The 1997 Live-Action Movie You Forgot Existed

A classic of fairy tales, the story of Cinderella became popular after the French author Charles Perrault write his version of the plot and publish it in the work “Contos da Mamãe Gansa”, released in 1697, featuring the title character who, after the death of his father, starts to serve his stepmother and half-sisters, doing all the domestic work alone .

In the plot, Cinderella never loses hope of one day being free and sees her life change after secretly going to a ball with the help of a fairy godmother, where she meets the prince she would marry. This is because the heir to the throne begins a search for her in the kingdom without even knowing her name, finding her through the only thing she left behind: her glass slipper.

The story gained even more admirers when it was turned into an animation, which, when directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske and produced by Disney, debuting in theaters in 1950, reached new audiences, allowing different generations of children to get to know the princess who became everyone’s favorite. Walt Disney.

More than the animated version, there are also live-action versions. At Disneythe most recent version is the one released in 2015, where the actress lily james (Mamma Mia!) brings the character to life, even though there is an older one, released in 1997.

The live-action Cinderella movie you forgot existed

The feature film in question is ‘Cinderella’, also known as ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella’, a television film directed by the filmmaker Robert Iscovebased on the Broadway musical of the same name that was inspired by the fable of the same name by Perrault.

With songs such as “Impossible”, “Ten Minutes Ago” and “A Lovely Night”, in this title, the princess was played by the American composer, model and actress Brandy Norwoodwhich, with its selection, brought a historic milestone to the trajectory of the company created by Walt Disneyas it became the first time that Disney featured a black princess in its live-action productions.

Furthermore, the film stands out for the diversity of the cast, which in addition to norwoodalso has Whoopi Goldberg (Queen Constantina), Whitney Houston (Fairy Godmother), Bernadette Peters (Stepmother), Veanne Cox (half-sister Celiope), Natalie Desselle (half-sister Minerva) Paolo Montalbán (Prince Christopher Rüber), Jason Alexander (Lionel, butler), and Victor Garber (King Maximillian).

It is also worth mentioning that the plot, which features Whitney Houston, Debra Martin Chase, Craig Zadan It is Neil Meron as producers, it is critically acclaimed, receiving seven Emmy nominations, an award that recognizes and honors television programs and professionals, where the film won in the Art Direction for Variety or Music Program category.

The film became part of the Disney+ catalog in 2021.