A new version of the classic fairytale Cinderella has just been given the Disney treatment, and will be released nationwide on Friday. But will the movie continue the House of Mouse's run of success and leave Disney living happy every after?
The Picture Show's Philip Molloy will be live in studio on this evening's Right Hook, offering his take on Cinderella's comeback, and the X-Files' one as well.
Cinderella, the latest installment of Disney's fairy tale-centric focus on live-action storytelling, opened to critical and financial success upon its release in the US last week and is coming to our shores this Friday.
The film was quickly announced following the enormous box-office return of last year's Maleficent; a re-imagining of the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. In the interim, viewers have also been offered the spectacle Into the Woods, an adaptation from Stephen Sondheim's Broadway musical, which also became a critical and commercial success.
Noticeably negative media hype surrounds the conservative and familiar feminine politics of Cinderella's heroine, whose waist size became the topic of heated discussion. Branagh's Cinderella incorporates more elements of the 1950s predecessor archetype at the expense of creating modern Disney princesses.
The infamous Cinderella waist [Disney.wikia.com]
Lily James, who plays the titular character, seems unaware of the film's conservative elements, having deemed the media focus on her waist "irrelevant" in comparison to the stunning visuals and scenery. However, James is no stranger to stepping into tight-fitting corsets and ballroom gowns, having played Rose MacClare in Downton Abbey and Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, due for release later this year.
Lily James as Lady Rose MacClare in Downton Abbey [Sporkle.com]
Surprisingly, this updated version of the classic tale revisits a regressive feminine character following Disney's efforts to reverse its past predilection with damsels in distress and unrealistic animations of the female figure. Such efforts include Merida from Brave in 2012 and Elsa from 2013's Frozen.
However, Lily James' dismissing the importance of her waist in the film is reminiscent of a whole new wave of feminism that celebrates thin female physique as well as large. The media blasting her tiny waist for fear of its influence on impressionable young women also discriminates against naturally thin women, which contradicts the point of Disney's central concern; avoiding social exclusion among girls.
Arguably, the array of characters in the past that have been animated to accentuate the hourglass figure of a woman have not yet been balanced by characters of realistic build in the Disney world, however animation itself often manipulates the human body to fit its whimsical childlike appeal. But because of this instance in live-action Disney, a particular focus on James' body rather than her character's personality has set off a pop culture time-bomb that concerned parents and liberal millennials will undoubtedly dismantle.
Get a closer look at how they get those corsets so tight here:
The issue with adapting classic Disney princesses for modern audiences lies in the possible characterisation differences that may arise. The film borrows heavily from the animated 1950 film Cinderella, whose eponymous figure is supposed to be the pinnacle of innocence, charm and beauty. When that translates into 'naive', 'old-fashioned' and 'unrealistic' in 2015, the blame cannot lie with Branagh, as changes to the character making her independent, feisty and modern would no longer make the character Cinderella.
Although the film has not yet been released in Ireland, the media atmosphere surrounding the film from the US has body-conscious parents hesitant to take their children to see it. However, children are more adept and aware of their pop culture surroundings to be negatively influenced by one Disney film alone, and Branagh's Cinderella promises this with its visual marvels and set designs to distract younger children.
Richard Madden as Prince Charming and Lily James as Cinderella [Swide.com]
This is not Branagh's first attempt at adapting a classic. His first foray into modern re-telling came with Henry V in 1989, and he further showed his tendency to faithfully adapt with Hamlet in 1996, currently the only film version of Hamlet to directly quote the 'complete' Shakespearean play, so it is no surprise that Cinderella will be very loyal to the 1950 version.
You can gain your own opinion of Lily James' portrayal of the iconic character when Cinderella is released in Ireland on Friday, March 27th.
