The Fairy Godmother in Cinderella
Supernatural Intervention Saves the Cinder Girl
The Walt Disney animated feature "Cinderella" (1950) offers no other solution to her plight, except through magical, supernatural intervention.
In Cinderella (directed by Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi), the idea of salvation through supernatural sources offered comfort during a time when life seemed out of control. After enduring the Great Depression during the 1930s and the economic upheaval of World War II in the 1940s, a seemingly harmless story of rags to riches was probably a welcome relief to moviegoers, thus explaining the film’s popularity and subsequent saving of animation at Walt Disney Studios.
The Role of the Fairy Godmother
Poor Cinderella grew up without her mother, and then later was raised fatherless in an abusive environment by her wicked stepmother and two ugly stepsisters. Deprived of her possessions, rights, and dignity, she is forced to toil daily in the house her family once owned. Her only escape is to marry the handsome prince, but how will he meet her when her stepfamily locks her in the claustrophobic attic room to prevent her from going to the royal ball?
When her Fairy Godmother appears, Cinderella gets her first glimmer of hope for a new life. Her magical friend sings the delightful “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo,” which was nominated for an Academy Award for best song, and provides Cinderella with a promise of something better. The words Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo sound magical, capable of saving a desperate young girl from a life of solitude and despair.
Supernatural Elements
Combined with her magical incantation, the Fairy Godmother’s wand turns a pumpkin into a carriage, mice into coachmen, and a raggedy dress into an evening gown. The personal props of the Fairy Godmother (magic wand) and the King’s assistant (monocle) also add some much-needed comic relief to this somber tale. The Fairy Godmother appears in the right place at the right time, but for a few minutes we doubt her competency because she cannot find her wand. When the wand finally appears, we breathe a sigh a relief. Similarly, the King’s assistant playing with his monocle like a yoyo during the ball is an effective attempt at levity, though has no magical properties.
The film’s ending leaves much to be explained. In the original Grimm Brothers version of the fairy tale, the two false sisters get their eyes plucked out as punishment. In the film, we are left wondering what happens to the evil stepmother and her daughters. What about Cinderella? She has no practical experience with a healthy family situation. Although the Prince seems fairly well adjusted (though perhaps a bit obsessed with the glass slipper left behind when Cinderella makes her hasty exit), he comes from a single-parent household, as well, with no mother to prepare him for marriage.
The supernatural elements that help Cinderella achieve her freedom, the uncertain future of her abusive stepfamily, and her own potential for emotional instability may make some viewers feel a little unsettled by the “happily ever after” ending provided by the supernatural intervention. Does the Fairy Godmother magically reappear later to provide couples counseling for the newlyweds and individual psychotherapy so Cinderella can work through her emotional baggage leftover from years of abuse and neglect?
For more information about fairy tales, read Cinderella in the Movies, Snow White in the Movies, and Snow White’s Evil Queen.
