Critical response Although the film has garnered critical acclaim, Cinderella herself has attracted mostly mixed reviews in modern times.
Variety disliked the character, describing her as "colorless." Calling her an "oppressed drudge,"
Empire panned Cinderella, describing both her and Prince Charming as "bland and colourless characters - particularly when compared to
Beauty and her
Beast."
The New York Times'
Bosley Crowther similarly wrote, "The beautiful Cinderella has a
voluptuous face and form—not to mention an eager disposition—to compare with
Al Capp's
Daisy Mae." However, criticizing her role and personality, Bosely opined, "As a consequence, the situation in which they are mutually involved have the constraint and immobility of panel-expressed episodes. When Mr. Disney tries to make them behave like human beings, they're banal."
Film4 negatively described Cinderella as "
one-dimensional." Criticizing her design,
Roger Ebert of the
Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "If there is an obvious difference between
Cinderella and such predecessors as
Pinocchio and
Snow White, it's in the general smoothing-out of the character's appearances," concluding, "
Snow White herself looked fairly bland, but the other characters in the first decade of Disney animation had a lot of personality in their faces. They were allowed to look odd.
Cinderella seems to come right out of its time, the bland postwar 1950s," likening the character's flawless design to that of a "Draw Me girl." Concerned about the negative effects Cinderella's passivity could possibly induce upon children, Nell Minow of
Common Sense Media expressed, "Cinderella is the quintessential passive heroine rescued by a male character ... so discussions about her meekness might be in order."
About.com's Laurie Boeder simply described Cinderella as "blah." Desi Jedeikin of
Smosh included the character in the website's "8 Fictional Characters That Are Horrible Role Models For Girls" list, explaining, "I'm like so happy that Cinderella found true love with a rich stranger who rescued her from her horrible life. But wouldn't it have been better if she did it for herself?" Additionally, critics have also expressed favoritism towards
Cinderella's
supporting cast of
animal characters, particularly the comic interaction and dynamic between her pet mice
Jaq and Gus and her stepfamily's pet cat
Lucifer, often preferring them to Cinderella herself while noting ways in which the heroine is constantly being "upstaged." Among Cinderella's positive reviews, Michael Scheinfeld of
TV Guide drew similarities between the character and
Belle from
Beauty and the Beast (1991), writing,
Cinderella holds up better because the heroine seems timeless in her courage and resourcefulness, a closer cousin to Belle in Disney's
Beauty and the Beast than to other fairy tale protagonists." Hailing Cinderella as "the most famous and beloved princess of all time,"
HowStuffWorks' Vicki Arkoff defended the character, writing, "highly sympathetic Cinderella is endlessly kind, patient, hard-working, and unassuming -- no matter how cruelly she is treated by her exaggerated, cartoonish foes." Arkoff elaborated, "Unlike Disney's passive, naive Snow White, Disney's Cinderella is a princess who decides to take charge and change her life for the better, rather than just wait for things to happen that might solve her problem."
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes' general consensus reads that, in addition to "The rich colors, sweet songs, adorable mice," the "endearing (if suffering) heroine make[s]
Cinderella a nostalgically lovely charmer." Woods herself has collected widespread acclaim for her performance.
Variety wrote, "Ilene Woods, as Cinderella's voice, uses a sweet
soprano." At the time of Woods' death, animation critic and historian Charles Solomon told the
Los Angeles Times, "one of the things about her performance is the warmth she gave the character. As soon as she began to speak, her voice meshed with Marc Davis' animation to create a heroine you liked instantly." According to the
San Antonio Express-News, Cinderella is one of the ten most famous princesses of all-time. In 2013,
Cosmopolitan ranked the character the ninth greatest Disney Princess. In 2003 Woods received a
Disney Legends award for her role as the voice of Cinderella. In 2010, she died at the age of 81 of
Alzheimer's disease. In an interview with
Starlog in 2006 Woods said, "I love the idea that after I'm gone, children will still be hearing my voice [as Cinderella]." In 2013,
Film School Rejects recognized Woods as one of "7 No-Name Actors Who Had Iconic Roles", ranking the actress first and writing, "Woods ... really set the bar high, as she managed to audition for the part of Cinderella without even realize she had done it."
Lily James' performance as Cinderella in the
2015 live-action film earned her nominations for the
Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress – Sci-Fi/Fantasy and the award for "Favorite Movie Actress" at the
2016 Kids' Choice Awards. She also won the 2015 Breakthrough Award at the Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards.
Cultural impact Culturally, Cinderella has had a profound influence on the
fashion industry. According to Sarah Osman of
Young Hollywood, "Cinderella's gown in this film is so iconic that it's become canon that Cinderella wears a light blue dress to the ball." To coincide with the release of the diamond edition of
Cinderella in 2012, French footwear designer
Christian Louboutin created and designed a contemporary rendition of the character's iconic glass slipper. In an interview with
The Express Tribune, Louboutin said that Cinderella is "not only an iconic character when it comes to beauty, grace and fairytale love, but also shoes." The shoes are described as "made of delicate lace [instead of glass] to give them a look of transparency, and adorned with butterfly designs at the vamp and atop the Swarovski-crystal covered heel," completed by Louboutin's signature red soles. Only twenty copies of the shoes were manufactured. In 2014,
Entertainment Weekly ranked Cinderella tenth in its article "Disney Princesses: Ranking Their Hairdos -- and Don'ts!", writing, "The lowly maid's typically rage-inducing bangs somehow develop an almost stately character once the rest of her follicular baggage has been swept into an updo closely resembling a perky butt." At the
86th Academy Awards in 2014, Kenyan actress and
Best Supporting Actress recipient
Lupita Nyong'o donned "a light blue
Prada gown." Subsequently, the media responded by drawing similarities between Nyong'o's dress and Cinderella's
ballgown.
Cosmopolitan wrote that Nyong'o "took a cue from Disney with a blue iridescent gown and matching headband
a la Cinderella," while the
Daily News similarly opined "channeled another Disney princess for her Oscars gown." Acknowledging the comparisons, Nyong'o's stylist Micaela Erlanger described the actress' appearance as "Lupita + Cinderella=Lupitarella." Additionally, several critics have deemed Nyong'o's success a "Cinderella story." According to
MTV, several other Academy Award attendants wore similar outfits that were reminiscent of Disney characters in addition to Nyong'o. Under current US copyright law, Disney's version of Cinderella is due to enter the US public domain in 2045. However, this will only apply to her appearance and characters that were in the 1950 film. Later versions of her appearance may persist under copyright until the works they were introduced in enter the US public domain themselves.
Makeover sequence The iconic "
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo"
musical sequence in which Cinderella's Fairy Godmother magically transforms the character's tattered rags into a beautiful ball gown has garnered widespread critical acclaim, receiving positive reviews, accolades and recognition from several entertainment critics. AllMovie described the sequence as "splendidly done," According to
Disney.com, the transformation of Cinderella's dress into a ballgown remains a common favorite and "one of the most iconic pieces of Disney animation because of what it means for the titular character." StyleCaster wrote that the scene is responsible for introducing the common "movie makeover," writing, "Ever since Cinderella ditched those rags and threw on a ball gown and a pair of glass slippers, movie audiences have fallen for the beloved transformation storyline." Featuring Cinderella in its list of "13 movie makeovers that still totally rock our socks off",
Glamour summarized the scene's role in the film as "The movie makeover that sees a merry band of rodents help Cindera[
sic]lla to make the perfect dress, eventually go to the ball and ultimately win the heart of a prince."
Oprah.com also included Cinderella in its "Favorite Movie Makeovers" list, accrediting the film and Disney with "first introducing us to the head-to-toe makeover," concluding, " Unrealistic expectations are born." Likewise, both the sequence and Cinderella's magical transformation have been featured on several "best movie makeover"
countdown lists. On
Stylist's list of the "50 Best Movie Makeovers", Cinderella placed first, with the magazine labeling her the "Recipient of the original makeover." Additionally,
Stylist coined the list's other candidates "Cinematic Cinderellas," alluding to the character's legacy.
InStyle ranked
Cinderella second on its list of "The Best Movie Makeovers", writing, "Cinderella's fairy tale transformation is the stuff that many a little girl's real-life makeover dreams are made of." Hailing it as "[The] makeover of makeovers" and "the movie that started it all,"
The Independent Florida Alligator ranked
Cinderella first in its list of "The best of movie makeovers". Style Blazer also ranked
Cinderella second on its list of the "Top 11 Favorite Makeover Movies of All Time", concluding, "Cinderella and her pauper to princess makeover have already gone down in movie history as one of the best transformations." Calling Cinderella the "Original Fairy Godmother ... makeover,"
Total Beauty ranked the character fifth in its article "11 Best Movie Makeovers". ==Notes==