Techtite's DVD Reviews!

"These totally mismatched stories, I would guess, were originally part of a rejected Saturday Morning cartoon concept, 3 episodes of which have been re-edited to sell as a "movie" on video. The trouble is, if these stories resemble animation unworthy for a Saturday Morning Cartoon series, how good are they for an alleged "sequel" video, to a classic Disney fairy tale?"

---from the review

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 Is Disney spreading its Pixie Dust too thin...? How long can Disney's television animation dept. ride on the coattails of superior classic films, before people start screaming at the top of their lungs, "Release the classic films, not el cheapo 'sequels'...!" I mean, Lady & the Tramp 2 was acceptable, though if it wasn't released closely to the original film (which was offered on DVD in limited release), then the sequel would've seemed even more worthless. Likewise for this Cinderella sequel, when nothing could compare to the original classic available on DVD.

 A better sequel story...? The truth is, even if as badly animated, a Cinderella sequel with the proper storyline could've been a sure-sell. What if, for example, Cinderella's daughter was taken when she was quite young, and raised to never know her royal lineage? While this type of fairy tale was already done --in a video game!-- via the Sierra On-line classic, King's Quest III: To Heir is Human, it's still a better plot device than these three inconsistent, irrelevant stories.

"Ugly Stepsister"...? No problem. "EVIL stepsister"...? PROBLEM! Disney is being very P.C. lately, making even a TV movie for March about "The Ugly Stepsister" falling in love. Excuuuuuse me, fellas, though this was not any mere "ugly" stepsister to force feed your "ugly people need love too" moral. This is the woman who treated Cinderella --her own stepSISTER-- like a SLAVE, tore her original dress to the ball to shreds and let dear ol' mum lock her in the tower so she couldn't be fit with the slipper they all KNEW was really hers. Does she deserve love too...? Not until she at the very very least comes up to Cinderella and says, "I'm so, very, very, VERRRRY sorry!!!" Until then, I'd just as soon see her mop the floors in Cindy's absence. Serves her right!

"Cinderella 2:

Dreams DO Come True!"

Click picture to order this DVD

Also Available On VHS: Click this link to order: Cinderella II - Dreams DO Come True

A Techtite Review

The Film : How do you know if your Disney-loving friend's thumbs-up for the latest Disney cartoon is either the opinion of a biased  fanatic, or that of a lover of quality family entertainment? Answer: ask them what they thought of Cinderella ][: Dreams Come True. While Disney has been very permissive in letting its TV-cartoon studio make its modern classics into lackluster direct-to-video sequels, it was unavoidable that someday they would bite off more than they could chew. The end result is a project that could've been so much more --actually, quite easily-- yet seems to have been hastily made into so much less.

The story begins with the mice Jaq and Gus on their way to the fairy godmother, so she can read to them the Cinderella story. Um...guys? You were part of the Cinderella story! You lived it! I'd call this a major slap in the face for a mouse's attention span, though this is actually just a means to get Jaq, Gus, the other mice, and the Fairy Godmother to reminisce about what happened after the original film's events. The credits, FYI, refer to these narrations as the "interstitial sequences"; i.e., the "glue" that splices three 22 minute short stories into one "feature length" film. These totally mismatched stories, I would guess, were originally part of a rejected Saturday Morning cartoon concept, 3 episodes of which have been re-edited to sell as a "movie" on video. The trouble is, if these stories resemble animation unworthy for a Saturday Morning Cartoon series, how good are they for an alleged "sequel" video, to a classic Disney fairy tale?

The first story, subtitled in the credits as "Aim To Please," takes place soon after Cinderella and Prince Charming's honeymoon. This is too soon for Cinderella to have kids --a plot device that made Little Mermaid 2 and Lady & the Tramp 2 far better-- which is the first of many mistakes for this video. The second comes soon after you hear Cinderella's voice, which sounds not only nothing like her original film character, though also a bit immature. Oddly enough, this is intentional;  Cinderella --or so this sequel wants you to believe-- knows nothing about politeness and etiquette, so it is up to a new (and very weak) character, Prudence, to teach her manners. Gee, kids, doesn't that sound like fun? While Cinderella was the belle of the ball back in her glass slipper days, now she suddenly has a problem with "stuffy" royal ways. Huh...?!? While I can respect the "be yourself" and "be open to new ideas" morals here, they are offered in a way that is heavy-handed at best and inconceivable at worst. I also like the thought of Cinderella choosing her own music for her own royal balls, but hearing modern country music played at a medieval royal ball is going a bit too far, don't you think?

At least this first story is about Cinderella, though soon even that will change. In just 24 minutes, the film suddenly pans to the mouse, Jaq, effectively reducing Cinderella to mere cameo appearances for the rest of the entire film(!). In this second story, Jaq wants to be human so he can be a better friend to Cinderella than just her mouse-friend. It's a typical story, with an even more typical subtitle in the credits ("A Tall Tail"), though it's still a bit cute, and provides the singular compliment I can make for this entire film. In fact, it just barely wasn't enough to save this video from Techtite.com's dreaded "burnout" rating. Leave it to a mouse to improve this film's entire value. Mickey would be very proud.

Here's where things drop from "bad" to...did these story writers even watch the original film?!? Just look at final story --"An Uncommon Romance"-- involving Cinderella's stepsister, Anastasia, who is no longer evil and conniving; now she's simply "clumsy and plain." Even if this subplot wasn't totally ripped off from the 1998 film, Ever After --when Cinderella (Drew Barrymore) received help from the nicer of her two step-siblings-- it's a story that has no place in a sequel to the original Disney story. In Ever After, this story arc made sense, because that stepsister did nothing mean to Cinderella at all, and simply lacked the confidence to protect Cinderella from her evil stepmother (Angelica Houston). This story arc cannot be sensibly adapted into the classic Disney tale, since these stepsisters weren't just "ugly stepsisters"; they were EVIL, cruel, heartless stepsisters. They treated Cinderella like their own personal slave, tore Cinderella's beautiful gown --made as a gift by her animal friends-- to shreds, and when they had every clue that she was the true love of the prince, they saw no reason to not let their mother lock her in the tower so he'd never find her. Sorry; just because you re-cast Anastasia's voice as that of Tress Macneille --best known as the lovable Warner Sister "Dot" on TV's Animaniacs-- doesn't make this stepsister a "good guy." What's worse, this lackluster love story is the intended finale of the film...which was supposed to be about Cinderella!

What was the distinguishing flaw, that made this project so...bad? That's a good question. Perhaps it's the way this video paints Cinderella's evil stepsister, Anastasia, as a quasi-heroine. Maybe it's how the film makes her story the love story, and Cinderella's the "Oh gee, I didn't know being royal would be so hard" story. Maybe it's the laughable implausibility of how Lucifer --with no rhyme, reason, nor explanation-- is alive and well after falling out that tower window onto the pavement below. Perhaps the biggest mistake of them all, however, is that Disney DVD should've taken the time to make a Cinderella 1 collector's edition DVD, a la Snow White's DVD last year, and nixed the idea of this "sequel" entirely.

The animation isn't even as good when compared to other video "sequels," like Little Mermaid 2 and Lady & the Tramp 2. While those films had their moments of impressive animation standards (for video, anyway), this feature seems more than a bit rushed. The exquisite, flawless animation of the original --remember the scene when a singing Cinderella could be seen in each of the soap bubbles, as they floated through the air?-- is now replaced with banal, mono-colored characters with no sense of shadowing or texture...and therefore, no substance. I know people think that if it comes from Disney, it has to be good, though in this case, I've seen much better...and Disney should've known better.

The DVD : While Disney's DVD department can only work with what they're given, they know how to add some nice extras for the kids. Though there's no audio commentary track for parents, there is a nice on-screen storybook for the little ones in your family. In addition, "Cinderella's Enchanted Castle" is a short game playable right on your standard DVD player, where helping Cinderella around the house is rewarded with clips from the film. In addition, owners of DVD-ROM drives on their PCs can play a "Cinderella's Dollhouse" program, formerly only for purchase separately. Lastly, while I only liked one of the four songs in the whole film, there is a behind the scenes featurette of "Musical Magic," plus a Music Video of the most tolerable new song, "Put it Together." Aside from all this, there are trailers for upcoming DVDs, including Hunchback of Notre Dame ][, and (HOORAY!) a DVD of Beauty & the Beast. If mere trailers and music videos don't appeal to you, however, don't worry about just renting or owning the VHS version.

Click picture to order this DVD

Also Available On VHS: Click this link to order: Cinderella II - Dreams DO Come True

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