince is lenient and says he will not punish her. He also
gives her money to keep quiet about the whole situation. In “Ever After”,
Danielle repeatedly bumps into the prince. Whenever she does meet up with him,
she makes sure she is dressed like a courtier, so he doesn’t think that she is
a servant. They start to fall for each other and they spend more and more time
together. In “Cinderella”, the stepmother tries to make sure that one of her
daughters is chosen for a wife by the prince at the ball. At first she tells
Cinderella that she can go also even though it’s obvious that she doesn’t
want her to go, the same is true in both movies. In “Ever After”, the
stepmother feels that her daughter Marguerite is prettier and more worthy of the
crown, so she puts more effort into trying to get the prince to chose her.
Before the ball, Marguerite kisses up to the royal family to reassure that she
gets chosen. In “Cinderella”, the ball is held so the prince can get to know
the young women of the town, and to see if he will be able to find a suitable
wife. In “Ever After”, Danielle’s stepmother tells the queen that Danielle
has left and she will be getting married to a Swedish man, when really she was
locked up for fighting with Marguerite. Henry, the prince gave up on Danielle
and his only other choice was Marguerite. The ball is actually held to announce
that the prince will be marrying Marguerite. Just as everyone leaves the house
for the ball, the servants rush to help Danielle out of the locked room.
“Cinderella” is similar where the mice work frantically to help Cinderella.
The mice help make the dress for her so she has something to wear to the ball.
In “Ever After”, Danielle has her real mother’s wedding dress and shoes
that she planned on wearing to the ball. Meanwhile, at the ball, the royal
family is just about to announce their sons engagement to Marguerite when
Danielle walks in. Henry, the prince, sees Danielle from across the room. He
tells his father to stop everything. His plans have changed and he announces
that he will marry Danielle. Just as he does this, her wicked stepmother
interrupts and explains that Danielle is only one of her servants. The prince
decides that he will not marry a servant. At the end of the ball it is still
undecided for whom the prince will marry. In “Cinderella”, Cinderella
arrives at the ball, and immediately is spotted by the prince. They dance
throughout the night and get to know one another. The prince decides that
Cinderella is his match. When the clock strikes twelve o’clock, Cinderella
rushes out to get home before her beautiful dress and coach turn back into rags
and a pumpkin. In both movies a shoe is left behind and is given back to the
prince. In “Cinderella”, the prince has his men go all throughout the town
looking for the young woman whose foot fits the glass slipper. He has no idea
what her name is or where she has come from. The men finally discover that
Cinderella is the maiden whose foot fits. The prince declared that whomever it
fits will become his wife. In “Ever After”, the prince decides that he has
made a big mistake in changing his mind against Danielle. He takes the slipper
and goes out on a mission to find her. Danielle’s stepmother had sold Danielle
to one of the dirty old men of the town to be his servant. Danielle fights for
her freedom and just as she is about to slit the man with a sword, he decides
he’d rather let her go than die. Henry eventually finds Danielle and
apologizes to her. After they clear up the whole situation, Henry tells Danielle
that he wants to have her for his wife. She accepts his apology and they decide
to get married. At the end of “Cinderella”, the prince and Cinderella live
happily ever after. In the end of “Ever After”, the wicked stepmother is
called to the palace. She doesn’t know that Danielle and the prince are
married. The king and queen question the stepmother of lying to the queen. They
tell her that if she doesn’t tell the truth, she will be killed. She confesses
that she lied to the queen about Danielle. Just then Danielle comes in dressed
as the princess she has become, and her stepmother kneels before her. The only
punishment that she gives her is the punishment that she had to go through
herself as a servant. The stepmother and Marguerite are brought down to the
washroom and they are put to work. Jacqueline the other sister is not punished
because her innocence had been noted. Of course “Ever After” is a little bit
more realistic because it is more like real life. “Cinderella” is animated
and there is a lot more make believe, such as talking mice. “Cinderella” is
also probably aimed at more of a younger audience and “Ever After” can
appeal to a little bit older crowd. “Cinderella” is one of my all time
favorite movies, and know that I’ve seen “Ever After”, it ranks right up
there with “Cinderella”.
