Origins and development ''Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella
was the third screen version of the musical. Songwriters Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II originally wrote Cinderella
as a musical exclusively for television starring Julie Andrews, which aired in 1957 to 107 million viewers. The telecast was remade in 1965 starring Lesley Ann Warren, airing annually on CBS from 1965 to 1972. The idea to remake Cinderella
for television a second time originated as early as 1992, at which time producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron first approached the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization about obtaining the screen rights to the production. in addition to being credited with reviving interest in the genre, CBS executive Jeff Sagansky asked Zadan and Meron to start brainstorming ideas for a follow-up shortly after Gypsy
premiered. to whom they suggested Cinderella'' with Houston playing the title role. CBS originally intended to air the completed film by the end of the
1994-1995 television season, but the project was continuously delayed. Hoping to relaunch the series using "a big event", Disney CEO
Michael Eisner approached Zadan and Meron about potential television projects; the producers suggested Houston's
Cinderella, which Eisner green-lit immediately. For the title role, Houston recommend singer
Brandy, a close friend, Brandy had been starring on the sitcom
Moesha at the time but was still relatively new to television audiences, despite her success as a recording artist. Houston believed that Brandy possessed the energy and "wonder" to play Cinderella convincingly, admitting that their fictional relationship as
godmother and goddaughter translates "well on-screen because it starts from real life"; Brandy, who identified "Cinderella" as her favorite fairy tale, with both Brandy and Houston becoming the first African-American actresses to play their respective roles in any screen adaptation of the fairy tale, although an
all-black modern-day re-telling of "Cinderella" entitled
Cindy had premiered in 1978. accepting the role because she already had successful singing and acting careers, in addition to relating to the main character in several ways. The fact that Cinderella is traditionally depicted as white did not discourage Brandy from pursuing the role. Having grown up watching Caucasian actresses portray Cinderella, Houston felt that 1997 was "a good time" to cast a woman of color as the title character, claiming the choice to use a multi-cultural cast "was a joint decision" among the producers, Executive producer
Debra Martin Chase explained that, despite enjoying Warren's performance as Cinderella, she and Houston "realized we never saw a person of color playing Cinderella", explaining, "To have a black Cinderella ... is just something. I know it was important for Whitney to leave this legacy for her daughter." In addition to developing a good relationship with each other, the producers established a strong rapport with Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization President Ted Chapin. Meron credits Freedman with "giv[ing] her a little bit more of a backbone", ultimately developing the character into a more independent woman. and thus altered the story to "reflect current ideas about what we should be teaching children." Despite being more similar to the original musical than the 1965 remake in style and structure, the script's "values and tone" have been updated. this version of the story emphasizes that the prince has fallen in love with Cinderella because she is funny and intelligent, in addition to being beautiful. with the film also lacking references to the races or ethnicities of the characters whatsoever.
Casting ''Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella'' was the first time the "Cinderella" story was adapted for a racially diverse cast, Casting the stepmother proved particularly challenging since most of the white actresses considered for the role felt uneasy about acting cruelly towards a black Cinderella;
Bette Midler was among several actresses who declined.
Bernadette Peters was ultimately cast as Cinderella's stepmother, her second villainous role after originating the Witch in the stage musical
Into the Woods (1986). Peters' stepmother was adapted into a more comical version than previous incarnations of the character due to the actress' comedic background.
Jason Alexander was cast as the prince's valet Lionel, an entirely new character created for
comic relief. Alexander accepted the role despite being paid significantly less than his
Seinfeld salary because, in addition to hoping to earn Zadan and Meron's favor for the title role in a potential film adaptation of the musical
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), he hoped that
Cinderella would positively impact the future of television musicals.
Music Freedman's final teleplay is 11 minutes longer than previous adaptations, in turn offering several opportunities for new songs, some of which the producers felt necessary. Mountain, who oversees most of the music for Disney's animated films, had been interested in
crossing over into live-action for several years and identified
Cinderella as one of the first opportunities in which he was allowed to do so. allowing the filmmakers significant freedom on the condition that the additions remain consistent with the project. these additions are considered to be the most dramatic of the changes made to the musical. the song was offered "a driving, up-tempo arrangement" for Peters. James believes his father would have appreciated Ebb's contribution since the songwriter had been known to enjoy collaborating with new lyricists. The original song lacked a
bridge and was deemed inferior to Houston's trademark vocals, which he credits with teaching him how to choreograph dance sequences for motion pictures. Brandy learned to waltz for the role, To film the "Impossible" musical sequence, Houston rode on a wooden pulley to simulate the effect that she was flying alongside Cinderella's pumpkin carriage.
Filming ''Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella
was the first of the three versions of the musical to be shot on film. primarily on stages 22 and 26 at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, some media publications dubbed the program "the most expensive two hours ever produced for television." According to A. J. Jacobs of Entertainment Weekly'', the film's budget was approximately four-times that of a typical television film. Disney granted the producers this amount because they felt confident that the film would eventually make its budget back once it was released on home video. However, the film's budget is one of the lowest among the contemporary
Cinderella adaptations. insisted that she wear real jewels as opposed to costume jewelry, enlisting jeweler
Harry Winston to loan the film $60 million worth of jewelry.|alt=Middle-aged African-American woman with dreadlocks, looking away from the camera and smiling with her right cheek rested upon her folded hands. The film's costumes were designed by
Ellen Mirojnick, who aspired towards making them "both funny and stylish" in appearance. Cinderella's "glass slippers" were made of shatterproof
acrylic as opposed to glass, and only one pair was designed to fit Brandy's feet; the shoe the prince discovers and carries on a pillow in search of its owner was designed to be extremely small in order to give it the appearance of being "incredibly delicate", with Iscove describing it as "too small for any human" foot. Brandy revealed that all of the closeup shots of Cinderella's feet in the glass slippers were done by a foot model with smaller feet than her own size 9, joking that "size nine shoes look like size 12 on TV". In addition to Cinderella herself, Mirojnick costumed all female guests attending the prince's ball in various shades of blue, ranging from aqua to sapphire; The costume department originally created
fake jewelry for Goldberg's character, which consisted of
rhinestones for her to wear during the film's ballroom and wedding sequences. However, the actress insisted that the film's queen should wear real jewelry instead and personally contacted jeweler
Harry Winston to lend the production millions of dollars' worth of jewels, The film's sets were designed by Randy Ser, while
art direction was headed by Ed Rubin, who opted to combine a "bright and bold"
color palette with "a great deal of subtlety". Iscove identified the film's time period as "
nouveau into
deco," while also incorporating influences from the work of
Gustav Klimt. Prince Christopher's palace was built on the same location as what had been the
yellow brick road from the film
The Wizard of Oz (1939), thus the palace's courtyard bricks were painted yellow in homage to the
classic film. Due to the film's
child-friendly message, children and family members of the cast and crew visited the set regularly, including Houston's daughter
Bobbi Kristina Brown and husband
Bobby Brown. Mary and James often visited, as well as Chapin. During a scheduled visit in July, approximately midway through the filming process, Mary and James previewed early footage of the film and met the cast. Hailing the sets as "the most incredible" she had ever seen, Mary described Brandy as "a sweet, wonderful young woman ... I love the fact that millions of children are going to hear her sing 'I can be whatever I want to be.' What better message could we send than that?" Towards the end of filming, the producers realized that they did not have enough money to pay for
extras and additional costs, and Disney refused to loan any more money to the production. The producers agreed to finance the remainder of the project using their own money, while Goldberg volunteered to donate the rest of her daily salary to completing the production. ==Release==