Darkside Disney Princesses: Cinderella
(Trigger warning for well, murder. This one gets kinda dark...)
In trying to work out a turning point for Cinderella I kept thinking it had to be at the moment after her dress is destroyed, when she's at her lowest point. But of course that's when the Fairy Godmother comes in, and it felt sort of cheap to say "well the Fairy Godmother just doesn't show up" cuz why wouldn't she? What would stop her?
And then I had the thought of Cinderella 3. Where the Fairy Godmother has been stopped, and can't come to fix anything.
And Cinderella 3 already falls into a very prevalent fairytale trope of the step-sister assuming the heroine's form and place, often by either turing the heroine into a different form--or outright doing away with her. And the Stepmother seemed pretty set on the latter with trying to send Cinderella over the cliff in that twisted pumpkin coach.
And in the Darkside verse, she succeeds. The mice fail to rescue Cinderella, and the coach goes over. Anastasia tries to back out still, but without Cinderella showing up to spoil the ruse and back her up in facing Lady Tremaine she's quickly bullied back into place by her mother, and marries the Prince in Cinderella's form. The Royal family is bespelled once more to keep them complacent and gain Lady Tremaine even greater power.
But these types of Cinderella tales never end with the stepfamily escaping the price of their evil deeds, and neither does this one.
A year to the day of her untimely end, a restless spirit breaks free of her unmarked resting place. A spirit of flame and fury, wreath about in the vines of the couch that carried her to her doom.
There is to be a ball that night, celebrating the Prince and Princess' one year anniversary, a magnificent affair, and all are invited to attend. Though no one is expecting this particular guest, and by the nights end, those left standing will never be able to forget her...
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Thinking of the Disney Cinderella Timeline
Here's how I think the Cinderella Disney animated movies are supposed to be viewed -- or basically, how it might have happened in linear time in the Disney Cinderella universe:
First, there's "Cinderella", of course. The one where she meets the Fairy Godmother for the first time and gets a lovely gown and glass slippers to go to a ball.
Then it's Cinderella 2's story "Aim to Please". And it makes sense, as it's clearly stated that the Prince and Cinderella have just returned to the palace after their marriage -- the marriage that happened at the end of the first movie -- before the Prince is whisked off by his father to attend to "Important Matters Of State". So of course that's what happened next.
After that, I'm guessing that "Tall Tail" happened sometime the same year Cinderella started taking over Princess Duties.
Because she says, "We sure have a lot of parties around here," indicating that the Banquet she dealt with in "Aim to Please" was likely not too far in the past. Or else, she's had a lot of parties to plan since then.
Now the next story is what is important. I think "Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time" happened next, not "An Uncommon Romance".
And then, after what happened in "A Twist in Time", with Anastasia not giving in to Lady Tremaine's scheme in the end, and the Prince and Cinderella marrying again, and them continuing to live their lives again...
After all that is likely when "An Uncommon Romance" happened.
So the actual order is: Cinderella, Aim to Please, Tall Tail, A Twist in Time, and An Uncommon Romance.
Let me justify this idea:
First of all, in Cinderella 2, the mice were bringing up random stories they remembered. Except for the first story, where it's clearly stated that it happened right after the married couple returned and Cinderella was officially a princess, the other 2 stories could have happened at any time at all. (We don't know when the mice are writing these stories, after all. How many years it's been, or how much time has passed. We only know that they're writing stuff that's already happened.)
Secondly, look at the state of Cinderella's old house in "A Twist in Time". It's awful and the stepsisters are basically given the tasks of cleaning the large house.
And this actually fits with the first movie, which mentions at the beginning that the chateau was falling into disrepair as Lady Tremaine squandered all their riches on Anastasia and Drizella.
Basically, Cinderella being a servant was all that was keeping the house together. And after she left with the Prince, the state of the house obviously got worse.
But look at how the house looks in "An Uncommon Romance".
I didn't notice this the first time I watched Cinderella 2. But I certainly noticed after watching Cinderella 3.
But, the house falling into a further bad state makes sense since the house was already not maintained by anyone other than Cinderella at the very beginning of her story.
So here's my theory:
After Cinderella was taken to the palace by the Grand Duke, she likely put her family right out of her mind. And that makes sense. She's not vindictive at all. But after being treated as she was, keeping them far away from her and never turning in their direction again makes sense. If nothing else, she lays no claim to her house even though it was rightfully hers and she has been maintaining it for years. She just leaves them be and never interacts with them again.
But after the events of "A Twist in Time", while Lady Tremaine is a world-class b**** and horror, Cinderella, with her kind heart, and perfectly aware of how awful Lady Tremaine can be, likey decided that paying for the house's upkeep and inviting her stepsisters to balls might be necessary.
For one, she likely feels sorry for Anastasia, while also understanding how much courage it must have taken her to go against her mother. She also likely figured that Drizella was in the same position as Anastasia, even if she didn't show it or realize it. Finally, after Anastasia defied her mother in such a way, keeping an eye on them in general might have been necessary to ensure that she didn't mistreat Anastasia.
So, as generous as she is, Cinderella likely put aside her step-family's awful treatment of her to help her step-sisters (and to also likely keep an eye on her step-mother too).
This is further supported by the fact that, in "An Uncommon Romance", Anastasia has a music box with a couple that looks like the Prince and Cinderella. I doubt Lady Tremaine, as vindictive, malicious, and jealous as she is, would have let her have that -- unless she was now living under Cinderella's power.
Lady Tremaine even mentions them going to Cinderella's Ball. Yet another thing I doubt she would have let her daughters go to -- unless snubbing Cinderella that way would be pointedly "not good" for her.
Yet another point was how, when Lady Tremaine finds Anastasia and the Baker together, while berating her and also manipulating her by saying that she only has her best interests at heart, she says nothing more when Anastasia declares that she is going to Cinderella's ball together with the Baker. No declarations of disowning her. No further manipulations or arguments or forbiddances. Like mentioning Cinderella's name and her ball left her with no option but to stalk away while just ordering Drizella to come with her. Like the only thing she could do now was to assert control over the one remaining daughter she still could control.
Very different from the woman in "A Twist in Time" who spelled the Prince's memories when he recognized that Anastasia was not the girl he had danced with at the ball.
Very different from the woman who sent spells right and left when Anastasia refused to marry the Prince in the end.
Rather, she held back probably because she knew she would land in hot water if she tried anything. Something was likely holding her in check: The fact that she was basically under probation and lucky to roam free now after attempting treason and murder in Cinderella 3.
Anastasia's reaction is also telling: She is cowed and sad as her mother and Drizella berate her. But the moment her mother says, in a seemingly kind way, that she only has her best interests at heart, it's like a switch flips in Anastasia. And that's when she declares she's wrong and that she IS going to go with the Baker whether she likes it or not.
It wouldn't be surprising if Anastasia heard her having "her best interests at heart" and remembered how her mother had tried to turn the wand on her when she had not married the Prince and instead said that she wanted someone to love her for herself.
And that, in fact, it was Cinderella who had stood up for her to protect her, and the Prince who had deflected the spell to protect Cinderella.
And finally, at the end of "A Twist in Time", the credits scene almost immediately shows the Baker meeting Anastasia. Which we know happens in "An Uncommon Romance". So "An Uncommon Romance" likely happens after the events of "A Twist in Time".
[ On another note, it really is more poignant when Anastasia tells Cinderella at the end of An Uncommon Romance, "Oh, thank you, thank you! I never dreamed I could be this happy!" and hugs her half-sobbing. Because, in A Twist in Time, she tells Cinderella, "I want what you had," and then, at the end, desperately tells her mother, "I want someone who loves me for me." And Anastasia gets that here. :) ]
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