Ever After And Cinderella Essay, Research Paper

When most people think of the movie, ?Cinderella?, they think of the

animated Disney version with the little mice and the happy ending where

Cinderella marries the prince and they live happily ever after. While the movie

?Ever After? is based on ?Cinderella?, it is not animated, but still has

many of the same characteristics as the Disney version. Of course it is not

exactly the same, and since it is not animated there are many differences. In

?Ever After?, Drew Barrymore portrays the character Cinderella, who in the

beginning of this movie is called Danielle. In the very beginning, it shows how

Danielle?s father died and how she went off to live with her wicked stepmother

and stepsisters. In ?Cinderella?, both of the stepsisters are wicked, but in

?Ever After?, her sister Jacqueline is not so wicked and usually sides with

Danielle. In ?Ever After?, Jacqueline is the not so pretty and quiet sister

and Marguerite is the loud obnoxious pretty one. One similarity is that in both

movies, Cinderella and Danielle are servants to their stepmother and

stepsisters. They are also not allowed to eat with them, only serve them. In

?Ever After?, Danielle?s only friends are the other servants of the house,

this is similar to how Cinderella is friends with the mice that live in her

house. In both cases their friends are always protective and willing to help. In

?Cinderella?, Cinderella doesn?t meet the prince before the ball, she

doesn?t even really expect to be going to the ball. In ?Ever After?,

Danielle meets the prince in a confrontation where the prince was actually

stealing one of their horses. Danielle starts pegging him with apples, but just

as she realizes that he is the prince, she kneels down before him. She

apologizes, but the prince is lenient and says he will not punish her. He also

gives her money to keep quiet about the whole situation. In ?Ever After?,

Danielle repeatedly bumps into the prince. Whenever she does meet up with him,

she makes sure she is dressed like a courtier, so he doesn?t think that she is

a servant. They start to fall for each other and they spend more and more time

together. In ?Cinderella?, the stepmother tries to make sure that one of her

daughters is chosen for a wife by the prince at the ball. At first she tells

Cinderella that she can go also even though it?s obvious that she doesn?t

want her to go, the same is true in both movies. In ?Ever After?, the

stepmother feels that her daughter Marguerite is prettier and more worthy of the

crown, so she puts more effort into trying to get the prince to chose her.

Before the ball, Marguerite kisses up to the royal family to reassure that she

gets chosen. In ?Cinderella?, the ball is held so the prince can get to know

the young women of the town, and to see if he will be able to find a suitable

wife. In ?Ever After?, Danielle?s stepmother tells the queen that Danielle

has left and she will be getting married to a Swedish man, when really she was

locked up for fighting with Marguerite. Henry, the prince gave up on Danielle

and his only other choice was Marguerite. The ball is actually held to announce

that the prince will be marrying Marguerite. Just as everyone leaves the house

for the ball, the servants rush to help Danielle out of the locked room.

?Cinderella? is similar where the mice work frantically to help Cinderella.

The mice help make the dress for her so she has something to wear to the ball.

In ?Ever After?, Danielle has her real mother?s wedding dress and shoes

that she planned on wearing to the ball. Meanwhile, at the ball, the royal

family is just about to announce their sons engagement to Marguerite when

Danielle walks in. Henry, the prince, sees Danielle from across the room. He

tells his father to stop everything. His plans have changed and he announces

that he will marry Danielle. Just as he does this, her wicked stepmother

interrupts and explains that Danielle is only one of her servants. The prince

decides that he will not marry a servant. At the end of the ball it is still

undecided for whom the prince will marry. In ?Cinderella?, Cinderella

arrives at the ball, and immediately is spotted by the prince. They dance

throughout the night and get to know one another. The prince decides that

Cinderella is his match. When the clock strikes twelve o?clock, Cinderella

rushes out to get home before her beautiful dress and coach turn back into rags

and a pumpkin. In both movies a shoe is left behind and is given back to the

prince. In ?Cinderella?, the prince has his men go all throughout the town

looking for the young woman whose foot fits the glass slipper. He has no idea

what her name is or where she has come from. The men finally discover that

Cinderella is the maiden whose foot fits. The prince declared that whomever it

fits will become his wife. In ?Ever After?, the prince decides that he has

made a big mistake in changing his mind against Danielle. He takes the slipper

and goes out on a mission to find her. Danielle?s stepmother had sold Danielle

to one of the dirty old men of the town to be his servant. Danielle fights for

her freedom and just as she is about to slit the man with a sword, he decides

he?d rather let her go than die. Henry eventually finds Danielle and

apologizes to her. After they clear up the whole situation, Henry tells Danielle

that he wants to have her for his wife. She accepts his apology and they decide

to get married. At the end of ?Cinderella?, the prince and Cinderella live

happily ever after. In the end of ?Ever After?, the wicked stepmother is

called to the palace. She doesn?t know that Danielle and the prince are

married. The king and queen question the stepmother of lying to the queen. They

tell her that if she doesn?t tell the truth, she will be killed. She confesses

that she lied to the queen about Danielle. Just then Danielle comes in dressed

as the princess she has become, and her stepmother kneels before her. The only

punishment that she gives her is the punishment that she had to go through

herself as a servant. The stepmother and Marguerite are brought down to the

washroom and they are put to work. Jacqueline the other sister is not punished

because her innocence had been noted. Of course ?Ever After? is a little bit

more realistic because it is more like real life. ?Cinderella? is animated

and there is a lot more make believe, such as talking mice. ?Cinderella? is

also probably aimed at more of a younger audience and ?Ever After? can

appeal to a little bit older crowd. ?Cinderella? is one of my all time

favorite movies, and know that I?ve seen ?Ever After?, it ranks right up

there with ?Cinderella?.