Poor Cinderella
Encyclopedia
Poor Cinderella is a 1934 Fleischer Studio animated short film featuring Betty Boop
. The first entry in the Color Classics
series, Poor Cinderella was Fleischer Studio's first color film, and the only appearance of Betty Boop in color during the Fleischer era.
story, Betty is the title character, a poor young woman forced to be the virtual slave of her two ugly stepsisters. Betty/Cinderella is visited by her fairy godmother, who grants her wish to attend the prince's ball, giving her beautiful clothes, a carriage, and the traditional glass slippers. When midnight strikes, she rushes out of the ball, leaving behind her shoe. The prince searches the land for the woman whose foot fits the slipper, and finds his "poor Cinderella." The two are married, and the ugly stepsisters are left to argue with each other until the credits smack their heads together.
process, because Walt Disney
had exclusive rights to the new 3-strip Technicolor
process from 1932 to 1935. Betty's hair was colored red to take advantage of this. The short also used Fleischer Studio's Tabletop
process, in order to provide some scenes with additional depth of field. Along with many of the other Color Classics, Poor Cinderella is today in the public domain
and can be freely downloaded from the Internet Archive
, among other locations.
Rudy Vallee
appears in caricature, singing the title song during the ball sequence and was second singer to appear in a cartoon (the first was Paul Whiteman
who was caricatured in two Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
cartoons).
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...
. The first entry in the Color Classics
Color Classics
Color Classics were a series of animated short subjects produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies. As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in color, with the first entry in the series, Poor Cinderella, being the...
series, Poor Cinderella was Fleischer Studio's first color film, and the only appearance of Betty Boop in color during the Fleischer era.
Synopsis
In this retelling of the CinderellaCinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
story, Betty is the title character, a poor young woman forced to be the virtual slave of her two ugly stepsisters. Betty/Cinderella is visited by her fairy godmother, who grants her wish to attend the prince's ball, giving her beautiful clothes, a carriage, and the traditional glass slippers. When midnight strikes, she rushes out of the ball, leaving behind her shoe. The prince searches the land for the woman whose foot fits the slipper, and finds his "poor Cinderella." The two are married, and the ugly stepsisters are left to argue with each other until the credits smack their heads together.
Background
The short was made in the two-strip CinecolorCinecolor
Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two color film process, based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel and Alan M...
process, because Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
had exclusive rights to the new 3-strip Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
process from 1932 to 1935. Betty's hair was colored red to take advantage of this. The short also used Fleischer Studio's Tabletop
Multiplane camera
The multiplane camera is a special motion picture camera used in the traditional animation process that moves a number of pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and at various distances from one another...
process, in order to provide some scenes with additional depth of field. Along with many of the other Color Classics, Poor Cinderella is today in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
and can be freely downloaded from the Internet Archive
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
, among other locations.
Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
appears in caricature, singing the title song during the ball sequence and was second singer to appear in a cartoon (the first was Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
who was caricatured in two Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is an anthropomorphic rabbit and animated cartoon character created by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney for films distributed by Universal Pictures in the 1920s and 1930s...
cartoons).
External links
- Poor Cinderella at the Big Cartoon DatabaseBig Cartoon DataBaseThe Big Cartoon DataBase is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows and cartoon shorts....
- Poor Cinderella on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....