Cinderella III: Spoiler Thread!

[Disneykid]

Ok, since I'm hopelessly bored, I thought I'd type out a timeline of the whole Cinderella saga encompassing all three films.

The beginning

* Cinderella's father marries Lady Tremaine to provide Cinderella with a new mother and some sisters.

* Cinderella's father dies. Anastasia and Drizella blow off the family fortune, and the household is all but bankrupt. Lady Tremaine forces Cinderella to move to the attic and become a household servant.

Approximately 10 years later

* Cinderella saves Gus from a mouse trap, and Jaq takes him on as a new friend. She is already familiar with the other animals at this point. Regular day-to-day activities ensue.

* The King orders the Duke to throw a ball in hopes that the Prince finally finds a bride.

* Lady Tremaine cons Cinderella into thinking she can attend so long as gets the housework done and can find a suitable outfit.

* Jaq, Gus, and the rest of the animals re-work Cinderella's mother's dress in a more modern style using left over pieces Anastasia and Drizella trashed.

8 p.m. that evening

* The carriage arrives to pick up the family for the ball. Cinderella goes to join her stepfamily in her new dress. Lady Tremaine slyly brings to the attention of the stepsisters the fact that the dress is made of things they owned. Anastasia and Drizella rip the dress apart and depart for the ball.

* Cinderella's fairy godmother appears, transforming a pumpkin into a carriage, the mice into horses, Major the horse into the driver, and Bruno the dog into the footman. Finally, she transforms Cinderella's torn dress into a silver ballgown, warning her that everything will return to its original state at midnight.

* The Prince spends the ball bored beyond belief, much to the dismay of the King. The sight of Anastasia and Drizella wakes him up momentarily, but also unpleasantly. Cinderella enters the ball quietly and unannounced, but manages to attract the Prince clear across the room. The couple dance as everyone looks on. The King orders the Duke to keep an eye on the mystery girl, threatening him if he should lose her. Lady Tremaine vaguely recognizes Cinderella, but the Duke blocks her off to allow the couple some privacy. Cinderella and the Prince dance the entire evening until...

Midnight

* Cinderella abruptly leaves. The Prince is blocked off by fangirls, but the Duke (wishing to keep his own head) chases after her. Cinderella loses her left glass slipper, but is in such a state of panic and rush that she leaves it behind. The Duke sends the palace guards after her coach. Halfway home, everything turns back to normal. Cinderella and the others hide in the woods as the guards pass by, and the mice point out that her right slipper didn't transform.

3 a.m.

* The Duke tells the King that the mysterious woman has escaped. The King goes into a violent rampage, but the Duke manages to tell him that the Prince is not interested into any other woman. The Prince plans on marrying whatever girl fits the lost slipper. The Duke is ordered to search for the girl, and he does so throughout the entire evening.

Later in the morning, after sunrise.

* Cinderella overhears Lady Tremaine telling the stepsisters about the King's decree. In a dreamy daze, she goes to her room to make herself look presentable. Her humming the same music that was played at the ball reveals to Lady Tremaine the identity of the mystery woman. She locks Cinderella in the attic bedroom.

* The Grand Duke arrives. Jaq and Gus steal the bedroom key from Lady Tremaine's pocket.

Version 1: Original sequence of events

* Anatasia and Drizella both try on the slipper to no avail. Meanwhile, a mini-war ensues upstairs between the animals and Lady Tremaine's cat, Lucifer. Bruno comes in and chases Lucifer out the window, and the mice free Cinderella.

* Cinderella comes downstairs just as the Duke is leaving. Lady Tremaine trips the footman before the slipper can be tried on. As the Duke panics at what the King will do to him, Cinderella pulls out her remaining right-foot slipper. It's a perfect fit much to the stepfamily's horror.

Noon that day?

* Cinderella and the Prince get married.

One year later

* Anastasia and Drizella have become household servants for Lady Tremaine, with the chateau in complete disarray.

* Cinderella and the Prince attend a small wedding anniversary party the Fairy Godmother and the animals have put on for them. Anastasia follows the couple and overhears how magic was used a year ago at the night of the ball. She steals the Godmother's wand.

* Anastasia returns home with the wand. The Fairy Godmother comes after her, but is accidentally turned to stone. Lady Tremaine uses the wand to reverse time and have her revenge on Cinderella.

Version 2: Time reversal sequence of events

* The slipper is tried on Anastasia. Lady Tremaine uses to wand to increase the slipper size, fitting Anastasia. The Duke leaves to take her to the palace.

* Cinderella comes down too late with the other slipper, which Tremaine throws over the stairwell, warning her to keep away the palace and the Prince. Tremaine joins her daughters and the Duke.

* Cinderella sneaks into the palace and is caught by Prudence, the royal advisor. She poses as a mouse catcher with the help of Jaq and Gus.

* The Prince meets the Tremaine family, but sees that Anastasia was not the mystery girl at the ball. Tremaine casts a spell on him to make him think otherwise as Jaq and Gus witness everything.

* Cinderella runs into the Prince, but he doesn't recognize her. After touching looking into her eyes, familiarity begins to seep in, but Prudence takes Cinderella away for mouse-catching duties.

* Jaq and Gus explain to Cinderella what Tremaine did to the Prince.

* The Prince introduces Anastasia to the King. After a disastrous dance, the Prince touches Anastasia's hand, and an unfamiliar feeling creeps over him.

* The King gives Anastasia a seashell that once belonged to his wife.

* Cinderella, Jaq, and Gus steal back the wand from Lady Tremaine. Tremaine sends the guards after her.

* The birds bring the Prince over to where Cinderella is. She attempts to break the spell, but the guards catch up with her too quickly, and Tremaine takes back the wand.

* Cinderella is sent on the next ship leaving the kingdom.

* Jaq and Gus explain to the Prince all about the spell and wand. The birds come in bringing back Cinderella's other slipper pieced back together.

* The Prince rescues Cinderella from the ship. When he touches her hand again, the spell is lifted, and he proposes to her. The stepfamily disappears before the guards can arrest them.

Late in the afternoon

* Cinderella prepares for her wedding when Tremaine reappears. Anastasia has been transformed into a Cinderella clone to fool the Prince.

* Cinderella, Jaq, and Gus are transported into pumpkin coach that's the polar opposite of what the Fairy Godmother had originally created. Lucifer is transformed into a coachman and is ordered by Tremaine to kill Cinderella. She escapes from the coach, throwing Lucifer off a cliff.

Evening

* Anastasia has second thoughts about the deception. She declines at the altar just as Cinderella runs into the church. Tremaine and Drizella re-appear, and the King sends the guards after them. She turns them all into animals, and just as she's about to do the same to Cinderella and Anastasia, the Prince steps in with his sword. The spell reflects and hits Tremaine and Drizella instead. They're transported back home as frogs.

* Anastasia transforms herself back, and together with Cinderella, brings back the Fairy Godmother. Anastasia offers the King back the seshell, but he tells her to keep it. The Fairy Godmother gives Cinderella a new wedding gown, and the couple are married.

* Lady Tremaine and Drizella are turned back into humans (possibly by the Fairy Godmother per Cinderella's request).

After the honeymoon (I'll be brief from here on out partly because I've forgotten the details of Cinderella II and partly because I *want* to forget)

* The Prince attends to some business, leaving Cinderella in charge of the royal ball coming up. Prudence haggles Cinderella on the fineries of being a princess. Cinderella rebels and decides she'd rather wear her old rags that she's mysteriously still kept with her than the hideous gowns Prudence has chosen. She invites the commoners to the ball, and it's a success.

* Jaq is depressed that Cinderella doesn't spend as much time with him as she used to and has no need for his help in anything. The Fairy Godmother transforms him into a human, Some rubbish about anachronistic carnivals powered by electricity shows up here. Jaq ruins it, but then fixes it. He is then transformed back into a mouse.

* Anastasia meets the village baker and falls in love with him, much to Lady Tremaine's dismay. Cinderella finds out about this and tries to hook the two of them up together. Anastasia has doubts about defying her mother (again), but she decides to do so, anyway (again). She and the baker officially become a couple.

* The animals and the Fairy Godmother assemble a book about Cinderella's reign as a princess thus far and present it to her. Cinderella accepts graciously, thinking to herself that she'd much rather have a book made about the cool stuff that happened to her before she became princess.

The End

[Prudence]

That's basically it! You could perhaps include the events of the book My Perfect Wedding, but either Cinderella III changed -all- of that or the events happened at the speed of light.

[Disney Duster]

I've seen the movie! And I LOVE most of it!

Mabey this movie was made for the fans like Disney Duster who colud mak sense of all that is going on in this well developed sequel.

Thank you for saying that! To be honest, this whole film felt like a fan service, giving the original fans all kinds of things they wished to see, such as the Fairy Godmother's magic in the hands of evil, and the stepfamily getting punishment in the end (though I don't like that, and to be honest, I don't think Cinderella would really agree with giving "payback" to anyone)

A lot of people here asked why not use the wand to try more effective ways of doing away with Cinderella, like erase Cinderella's memories, well now we know that true love couldn't be meddled with, and the spell is breakable. Also, I doubt the wand could outright kill.

AladdinfromAgrabah and jediliz, can you tell us what the plot reminded you of, now?

* Cinderella runs into the Prince, but he doesn't recognize her. After touching her hand, familiarity begins to seep in, but Prudence takes Cinderella away for mouse-catching duties.

I checked the scene to make sure, and the Prince bends down to pick up Cinderella's catcher, but their hands are never shown touching. They could touch off-screen, but from what I understood it was merely looking into Cinderella's eyes that caused the familiarity. The fist hand-touch happens when Cinderella tries to tell the Prince he is under the spell.

* * Lady Tremaine and Drizella are turned back into humans (possibly because the spell ended at midnight).

I would like to know why you think this, because I'm very interested. If they were to turn into humans due to the spell ending at midnight, there's a flaw because the rest of the spells would have to end at midnight, and if that was the case, the two would have been in their original clothes, not work outfits. But you touched on a wonderful, and very good, idea. You see, I had a BIG problem with the ending, and I thought something much more fitting would have been if Cinderella and the Prince are cornered, and Lady Tremaine says, "I may not be able to destroy your love, but I can destroy your lives!!", and points the wand at them, but then every spell she cast that day ends at midnight, and all is fixed, except perhaps everyone remembers what happened.

Oh, and Disneykid, thanks for typing out that chronology. Nice notice of the palace clock revealing the times of day, and I never knew it was 3 a.m. when the Duke entered the King's bedchamber! Was that from the clock chiming just three times? Oh, and you really cracked me up with some of your comments in the retelling of the chronology. You're very funny.

[Disneykid]

Thanks for your comments, Disney Duster! Yeah, I got my chronology from the times the clock showed. Because we couldn't see the clock before the Duke approached the King, I went by the amount of rings. Seriously, if it weren't for you, I think I'd be the Cinderella expert around here. That actually WAS my favorite Disney film growing up, which I don't think I ever told you. It was also my first film ever, Disney or otherwise, I believe. Because of that, Cinderella resonates with me in a way that not even my beloved Alice quite captures. That also explains why my Cinderella posts are college-essay lengths, as evidenced below.

You're right about the Prince and Cinderella touching in that scene. It was hard to tell if their hands touched or not, but I can I'll edit my post to reflect this.

The midnight spell thing was something I meant to address in my concerns with Cinderella III over in the main thread, but forgot to do. I always wondered if any of Tremaine's spells had a time limit the way the Fairy Godmother's did. If so, then the efforts of all the characters (good or bad) would've been a waste. I know the credits scene with Tremaine and Drizella was meant to just be a slight gag, but looking at it from a literal point of view, the only other conclusion I can think of is that the Godmother turned them back per Cinderella's request (which now that I think about it, makes more sense).

I, too, didn't like how suddenly the climax was resolved. I can understand her simply trying to turn Anastasia into a toad since I doubt she'd do something seriously damaging to her own daughter (or would she...), but once Cinderella got involved, I felt Tremaine would've cast something more sinister. Afterall, she tried have the girl plunged off a cliff, for crying out loud. Now that she's going to take her of directly, she merely tries to turn her into an animal? I love your ending idea of everything dissolving at midnight right before she can cast her ultimate spell. The only thing with that is that you'd have to re-arrange the time the previous events took place so that the wedding climax can be at midnight. I suppose a good way would be to greatly extend the wedding. Instead of Tremaine just turning the guards into animals, she can do other disastrous things with the wand (I'd say try to destroy the church, but that might be stepping on too many toes). Either way, it just felt like build up, build up, build up, and then...ending. It's possible, though, that budget concerns might've factored into this. Frank Nissen did say the movie's so brief because they had a crunching deadline and small budget ($5 million, according to one source I read, which is shockingly little for today's standards).

[kurtadisneyite]

I suspect the $5 million you mentioned actually referred to Cinderella II - I believe IMDB lists that figure, and it's in line with what I have read elsewhere.

However, dvdmg.com claims in their review Cindy III cost $8 mil. If so, IMHO Disney was crazy to close Australia down - they were delivering good looking product on a __very__ reasonable budget!! The nice looking PETER PAN RETURN TO NEVERLAND , also made in Australia, came in around $20 million (and far, far below the Studio's other feature films).

The only other feature I know of in that price range that looks better than expected is HAPPILY EVER AFTER, the $4.5 million Filmation attempt to do a sequel for Snow White. What sank that one was a rather weak story, some occasionally weak animation, and kinda blah voice work.

[Aladdin from Agrabah]

AladdinfromAgrabah and jediliz, can you tell us what the plot reminded you of, now?

Well I don't know if we were thinking the same thing so I can only speak for myself. But isn't just SO obvious? I'm surprised that noone else mentioned it before! 2 Cinderellas; the daughter of the villain takes the place of the leading lady by changing her appearance to look like her in order to mary the prince! It's identical to "Swan Lake"- the original fairy tale- and Richard Rich's animated adaptation "The Swan Princess" (Columbia-Tristar). To me, it was like having 2 famous fairy tales in 1, which I didn't expect from Disney as Cinderella is so classical and unique to them.

[Super Aurora]

There is one problem I have with Lady Tremain. Her grudge against Cinderella.

It was never address either in this film or the original why Tremain hated Cinderella so much. It was almost similar to Malificant's evil as her puropse was pointless as well. Some of the other disney villian we were able see why they hate so and so etc. Tremain doesn't.

[Ariel'sprince]

It was never address either in this film or the original why Tremain hated Cinderella so much. It was almost similar to Malificant's evil as her puropse was pointless as well. Some of the other disney villian we were able see why they hate so and so etc. Tremain doesn't.

in the opeaning of the first film it's says that she's jealues of cinderella's beauty.

[Super Aurora]

It was never address either in this film or the original why Tremain hated Cinderella so much. It was almost similar to Malificant's evil as her puropse was pointless as well. Some of the other disney villian we were able see why they hate so and so etc. Tremain doesn't.

in the opeaning of the first film it's says that she's jealues of cinderella's beauty.

Oh I see. Forgot That.....wait That's just like Snow White then.....

[tsom]

Disney Duster, I'm surprised you didn't know that the scene with the Grand Duke and the King after the ball was at 3 a.m.

I only have two questions about the events in the first movie. I always thought that after the first 20 minutes of the first film, time passes by. I don't think the first half of the movie happened in one day. The reason why is because I don't think Gus would have been making a dress for Cinderella the same day he moved into the house. I know I wouldn't labor myself for someone I just met. I think maybe a week or two passes before the scene with the King planning to throw a ball.

The second is I don't think Cinderella and the Prince got married the same day Cinderella tried on the slipper. I'm sure it might have probably taken a month or so because the King would have wanted a BIG wedding and it takes time to plan things like that.

As for Lady Tremaine's grudge on Cinderella, well she is jealous of her beauty. What I don't understand is why would a grown woman be jealous of a child's beauty and that jealousy is still there after an approximate ten years. I understand Cinderella's looks made Drizella and Anastasia appear plain, but that's just too long to hold a grudge. Didn't she have anything better to do?

Personally, I would have loved a detailed storybook about Cinderella's earlier years. Such as her life with her father, how she met her stepfamily, their lives together before her father's death, the death of her father, and how she became a servant. I think that would be really interesting.

[kurtadisneyite]

From what I remember of C-1, the only places one could have a huge time lapse between events are between the times of:
1. the king ordering the duke, to send invitations out to where Lady Tremaine is giving her daughters a music lesson,
2. king orders the duke to search the kingdom for the slipper, to scene of people reading the proclamation.
3. Mice outside Cindy's locked door saying they have to get the key back, to where the duke actually appears at the house.
4. When the slipper is fitted, to the wedding scene.

The whole issue of Lady Tremaine's anger of Cindy was well defined in C-1 ("Cold, Cruel, and bitterly jealous of Cinderella's charm and beauty, she (Tremaine) was grimly determined to forward the interests of her own two awkward daughtors" - from C1 narration as best I can remember). That jealousy gets beefed up by the revenge motive in C-3 to the point where Tremaine finally goes for outright murder of Cinderella (putting her right up there with Maleficient who planned to murder Aurora by magic curse).

But note that Tremaine's efforts build up... Tremaine first orders Cindy to forget the dance , then contrives to put Cindy on a boat to sail away, then plans to kill Cindy.

Meanwhile, there are other versions of Cinderella story out there that do go into some of the details of what happened to Cinderella's mother and father. Some say he was lost at sea, others have Cindy's father alive (but in the background) the whole time, still others have first the mother, then the father passing away while Cindy is young. In all European versions I've seen, he seems well to do.

If C-III, and the recent merchandising of Princess Babies and Princesses as children (toy stores are flooded with the latter) sell like gangbusters, I expect we __will__ see various episodes and stories produced relating to those Princesses as children (probably not as babies, though).

[Disneykid]

I only have two questions about the events in the first movie. I always thought that after the first 20 minutes of the first film, time passes by. I don't think the first half of the movie happened in one day. The reason why is because I don't think Gus would have been making a dress for Cinderella the same day he moved into the house. I know I wouldn't labor myself for someone I just met. I think maybe a week or two passes before the scene with the King planning to throw a ball.

The second is I don't think Cinderella and the Prince got married the same day Cinderella tried on the slipper. I'm sure it might have probably taken a month or so because the King would have wanted a BIG wedding and it takes time to plan things like that.

Well, it's possible that the scene where Tremaine punishes Cinderella and the scene with the Duke and King have time passing inbetween them, but for some reason I doubt that. The rest of the movie pre-wedding takes place consecutively within 24 hours. It'd seem strange to me to have a time lapse like that because it'd make the story's timeline uneven. It makes more sense for me to have the prologue of Cinderella's childhood, the main body of the film which all takes place in 24 hours, and the epilogue with the wedding. Your theory is still possible, though. If only there was an official script.

As for the wedding, I kinda agree with you. I figured it'd be too much of an event to prepare and have just a couple of hours after Cindy is found, which is why I put the question mark there in my timeline.

[lord-of-sith]

Nice time line Disneykid!

I really liked this movie! My favorite of the DTV sequels! And, like others have stated, my only gripe is the anti-climactic ending. I'm not really sure they could have had a really decent ending based on the build up they had for it, but it could have been a touch longer.

And, of course, I'm glad Lady Tremaine finally got her chance to shine in this film after being given all of five minutes in Cindy 2 *shudders*

[Ariel'sprince]

in the opeaning of the first film it's says that she's jealues of cinderella's beauty.

Oh I see. Forgot That.....wait That's just like Snow White then.....

i was thinking on snow white too,and i agree with tsom,why she sould be jealues in cinderella's look? it's make much more sense if anstasia or drezilla will be jealues beacause of that,but her?.
and by the way super aurora-is that colossus in your image?.

[MagicMirror]

Nice time line Disneykid!
And, of course, I'm glad Lady Tremaine finally got her chance to shine in this film after being given all of five minutes in Cindy 2 *shudders*

I think, in a way, it's a blessing that she didn't play a major role in that film.



Lady Tremaine wasn't jealous of Cinderella's beauty over her own (like the Queen); she was jealous that Cinderella made her own daughters seem awkward and ugly. In reality, they would be awkward and ugly if they stood next to a horse's rear end, but you know what they say: they have faces only a mother, albeit an evil one, could love.
Lady Tremaine gets fixated on this one thing and thus becomes more and more bitter. The same sort of thing happens to Cruella and the Queen; Disney villainesses are often fixated on a single thing, and nothing else matters.

[Super Aurora]

[and by the way super aurora-is that colossus in your image?.

My Avatar? No that's Guts from the manga called Berserk. Possibly one of the best series I've ever read. Though it's extremely graphic in violence and sex. Despite that the story is mind blowning. takes place in medievel/reniessance time

[darth_deetoo]

Just got the UK edition of this today, and it's interesting to see that it isn't just the cover that's lost the Cinderella III title. The film itself is just called Cinderella : A Twist in Time in the UK, so we truly can consign Cinderella II to limbo if we choose.

I really enjoyed the film. It builds to a climax halfway through, and then takes a new twist which I found really effective.

I think it's one of the best sequels so far, and it should win over even the most ardent sequel haters.

Sadly the UK edition has lost the featurette on the stage show, and we're just left with some games, a music video and a few sneak peeks - one of which was Jungle Book - and a new 15th Anniversary Disneyland Paris trail.

But I really enjoyed the film, and can see myself coming back to this again and again.

[Ariel'sprince]

My Avatar? No that's Guts from the manga called Berserk

yeah,your avatar,i thougth it was colossus from x men.

[Disney Duster]

As promised, I finally put up the end synopsis and pictures!
THE SUMMARY AND PICTURES IN THE FIRST POST ARE COMPLETED!!!!!!!

Disneykid, I'm really happy you like my idea, because your opinion matters to quite a lot. I had no idea Cinderella was at one time your favorite Disney movie, but that would explain the long writing about it. When did Alice coem on top? Had you never seen it until then? Anyway, I'll be discussing possible better endings later, as I work on my critique of the film. Right now we have to enjoy the movie as it is, I think I'm a little too quick to pick at it. I really do like it overall. But, you're so right, trying to kill Cinderella would be more logical, she could have aimed the spell just at her, I'm sure... Budget could have had to do with it, as you said, which a more acceptable reason than they just couldn't think of something better...

Aladdin from Agrabah, OMG! I was thinking of The Swan Princess when it came to the cloning! Oh well, if you think about, it was almost unavoidable, and naturally the next step, because in a way, Anastasia was slowly being turned into Cinderella, starting with the slipper, then the Prince's love...it was just a matter of time, and a logical idea to follow up everything that had been tried by Tremaine.

[supertalies]

As promised, I finally put up the end synopsis and pictures!
THE SUMMARY AND PICTURES IN THE FIRST POST ARE COMPLETED!!!!!!!

Thank you
very kind of you!!!
HAPPY late VALENTINE!!!