Cinderella (シンデレラ物語, Shinderera Monogatari; lit. 'The Story of Cinderella') is a Japanese anime television series based on the fairytale of the same name by Charles Perrault and The Brothers Grimm. It was produced by Tatsunoko Production. The series originally aired from April 4 to October 3, 1996, comprising 26 episodes.
Contents
Summary
The Story of Cinderella opens as Cinderella's life changes for the worse when her widower father leaves on a business trip. No sooner is he out of sight than Cinderella's stepmother has unceremoniously moved her two own daughters into Cinderella's room, thrown out her things, handed her a servant's dress and put her to brutal harsh menial labor. The series covers Cinderella's trials and tribulations as she tries to adapt to her new life while suffering the abuse of her stepmother and her two stepsisters. All the while, her fairy godmother, Paulette, subtly watches her and tries to influence events to fix Cinderella's life without her noticing. One of her first acts in this is to grant several of the animals of the house the power of speech, thus giving Cinderella companions in her dog Patch, a pair of mice named Chuchu and Bingo, and a bird named Pappy who provide her company as well as help with her chores. The biggest twist in the series is that Cinderella meets her Prince Charming early – except here he's the roguish Prince Charles, who has a habit of sneaking out of the castle and meets Cinderella by accident while disguised as a commoner. The two have a few misunderstandings before becoming friends and start having adventures together. Meanwhile, the villainous Duke Zaral plots against the royal family throughout the story, at times working Cinderella into his plots and machinations. The series eventually culminates in the ball in which the fairy tale ends; but with its own unique twist.
Plot
Cinderella is the only daughter of a rich, widowed duke. Her mother died when she was young, leaving behind only a few keepsakes for Cinderella to remember her by. The duke has remarried, giving Cinderella a new stepmother and two stepsisters.
The story begins when Cinderella's father leaves on a long business trip. No sooner has he departed, however, than her stepfamily forces her to move to the attic and puts her to work doing all the household chores. Paulette, Cinderella's fairy godmother, secretly observes this change in circumstances and uses her magic to make Cinderella's life easier by giving four animals the power of speech: her dog, Patch, two mice, Chuchu and Bingo, and a bird, Pappy. These animals help Cinderella and keep an eye on her well-being for Paulette throughout the series.
One day, Cinderella sneaks into town and meets a pageboy who claims he serves the prince of the Emerald Castle. Cinderella quickly realizes he's lying and dubs him a fibber. Unknown to her, however, the boy is Prince Charles himself in disguise; he sneaks into town using his page's identity because he finds his lessons and princely duties boring. Cinderella's stepmother tries to exploit Cinderella's connection with the prince's page in order to marry one of her own daughters to the prince. Though the ploy fails, thanks to her meddling Cinderella eventually forgives Charles for lying to her. The two form a friendship that slowly begins to deepen into romance. While Cinderella grows more used to life as a servant, Charles begins to appreciate the importance of his own duties after witnessing her struggles firsthand.
Meanwhile, Duke Zaral is also trying to marry his daughter off to Prince Charles. Isabel is initially infatuated with Charles, but eventually realizes he does not love her and instead chooses to elope with a childhood friend.
As Cinderella and Charles go on more adventures together, they stumble across a plot to overthrow the King and Queen. Charles eventually discovers that Zaral is responsible. He succeeds in stopping the coup with Cinderella's help, but reveals his true identity to her in the process. Cinderella, heartbroken, ends their friendship, assuming that the prince would never marry a servant girl, especially after she repeatedly called him a liar.
Soundtrack
Cinderella (Original Soundtrack) is consisting of 26 tracks which were used as the background music of the TV Series. The whole album is composed by John Sposito and the lyrics are written by Paola Granatelli. The theme song from the album which is titled as "Cenerentola" was sung by Erica Gaura