Boyle 1

Courtney Boyle
Essay 2
English 2089
02/27/15
Life Lessons: The Story of Cinderella
As a child grows up, she is told many stories and hears of many tales. The
stories start simple; she knows the muffin man first thing after she knows her first words.
The stories then become slightly more advanced, with stories about Dora the Explorer
and Mickey Mouse as seen on childrens television today. These television stories are
meant to enhance the learning ability of a child, and to engage her in fun activities that
will build her basic math, reading, and problem solving skills. These stories, however,
are not the only ones that children will learn as they grow. Fairy tales are the most
popular stories that children will learn about, but these are meant to serve a different
purpose.
A fairy tale is a story that usually involves magic and improbable events that lead
to a happy ending. These tales have been around for hundreds of years, and it is
believed that most of them are meant to teach a lesson. The fairytale, the story told to
children to make them behave, or learn some valuable lesson or value...might be
considered a staple for many (if not most) cultures. (Lethologica) Even though the
characters may not be believable, or may not even exist (for example, those characters
in The Little Mermaid), their experiences and choices are supposed to mimic realistic
choices that characters should and should not make. Some of the very first fairy tales
were written by the Grimm Brothers. A few of their most popular tales includes Snow

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White, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel. Nobody made a real effort to tell these stories
differently until 1937, when Walt Disney released a new version of Snow White and the
Seven Dwarves. Disneys basis of the story was essentially the same as the Grimm
Brothers, but it had new and different details. The different details of these stories is
severely important, because the way each author tells their stories depends on the
reaction and understanding of their audiences. One of the most popular tales,
Cinderella, which was no exception to the Disney transformation, is an obvious example
of how both the Grimm Brothers and Walt Disney attempt to teach important moral
lessons, but with two completely separate styles.
Cinderella was one of the Grimm tales that required drastic manipulation by
Disney to create such a successful movie. For example, in the Grimm version,
Cinderella does not have a fairy godmother, but she is granted her wish by the spirit of
the willow tree at her mothers grave. In addition, in the Grimm story, the Princes ball
lasts three days, and on the third night after Cinderella has already run away twice, the
Prince poured tar on the steps of the palace to keep her from running away again. This
is how Cinderella loses one of her slippers, unlike in the Disney version where her glass
slipper simply falls off her foot as shes running away. Finally, in Disneys version, the
Grand Duke almost gives up when they see the slipper does not fit either of the evil
stepsisters. However, in the Grimm version, Cinderellas stepmother cuts off the toe of
one stepsister and the heel of the other so the slipper would fit. It is only because of the
blood dripping from the slipper that the Prince realizes they are frauds. There is also
one final detail that Disney omits from his version; in the Grimm story, after Cinderella is
discovered as the maiden who fits the slipper, her evil stepsisters attend the royal

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wedding to try to be in good standing with the new future queen, only to have their eyes
pecked out by birds. It is because of these differences that a clear line separates Disney
from the Grimm Brothers and their styles of writing.
One can easily assume that the majority of the people in the world know of the
classics of Walt Disney. It would be hard to find someone who grew up as early as the
1920s who does not know Walt Disney and his famous mouse, Mickey. After releasing a
new Snow White in 1937, Disney released a new Cinderella in 1959. It was wildly loved
by its viewers, and is still loved by children today. Disney tells their stories in an attempt
to teach young kids important morals. The moral lesson in Cinderella can be described
as one of karma a sort of what goes around, comes around type of teaching.
Cinderella is a very kind and loving and obedient person, and in the end she is the one
who gets the happily ever after. Cinderellas stepmother and stepsisters are cruel and
selfish, and in the end it is they that are left unhappy. This is what Disney is trying to
teach with Cinderella: those that are kind will receive their eternal reward, while those
that are unkind will receive their eternal punishment. However, Disneys style does not
hold the same severity that the Grimm Brothers had in their version. I was horrified to
find that the origins of many of my favorite Disney movies had much more gruesome
details that Disney completely left out. (Triska) Essentially, Disney has a more singsongy and fun approach to help children understand the importance of kindness and
purity, while at the same time protecting them from the harshness that the Grimm
Brothers used. One of the main reasons that Disney is able to achieve this is because
of their use of animation. It is because of the cartoons, the constant chorus, and the little

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animals in the movie that Disney is able to so successfully mention these moral values
while offering an entertaining perspective on the story at the same time.
In complete contrast to Walt Disney, the Grimm Brothers wrote the story of
Cinderella to teach the same lessons, but their approach was one of a very different
fashion. They wrote all their stories, not just Cinderella, around the year 1812, which
was a time when people took pride in their morals, and those who broke them were
criticized and ostracized. By using the story of Cinderella, they wanted people to know
that those who were unkind and cruel would be punished, whether it be by karma or in
the afterlife. However, the Grimm Brothers included all the very gory details in order to
teach their lesson differently. They wanted to scare people into doing the right thing.
They frequently use death, deceit, and sin to imply the significance of living purely and
abiding by the rules that morals place on the lives of humans. These details, however
gory and disgusting they may be, they were completely necessary. Because the ability
to use animation was not an option to the Grimm Brothers, their stories (written in
storybook mode) needed to contain so many details because their readers were
creating their own images and emotions based off these tales. The lesson of the story
had to be buried in enough strong emotion to inflict a reaction in the reader, and one of
the strongest emotions is fear. If their storybook tales didnt have all the details and
emotions that would normally be easily picked up by a viewer of an animation film, the
entire goal of the story would be lost.
Whether a fan of fairy tales or not, everyone knows the story of Cinderella. And
whether or not the lesson is obvious, it is present, and it is very significant. It is possible
to chart the changes in the fairytale according to cultural pressures, and in turn pinpoint

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the expectations and values held by the societies the fairytales belong to, (Lethologica)
and this is an important in order to understand why the Grimm Brothers and Disneys
stories were each successful and powerful in their own times. These fairy tales
(especially those made by Disney) are the stories that are passed down through
generations because they are so beloved by all, and the tales will continue to be passed
on because of the lessons they preach to the young and nave. While it is true that
Disney is more directed to a younger audience, people of all ages can still enjoy it. And
while it also true that the Grimm Brothers tales were directed toward an older audience
because of their violence and nastiness, their versions of these stories still live on to this
day. These stories mold childrens brains in a way that simple songs and television
shows cannot. And while those shows and early developmental engagers are important,
they are not as nearly as important as the lessons that fairy tales teach us. Whether in
the loving and entertaining fashion of Disney or the cold-hard truth of the Grimm
Brothers stories, the life lessons they teach are much more essential to a child and their
moral development, rather than how highly developed their math skills by the time they
start kindergarten.

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Work Cited

Lethologica. "Seeking Cinderella: A Brief Glimpse of the Evolution of

Fairytales." Seeking Cinderella: A Brief Glimpse of the Evolution of Fairytales. 12
Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2015.
Triska, Zo. "The REAL Stories Behind These Disney Movies Will Ruin Your
Childhood." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 17
Feb. 2015.