Rate the Cinderellas You've Seen!

[Disney Duster]

Aw, that's sweet carolinakid. Anyway you can provide a pic or a link of the sweatshirt?

[trokanmariel]

Perhaps, it's a case that ideologically, the 2015 Disney live action movie is sound; it's ostensible flaw, being that it needed more pomp and festival essence (not too unlike The Grinch, starring Jim Carrey).
The 2015 drama is my favorite, because with its release I'm able to connect my history of mental illness.

[Farerb]

Is there a good adaptation of the Grimm version besides Into the Woods?

[Disney Duster]

Not that I have ever found. Closest thing would be this German 1989 one, but it is not good, it sucks, it's just the least sucky and most "Grimm" I have found. Maybe there is a better one somewhere, but it would not be to my knowledge, and if there really was a good Grimm Cinderella film, I think I would have been made aware of it by now.

[Farerb]

Thank you

Unfortunately that movie doesn't look very good.

By the way I watched The Slipper and the Rose and I can't say that I liked it. The movie is too long for this story and most of it doesn't even seem to be about Cinderella.

[Disney Duster]

Thank you for your interest.

It is ok with me you didn't like The Slipper and the Rose. It was made too much about the Prince and the King's affairs. That was the reason the Sherman's did it, to tell the Prince's story to differentiate it from the "perfect" Disney and Rodgers and Hammerstein versions. I thank you for giving it a watch though. I personally love it, but that doesn't mean I think it's great. I think it's good, not great. I really love most of all the Fairy Godmother, Stepmother, and 18th century designs, plus "Once I Was Loved", "Suddenly It Happens" and "Tell Him Anything (But Not That I Love Him)".

[tsom]

Not sure if it was mentioned before, but another Cinderella movie to add to the list is FIRST LOVE (1939). Very sweet movie!

[Disney Duster]

I've been planning to include that movie in my next ranking compilation. It actually is pretty sweet.

[Farerb]

Is anyone going to watch The Ugly Stepsister?

https://youtu.be/52C0rqyZKhg?si=Z8cM_secSv_y7aiZ

[Disney Duster]

Thank you for bringing that to my attention, Farerb! I should check it out! I will probably catch it on a streamer if I can. It's interesting, there were two movie said to be in the works, that I believe were both comedies about the ugly stepsisters. They either did not happen or have not yet. The trailer also reminds me of Cinderella's Revenge, which was one stinker of a movie. But this film got praise, looks more sophisticated and well, better, and it already tugs at your emotions in giving a sympathetic side to the stepsisters who were sad that a girl they knew may have gotten her due by being prettier than them. The stepsisters in the Grimm version were beautiful, not ugly, so this film seems to be stepping foot in both the Perrault, Grimm's, and just well-known versions of the tale.

[Disney Duster]

I watched The Ugly Stepsister! It was GOOD! See where it ranks among a few other new additions in my updated list:

New Ranking of Cinderellas 2025!

57. Cinderella and the Secret Prince (2018) – This was abysmal, and ripped off not only some of the 2015 Disney Cinderella in Ella’s transformation, but Tangled in Ella’s design, and even some Frozen in her design and a bit of snow flake magic in another scene!

56. Cinderella: The Enchanted Beginning (2018) – Also abysmal, but the guy who was the prince role was very cute and seemed very dumb so I imagine he would make a great boy toy.

55. Elle: A Modern Cinderella Story (2010) – Another abysmal one, but this one had a surprising bit of a likeable cast of characters and a genuinely good moral dilemma – what would you do if you had to break up with someone for a while just to save a whole record company and its employees?

54. Aschenputtel (2010) – This TV movie was worse than even TV movies should be. No redeeming qualities except that it stuck pretty closely to the Grimm fairy tale, and I liked that they showed the prince chasing after girls and it seemed this was why the King wanted him to settle down. And it scores one more point for Cinderella’s father being held accountable for what he let happen to his daughter, although I watched this without any English translating so I’m not sure what exactly became of him. The King also had a weird preoccupation with fish that was stupid.

53. Cinderella’s Revenge (2024): The Cinderella character can certainly be boring if not done right. In this horrible movie, Cinderella is somehow even more boring as a character who kills those who mistreated her and her father. And it’s not even scary. It wasn’t a horror film, it was just a revenge film. The best part was that the one evil stepsister cutting her toe to fit the slipper was done in a great, gory way, with even her sister telling her concernedly that she shouldn’t do it. Plus I laughed once at one good stepsister joke, and the fairy godmother was rather amusing and likeable. I think I even laughed a tiny bit at her jokes.

52. Fairy Tales for Every Child: Cinderella – This isn’t a winner for me, I’m sorry. The only songs were given to the side characters, and about unimportant things!

51. Yeh-Shen (1985) – The story seems even more sexist in this Chinese version!

50. Childhood Productions: Cinderella (1955) – This one is really awful. The stepfamily had sort of good costumes, and it really showed how awful they were to Cinderella and how hard her life was as a servant. That’s it.

49. Britannica’s Tales from Around the World – Cinderella: This one has terrible, terrible designs, but it’s a very cute, very funny, and slightly sweet take on the oft-retold story. Good for its ending where Cinderella marries her stepsisters to gentleman of the court, much like in the original fairy tale.

48. Aschenputtel (1989) – I haven’t seen this one in a while, but it wasn’t good enough for me to watch all over again for me to review it here. It’s cringey. I only remember Cinderella’s ball looks were kinda nice, I liked the joke that the girls all wore silver dresses for the third night of the ball to mimic Cinderella’s silver dress from the night before, and I liked how the Prince kind of had fun with Cinderella in sharing the silly way he viewed the people at the ball.

47. CinderElmo (1999) – Well, it was geared for the preschool crowd. It’s enjoyable for what it is, but isn’t really what I would call a great adaptation of Cinderella. I guess because the main character is too young for romance.

46. Wizard Tales: Cinderella (I don't know if Wizard Tales is just a re-branding or what) – This one does a good job of making Cinderella’s life look like hell. She has a nightmare about how she never finishes her work that really makes you feel for her. It also has a cool pumpkin into coach transformation, though it’s too brief and still not very nicely animated, just like the rest. The rest sucks.

45. Mel-O-Toons: Cinderella (1959) – Well, this was really simple and seemed low-budget, but it told the story nicely and the designs were kind of cool, just, nothing was really drawn or animated well. The ‘80s Russian cartoon is way better.

44. Golden Films: Cinderella – The pink of the coach that matches the dresses of Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother was quite pretty, and I like that Cinderella makes ball gowns for her stepsisters, ensures they get a dance with the prince, and gets them two handsome men to be their partners in the very end! The rest sucks.

43. Goodtimes: Cinderella – This one’s awful designs, animation, music, and writing make it a real stinker.

42. A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish – Meh. Can’t remember much about it more than I did feel bad for the Cinderella character’s embarrassing moment in the middle with the prince character, but she was not a strong actress or singer and the whole thing felt kind of yucky.

41. If the Shoe Fits (1990) – This was a terribly written and terribly acted film!! I didn’t like how shallow it felt. I mean, it’s a film about supermodels so, it kind of goes with the territory, and tries to have a moral about not only liking a supermodel because she’s pretty, but the girl chosen in the end is still pretty, so…yeah.

40. Cinderella (2000) – Not good. There was a lot of incestuous hints with the stepsisters and general stupidity. Even Kathleen Turner couldn’t save this.

39. Not Cinderella’s Type (2018) – This was surprising in how the Cinderella character had an arc of standing up for herself and doing what she needed to save herself, with help. But it really was still not a good movie or good Cinderella adaptation.

38. Cinderella (1914) – This is an ok silent film but beyond the stepfamily’s and the Prince’s costumes, Cinderella’s act of kindness to the Fairy Godmother, and an actually really beautiful song Cinderella sings in her head, it just isn’t really that good.

37. Another Cinderella Story (2008) – Meh. Can’t remember much about beyond it being cringey.

36. A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits (2016) – Meh. I liked the Cinderella character’s wig and rags dress when in the play.

35. A Cinderella Story: Starstruck (2021) – I kind of liked the actress who played Cinderella in this, she was kind of the most notable of the modern Cinderellas to me. Very precious and cute while still actually having some fire to her in some scenes. Her prince was boring, though, and I wasn’t sold on her being a really good actress or anything that was kind of the crux of the story. The stepfamily also sucked, though it was notable there was a guy as a stepsibling. He didn’t really help the film, though.

34. More Than a Miracle (1967) – This was a very interesting version of Cinderella. The romance was interesting to watch. But the movie was a bit too odd and felt dangerously approving of hitting women, and the flying priests killed it for me, lol.

33. A Cinderella Story (2004) – Not really a very good movie. I don’t remember much about it beyond Jennifer Coolidge, the race home before the stepmother discovers Sam was at the dance, and the fact it was really dumb Sam was afraid her “prince” would find out she worked at a diner, like that’s a bad thing, and how dumb the way the stepsisters “exposed her” was. Jennifer Coolidge and the race home were the only good parts.

32. First Love (1939)– This movie is ok. I don’t like modern Cinderellas very much, but this was a rather sweet one with a kind of powerful ending. But it isn’t the fairy tale and isn’t really all that dramatic. But the star of the film has an AMAZING voice! It’s cute, but mostly meh.

31. Sneakerella (2022) – It’s great to have gender-swapped versions of this story, but uh, well, this wasn’t great, or even really good. I liked the magic bits, and the “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” dance, and the song “Perfect Fit”, plus the taller, dumb stepbrother was so cute, I’d love him as a boy toy, but aside from the princess role and actress, the realistic stepfather, and a flash back to a dying mother, this doesn’t have much going for it.

30. Rags (2012) – At first I thought it was so dumb, but I ended up enjoying it by the end. There was some peril for Charlie, this gender-swapped version’s Cinderella, and boy was he cute as were his stepbrothers. I like him ok, and his stepbrother, and I really liked Keke Palmer (who would go on to star as Cinderella in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s version on Broadway!), even though she is no great actress. Some of the jokes were kinda funny and I sorta liked a few of the songs. All in all, enjoyable by the end.

29. Cinderella (2021) – The year it came out was a bad year for the world, and it was a bad movie. I love all the costumes in this film, especially the Fabulous Godmother’s New Look ensemble (who thought orange could look so good?!), and I loved that Ella wanted to become a dressmaker as her main goal. But I hated that they added modern music and hated that Ella does not try on the glass slipper or become a princess. It also has a sometimes unlikeable prince who jerkily says he wants to make sure when he first meets Ella that she has no “bats in the bell free”. It also loses points for no pumpkin coach and mice horses. It’s not exactly cringe, it’s just not nearly good, either. Points for Ella’s dress design becoming her (in my opinion) beautiful ballgown, though. I love the pick-ups at the waist. Aside from that, I know some people hate using the term “woke”, especially negatively, but it’s true this time, being woke really ruined the film.

28. Cinderella (1911) – Another silent version, this time told very…efficiently, that’s pretty much it. Not bad in any way (except Cinderella’s ballgown was underwhelming), but not particularly good either (except I loved the Fairy Godmother’s costume). Oh, and it does gets points for showing in a realistic way a feckless father failing to help his daughter against his family’s oppression.

27. Cinderella (1899) – Probably the first silent version. Had costumes accurate to the time the fairy tale was written, and good animal and pumpkin transformations, but is so short, and I hate how the Fairy Godmother punishes Cinderella for staying past midnight, with turning her back in front of everyone on purpose, and Cinderella’s nightmare of clocks, though maybe the nightmare was not the Godmother’s doing.

26. Cinderella (1907) -Yet another silent version, but a little nicer than the others. Some nice costumes, Cinderella’s rags were good and her ballgown half good. I felt a little more in this version than the other silent ones. The pumpkin growing into the coach was also cool.
25. A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song (2011) – This was actually the best “Cinderella Story” film so far that I have seen, though if only it were more original instead of recycling the Singing in the Rain plot, and didn’t have bathroom jokes. The stepsister coming so close to getting the “prince” was a good idea, and when she had that heart-to-heart with Katie, it was another good moment. Too bad they didn’t follow through with her becoming good in the end or something. I did also think two of the songs were good, if still unremarkable.

24. Cindy (1978) – This was a really good movie! I loved the Cinderella role’s actress, and it actually presented some real world problems and genuine reasons for why a stepmother and stepsisters would treat someone so horribly. The songs sucked, but the writing and acting and singing was top notch. I actually had a good, long laugh when Cindy gets a long list of hard chores from her stepmother, asks what her stepsisters had to do, and they say, “We have to make ourselves beautiful for tonight”, and Cindy says, “Looks like I got the easy list.” HAHAHAHAAAA!!!

23. Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics – Cinderella – This one told the story pretty damn well. Cinderella had a great dress, and her meeting with and falling in love with the Prince was done in an entertaining and developing way. The danger with the Stepmother was done quite well and scarily, too. But I hated that the magic is tree is not from Cinderella’s dead mother but is…just a random magic tree! And the net taking Cinderella to the palace…it felt a little too…inelegant and ill-fitting.
22. Hey, Cinderella! – This film is hilarious! I love every actor and they do their role perfectly. Even the stepsister puppets! I love Cinderella’s hair and character and that she sings of wanting to go dancing. Cinderella and her Prince are naïve as can be, but in a sweet way. I love when the Fairy Godmother says, “And these must be your ugly daughters!” Hilarious!

21. My Favorite Fairy Tales: Cinderella – I grew up with this, and it’s nice. Has ok anime animation, and in it Cinderella runs away before the ball, but then comes back when she finds there was nowhere for her to go! I suspect this was actually her just going to town to get things for her stepfamily for the ball, and it was dubbed as her choosing to run away later, but I don’t know! It scores points if she actually was running away. The designs are Disney rip-offs, though, however nice her pink version of the silver ballgown is.

20. Cinderfella (1960)– I actually really like this movie. We have very few gender-swapped Cinderella films. If it had better songs and more love between Fella and the Princess, plus perhaps some depth in Fella feeling too stupid and ordinary looking to snag a princess, it could really have been something great. I like it as it is, though. And it features a roaring Cinderella cameo! I’d love to make a “once upon a time” set Cinderfella one day!

19. The Glass Slipper (1955)– Meh. I liked the female-written character for Ella who is more of a fighting force in this version, and you can see why she would think no one wants her, and is thus in her poor situation. Also love the Prince’s interaction with her before the ball and his dialogue about men loving women even if they’re fat. Hated the ballet scenes and that Ella cut her hair and yet, somehow, no one knew she was the one at the ball. I also liked that the stepsisters were beautiful but evil.

18. Ella Enchanted (2004) – This is an ok movie. It is overall fun. It is very good that is builds up Ella and Char’s relationship, and also how it has realistic political problems that Ella wants to solve. Plus the premise with Ella being given the gift of obedience from her fairy godmother that many parents would at first think is good but everyone later realize is bad is a great idea, even though the idea was of course first present in the book. I remember the book being better though, and everyone seems to agree on that. I should re-read the book someday. But this film was a little too silly overall. Plus, no pumpkin coach or glass slipper or the glass slipper fitting. I did enjoy the fairy godmother’s smoke and glitter special effects, though. I will add that the Prince’s name being Charmont is a genius word-play on the French word for charming, “Charmant”, but that’s also from the book!

17. Cinderella Monogatari (1996 Japanese/Italian anime) – This is a very good anime! I should give it a re-watch sometime, and maybe I will all through my life. It’s just…so many episodes! And thus, episodic, lol. I like that the romance between Cinderella and the Prince really is given time, I love that it is a very adventurous version, even giving Cinderella the chance to be brave, and I love that Miss Paulette is her actual godmother and taught Cinderella’s mother’s painting class, and it’s rather emotional how she asks her to watch over her daughter! This is a very genuinely emotionally sweet Cinderella. I just wish the stuff with the Duke tied in better to the actual story somehow. Like if only the stepmother was working with him or something. The ending is adventurous but has nothing to do with the Cinderella fairy tale, really. I mean, it could even have had Cinderella help defeat the Duke to fix that! Too bad, then it could have been perfect!

16. Three Nuts for Cinderella 91973) – A very charming film. Cinderella has a great, rebellious, fun force of a character here! Had a fairy or godmother given Cinderella her nuts in return for helping her (or even not, just giving them to her because she is her godmother and knows she’s a good goddaughter), or the ending been a bit more…clever than just the stepmother hoping the prince would marry her daughter without even freaking seeing her…it would have been perfect! Someone said Cinderella and the Prince’s romance works because they are both fun-loving jokesters, and it makes sense.

15. Three Nuts for Cinderella (2021) – This looked so good in the trailer, and then the clips kinda showed it wasn’t directed that well. But, I liked it better than the original! I don’t want to spoil anything, but the ending really topped the original’s in how it made more sense and added more drama and peril! I loved this one, I’m glad I own it. It really has beautiful settings, cinematography, special effects and costumes! God, the costumes, and the stepmother’s amazing hair! And there was even a surprise gay romance! I love this movie!

14. Wishing Chair Productions: Cinderella – Actually, despite that this has scary uncanny valley puppets, and needed another love song for the Prince and Cinderella at the ball, this was quite good! The song at the end about how Cinderella wanted to know the Prince really loved her was rather a great, ingenious addition! If there were only Cinderella puppet versions, this would be the top! Something weird is I swear when I first watched it, the stepmother scared me when she shouted, “Do not touch that broom!” to Cinderella. Now, it’s more of a regular-volumed line and is zoomed in to the broom and Cinderella’s hand going for it. I think it scared kids and they edited it out! Pity!

13. Золушка (a 1947 Russian live-action film) – I have read that this film is apparently very Soviet and Marxist. The King is friends with commoners and The Fairy Godmother hopes Cinderella will still be a hard-working girl though dressed as a princess (Cinderella, I beg of you, F that!). It has witty lines, including those that remind of World War II’s Hitler, since this came two years after the war, with the Stepmother saying, “It’s a shame this kingdom is too small for me. I’ll have no room for my antics. But that’s fixable – I’ll fight my neighbours.” Apparently the Soviet people felt like Cinderella as kept in servitude by their dreary, thankless regime. I thought the movie was mostly, well, cute, with good costumes and sets. Cinderella already knows her Godmother is magic, never asking for relief from her terrible life before or even after the ball, so I hated all of that! I however liked that Cinderella forces her stepsister’s foot into the glass slipper, losing her prince, just to save her father. But I suspect that just may be the Russian version of the tale, not unique to this movie, as in the other Russian one the stepmother asks Cinderella to put her stepsister’s foot in the glass slipper, though admittedly with no threat against her father.

12. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1957) – Well, um, I’m sorry but I don’t think this version is that good. Yes, Julie Andrews is a perfect Cinderella, but even her singing and acting don’t overshadow Lesley Ann Warren’s for me, or the whole of this rather mundane feeling version. The music’s really good. I hate the costumes and sets, though. I’d say Julie and the music’s the best thing about it.

11. Rankin Bass' Cinderella – Grew up with this one, and I like it. I like Cinderella, the Prince, and the ball gown the most out of things I liked in this. Cinderella’s character is really very sweet and even kind of strong, asking for help from her stepfamily, asking to go to the ball, and deciding to wish on a star instead of just cry about her situation.

10. The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976) – I used to think this one was so good. And while it is good, it’s a long thing to get through and can be kind of boring sometimes. The songs and new inventions of character or story to this version keep it from being as boring as the 2015 one, though. And the costumes are really quite great! This one gets very high scores for the Stepmother and most of all The Fairy Godmother! Love her! Also, the music is pretty good, with two songs sung by Cinderella I love.

9. ЗОЛУШКА (a 1979 Russian Cinderella cartoon) – This film is truly beautiful, in the animation and the way it is told. Even the music is very beautiful. I would say if there were only animated Cinderellas, this is only second to Walt Disney’s. It’s so exquisite. Cinderella is shown to toil and be so abused you really feel sorry for her. And she is shown to be so kind, even at the ball, it really drives that aspect of her character, and why she deserves her happy ending. After looking carefully, it looks like only some of the nobles and the stepfamily shake their heads at Cinderella trying on the slipper, and not Cinderella’s father or the King! I like that the higher class doesn’t want Cinderella to be the princess but the Prince insists. But Cinderella’s father is curiously absent in the end. Oh, and I wish Cinderella and the Prince had wedding or royal clothes in the end instead of repeats of their ball animation.

8. Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella (2013) – I am talking about the Broadway production, if it counts. It was magical in costumes, sets, and effects, but it was a bit too political and sidetracked from the main story and romance I thought should be going on. Still, the drama and humor are really quite good!

7. Faerie Tale Theatre’s Cinderella (1985) – God, this one is so good! So full of personality! Everything is top notch, even the costumes, except for that coach and it’s first transformation, lol! I just wish that was a bit better. I also think we could have had more development of Cinderella and her Prince’s romance, like they joke about stuff and laugh together or something, but this is a very well-scripted, very well-acted version! Absolutely adore the Fairy Godmother!

6. The Ugly Stepsister (2025) – Ok, this one paints Cinderella and her fairy tale in a very negative light…but by God, this made me feel, and that’s what movies are supposed to do! I felt for the ugly stepsisters, both of them, and I really, really liked the title character and her arc! Poor Elvira! And how could a movie have a character trying to stab Cinderella and you still understand and love that knife-wielder? What a great movie! No wonder it got such great reviews! And I loved that you weren’t sure if Cinderella really got to the ball by magic or not, though I would says he did, what with the cleverness of her father’s corpse’s maggots mending her dress!

5. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1965) – This is a very well-acted version by Cinderella, her godmother, and her stepfamily. Shout out to the Queen as well. Not the Prince or King, lol. Yes, it is a little stiff, a little “cheap play”-y, but for all of that, it has the great music, the straight-forward and actually well-written story, and once again, Lesley Ann Warren’s endearing and almost, not quite, but almost heartbreaking Cinderella.

4. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997) – I recently discovered this film is rated a few points higher than Cinderella (2015) on Rotten Tomatoes! While I think the 2015 one is better, this one at least is not boring at all! I say Brandy did act well in this film. It is a little…you can tell she’s acting. It’s kind of fake. But, still, I mean, it’s not like any character in this comes off as perfectly real and believable anyway! The designs are fantastic and amazing, and the transformations are clever and beautiful. It’s humorous and builds the romance and is a little feminist. It’s great. Def a winner!

3. Disney’s and Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella (2015) – Well, this is my favorite live-action film ever. It’s perfectly done. It throws in everything but the scullery sink! I’ve heard people say it tried to be like every Cinderella before and failed, but I’d say it did that and succeeded! I mean, it didn’t top those films or have the personality of those, but it used their elements well. Walt’s heartfelt heroine type, her animals friends, and her mother’s dress and glass slipper destruction. Cinderella sleeping by the fireplace and getting sooty. Many other versions’ Cinderella meeting the Prince before the ball. A fairy godmother who transforms herself when Cinderella shows her kindness. It's all there, and then some additions like why the glass slippers lasted past midnight (they were not transformed from anything) and why the Prince searched for Cinderella with the slipper (because she didn’t come to the castle with her other glass slipper). I felt like it was dumb Cinderella didn’t lie about letting her stepmother take over the prince and kingdom, but people have pointed out that Cinderella maybe never lied like that because of her pure good and innocent character and that fits. People also say it was dumb that Cinderella wanted to stay in her house when she leaves eventually, but that was for a prince and his castle, of course she would move to a better place, and she still kept her old home in her family (in the film novelization it is the choice for the honeymoon). It’s great that Ella’s choices are what lead her to the Prince and her salvation. And people say Cinderella was dumb for dancing in her room while people were downstairs. I guess she could have shouted “HELP!”, but did she think anyone would be outside and within earshot of her window? Would the stepmother have lied about what people were actually hearing and even though they would investigate, Ella had no way of deducing they would? Anyway, the sheer craft and creativity of this film is what I most love. The baroque palace ball and the gold and glass carriage! The stepmother’s shining, silky false bustle dresses, her daughter’s too-shiny, slutty ball gowns, the Fairy Godmother’s glowing white, perfectly puffy gown, and Cinderella’s somehow amazingly beautiful-in-its-simplicity ball gown! The glittering galaxy fairy-dusted transformations! And the romance actually felt built up enough to be palpable. This movie is perfect, or it would be had it more personality and emotion! Still, this is the definitive live-action version of Cinderella.

2. Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998) – This is the best live-action version of Cinderella. It just is. It’s exciting. It’s interesting. The people are like real people. It’s just tops. But it’s not entirely original. One of my favorite scenes was Danielle picking the Prince up and carrying him away from the gypsies. According to Medieval legend, when German King Conrad III defeated the Duke of Welf, the wives of those defeated negotiated a surrender which granted them the right to leave with whatever possessions they could carry on their shoulders. Each woman lifted her own husband onto her back and carried him out. Were it not for that, and some lacking scenes of Danielle and Henry at the monastery and ruins, it would be quite perfect. In Ever After, it feels like Cinderella and the Prince have been through so much, that they've been on a journey and really earned their romance. The idea that the Cinderella story really happened, and the use of history right down to Leonardo DaVinci acting as the Fairy Godmother is genius. It’s more than a solid film, it’s a great adaptation of Cinderella. I’m so happy that there is such a good live-action Cinderella in the world. Plus, that silvery gold winged ball gown is the best Renaissance gown for a Cinderella ever.

1. Walt Disney’s Cinderella (1950) – I surprised myself that one time when I made the 1965 one first in my ranking, but I have come to my senses. This is THE Cinderella. Walt Disney's Cinderella does two important things no other version does: it builds up Cinderella's hopes of her family being nice to her and going to the ball, which get dashed in a very violent and heartbreaking scene, and it builds up the tension before Cinderella finally getting her happy ending, so when she finally gets it, it's oh so happily ever after. No other version has such emotional power. Not to mention the visuals. That epically tall Louis XIV architecture. Those round-sleeved, bustled dresses, including the greatest princess dress of all, Cinderella’s silvery, full, pleated one. The Stepmother’s leg-o-mutton sleeves and high-collar. The Fairy Godmother’s cloak. That pumpkin carriage! And the animation is literal and metaphorical magic. Cinderella's spiraling, fairy-dusted, dress-morphing transformation animation is so divine as to be something holy. As is also when the Fairy Godmother materializes out of light and sparkles. Only the music is weak for me, but, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” is a lovely anthem. Finally, there is no Cinderella more endearing or heartbreaking than Ilene Woods’ version, especially in the face of the scariest stepmother to be, Eleanor Audley. This movie is not quite perfect, with its mice and cat antics and an undeveloped romance, but, hey, it’s still the best Cinderella, and the best movie in the world to my heart.