Heads up buds, in this video I said my video for Another Cinderella Story was already up on the Movie Budz channel, because I had filmed it before this and assumed it would be up by the time this video was posted. Unfortunately, that video got claimed by Warner Bros and it's very likely it'll stay under copyright lockdown for about a month (that's the longest they can hold it, after that they have to release the claim because it's an illegitimate claim and they know it). For now, both the Uncut and the RU-vid versions of the video are on our Patreon if you want to check it out now: Patreon.com/thebuffsummer - Sam
I love the symbolism of everyone present at the ball dressing in purple, except for Cinderella and the prince. The traditional colour of royalty is purple so it implies everyone else is trying too hard to impress him and seem like potential royalty, whereas the prince wants someone genuine and not a social climber.
Great observation regarding purple. But the prince in white with gold is a standard for royalty as well. Besides if his outfit was meant to show genuine without status I think the queen would not approve.
@@embran8486agreed. The colours that were expensive to produce were considered royal. I was going to also address the symbolism of them being the only two dressed in similar colours implying they are a match, but I didn’t want to bore everyone.
Paolo Montalban is Filipino! He and Dante Basco were probably the first Filipino actors I ever saw in US media growing up, and it stayed that way for a long time. Another reason this version of Cinderella is one of my favorites. 🇵🇭 RIP to Natalie Reid who sadly passed from cancer. She played one of my favorite step sisters is any version of Cinderella.
The casting of this movie actually has more meaning than you’d think! It followed the LA Riots and tensions between Black and Asian Americans were HIGH and there was a surge in movies with black and aisan leads; Cinderella, Rush Hour, Romeo Must Die, etc. (Also this was actually my first introduction to Cinderella!)
Paolo was working as an understudy for the musical “The King and I” when he got cast for this role. Apparently he was late to the audition because he got caught up at rehearsal but when they heard him sing they knew he was the right man for the part
It reminds me of Boomsday that would be held in Knoxville TN. The fireworks brought people in which allowed shops and restaurants along the river to have customers despite how expensive they were.
i've always absolutely LOVED how this movie did the glittery magic effects with the different shapes and spirals. i can't think of any other movie or show that visualized magic like that lol
The way this movie was on repeat when i was a kid! I loved me some Brandy! & loved seeing people of color as the prince and princess. Im 37 now & every now & then, I still listen to Brandy & Whitney's number❤❤❤
I grew up with all of versions in all points of my life, but THIS VERSION was important to me because of the Asian/filipino representation. Paolo Montalban was from a theater background and his story of becoming Prince Christopher/Prince Charming for this movie is very fitting. When the producers saw him and how he interacted with Brandy in the audition..they were literally like THAT’S OUR PRINCE.. he’s such a breath of fresh air compared to the other actors/singers who came to audition. His presence and the way talks was the kind of Prince they were looking for and I mean come on…everybody was crushing on this man when this movie came out. A year later Paolo became Kung Lao in a tv show called, Mortal Combat: Conquest. Then he did film so films every now and then, but eventually went back to doing Broadway/musical theater. I totally think he deserved to be offered more roles in movies. But again back then it was hard and I guess he did not want to be type casted for roles. But he did do a Filipino American movie alongside other Filipino actors not too long ago and reunited to Brandy as King Charming and Queen Cinderella in the new Descendants movie. The chemistry and vocals is still amazing and better than ever. ❤
I originally grew up on the 1963 version so when this one came out on ABC, I knew all the songs already! This is my favorite version and the original is my second favorite
Also, it's hilarious how taken aback you were when they called him Chris. He has a name. He has lots of names. They sang a whole song about it. His Royal Highness, Christopher Rupert Windemere Vladimir Karl Alexander François Reginald Launcelot Herman Gregory James
@greendiamondglow I was taken aback specifically by the fact that they referred to him by name, not that he has a name. It seems to be less common for princes in fairytales to be referred by names 😄 - Maria
Side note - the stepsisters being 'Ugly' was definitely more something added by the public. From what I can tell at least - In my copy of the Grimm Brothers version of the story (they called it Aschenputtel - it's the one where the fairy godmother is the spirit of her mother through the tree growing on her grave and the birds who nest on it, where the stepmother cuts off one daughters heel and the other daughters toes to make the shoe fit telling them 'when you are queen you won't have to walk' and the sisters get their eyes pecked out because the birds rest on Aschenputtle's shoulders in the end and they try walking arm in arm with her because now that she's royalty they want to act like they care about her) the text describes them as "beautiful of face but cold of heart". And in my copy of Perrault's fairy tales the text just describes them as "somewhat past their prime", and that one of the sisters has a passion for a colour that she just can't see really doesn't suit her (I think it was some shade of red and she has the wrong skin tone for it).
This and the Lily James movie are my favorite versions of the classic Cinderella story. I grew up watching this and I watch it at least once a year. The sets, costumes, cast, and choreography are amazing.
Oh I'm so jealous you grew up watching this one. I wish I saw it as a kid 😊 It's beautiful! The first one I saw was the 50's animated one, but I grew up watching Ever After and Ella Enchanted and then Hilary Duff's modern adaptation - Maria
YES! This was my childhood. I grew up listening to Brandy and Whitney Houston, and seeing them in this version of Cinderella made me so happy as a young black girl. And Brandy's romance with the prince (whom I had a huge crush on) is so beautiful and so real! I sometimes wish they got together in real life because their chemistry is still there after all these years. I'm happy seeing people react to this gem of a movie. Everything about it is amazing and it deserves its praise!
I’m so happy we watched it 💕A beautiful and important movie. I’m glad you had it when you were a kid. And oh my, yes. I’m currently crushing on him 😁 I get you. I have similar feelings about them - Maria
The way I wore this movie out on VHS. 😂 as a kid, I was so happy to have a Cinderella that I could see myself in. It was amazing. That tape was on repeat. It also makes me miss Whitney Houston so much. You could see Brandy’s love and admiration for her (Whitney was her idol and mentor). Despite what the reviews at the time were, I think they did a great job on this film. It’s easily one of my favorites.
This adaptation is amazing. And as a child I never questioned the casting, and still don't!!! The casting was on-point from the moment this film began!!!
I wish I saw it as a kid. Love it now, though 💕 Thanks so much! 🙏🏻😊 Fair enough. I do not like the classic Cinderella up-do in any version 🤷♀️ - Maria
I’m glad y’all enjoyed this. This is my favorite Cinderella movie musical. The songs are fun and I enjoy singing along. The blind casting in this movie is the way it ought to be done.
I love this movie. I was 5 when this movie came out. As a black woman who was in foster care at the time this movie came out. My adoptive mom who is white let me stay up later than usual on a school night to watch this movie.
I was 2020-years-old when I learned this apparently got bad reviews in real time (the lack of taste is astounding). My cousins and I’s pre-k selves could not get enough of it though.
So did Sister Act 2 and a bunch of other movies that were reviewed by people who were almost exclusively middle class white guys who made up the reviewers at the time. Alot of it is excused as it not being made for them looking back on it but really I think we can blame it on sexism, racism, a bunch of other isms, as well as a dislike of musicals.
I love Brandy's voice in this, but her voice is honestly even better sounding now, imo. She sang a little bit in Descendants 4, if you didn't already know, and I thought her voice has aged so beautifully.
That’s great to hear. I basically just found out they brought her and Paolo back for that movie and it definitely made me more interested in taking a look at that franchise 😊 - Sam
I think Whoopi Goldberg is wearing real diamonds in all of her scenes........ I heard somewhere that she said in an interview from around the time this movie came out that she'd gotten letters telling her she'd be pretty if her skin was lighter or if she had a nose job, and that she said that that was why it was so great to have someone like Brandy playing Cinderella. I thought of that story when I heard the story about the diamonds because I just imagined her saying "Well, maybe I would be pretty if my skin and nose were different - but I'm still the one wearing diamonds."
Fair point! We know Jason Alexander from so many things 😄 I probable saw him first in Pretty Woman. I have no idea what I saw Bernadette first in, but last thing was Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. Good show 😊 - Maria
For me Bernadette Petter's will forever be The Witch of Into the Woods. She was amazing. For anyone who doesnt hate musicals I always recommend the recording from the original broadway cast which included her and suggest just pretending 2014 film never happened. Its also my favorite take on Cinderella.
The prince's name is indeed Chris! Or more accurately, His Royal Highness, Christopher Rupert Windermere Vladimir Karl Alexander François Reginald Lancelot Herman (yes, Herman!) Gregory James. He's giving a ball.🤪
Another version of the Cinderella story I grew up with was The Glass Slipper (1955). It probably wouldn't get you many views on your channel, but it's a more "realistic" version of the story. Ella is clearly suffering from emotional abuse from her stepfamily and the town so she lashes out and is mistrustful. The fairy godmother is the "village crazy lady" (my favorite character). The prince is now the son of a duke and they get to know each other well before the ball. He's the one who actually invites her. There are ballet dream sequences, but it's not a really a musical. An interesting version that shows a different side to that character.
Oh again another favorite of mine!! So excited yall are giving it a watch. This was such an important movie to me because of the representation as a kid and I really do think this is one of the few Disney channel type movies that really holds up today
Oh man, this movie was my childhood.....teenagehood? It came out when I was 14. I can't even begin to guess how many times I've watched this. It's my favorite traditional rendition of Cinderella. Speaking of versions of Cinderella, have y'all seen Ever After?
Nice little reference to another one of Rogers and Hammerstein's musicals - the "naturally infectious laughter". Can't believe it took me this long to realise it's a reference to their musical 'Oklahoma' - one of the minor characters is a prissy snobbish girl who gives herself airs called Gertie (her dad runs a store), the lead male character cowboy Curly flirts with her a bit just to make the lead female character Laurie jealous because she agreed to go to a dance with a farm hand called Jud even though she's scared of him because she hears him walking outside her window at night to make Curly jealous (Curly and Laurie are at the stage in their relationship where they insult each other rather than admit that they like each other - something everyone can see through). Gertie has - what the script calls a "musical laugh" that one of the other girls mimics soon as she's out of earshot. Near the end of the play the script describes her laugh as "as if she had swallowed a canary". The best part about it is that there are so many different kinds of "musical" laughs you can use (re the one used in the 50s movie, the one used in the 90s live filmed production that has pre-Wolverine Hugh Jackman in the lead role, and re the one in a high school production I watched once on the internet), and all as hilarious as they are ear-grating.
This was my first cinderella and its still my absolute favorite. I watched this EVERY DAY for years as a kid and had it all memorized❤ i still love this soundtrack so much
Now I need them to see Into the Woods Pro Shot (it's available on youtube) it combines multiple fairytales and, THE ICONIC Bernadette Peters plays the witch and is amazing
My favorite version of my favorite musical and one of my favorite movies since I was a teen. Edited to add, 8f you havent seen Bernadette Peters' version of No One is Alone you should look it up. Its incredible.
Literally my favorite iteration of Cinderella since I was 4; Paolo was literally the first person I ever remember crushing on as a wee child and Brandy was the prettiest princess 🥹🥹 other than Paolo being the apparent last person to walk into the audition, Whoopi wearing real jewelry that needed bodyguards to make sure they didn’t leave the set, and (iirc) Whoopi footing the bill when the budget went over, Whitney I think was also pregnant during the filming! And you can’t forget Brandy and Paolo’s chemistry… literally ELECTRIC
Love that you reacted to this. My love for this film is what kept me through the slightly dry commentary though, sorry guys, just being honest. Many of the topics were just a little too drawn out and uninteresting. You could relax on this one. It is supposed to be fantasy and fun. However, I did love how much you were enjoying watching. Great pick. Brandy's hair with the spiral curls at the ball was beautiful.
28:03 In hindsight, might have been a better idea to just say that you find the material irritating because you picked the wrong kind. Probably a lot better than denying that you're scratching yourself when EVERYONE can see you doing it.
My favorite all time version of Cinderella! As a young black girl who grew up in less than diverse communities, this movie was my comfort for a very long time ❤ A few fun facts: Falling in Love with Love (the stepmother's song) doesn't exist in any other musical adaptation of Cinderella, Bernadette Peters is a Broadway legend and she couldn't NOT have a solo song, so it was written for her to perform in this movie. Paolo and Brandy recently reprised their roles as Cinderella and the Prince (now King I guess?) in the most recent movie in The Descendants franchise
My top favorite cinderella and gowns: Lily Jame’s version Brandi’s Ever After One of my favorite elements of this is how they make it look like a stage musical while making the sets seem expansive while keeping them contained. To me this is a perfect film. Not to mention the color blind casting. When watching this as a kid, we didn’t even care about the race of the cast. We were immersed in the world and the characters. It is sad that it is hard to do that now. I feel it got more positive reception then than now. But some didn’t get it then either.
Thanks Sam and Maira for the reaction. Im glad you guys liked this. This movie really deserves love and recognition. P.S. This movie is one of the only examples of a corset tightlacing "corsets were painful horrible things" scenes Im okay with since its presented as campy and a bit ridiculous. But for the record for anyone who doesnt know corsers were generally worn to fit and made for the person. Theynwerent uncomfortable. The idea of tightlacing being common and corsets being horrible came from men who didnt wear them. Alot of padding was generally used rather than trying to force the body to shape. The actresses who were them for modern movies and end up complaining are genderally wearing them wrong and not fitted correctly. If you want more information there are plenty of videos here on youtube from people who have actually worn corsets regularly and done the research.
This was one of my favorite movies growing up. I also loved that it was one of the few versions where Cinderella finally decided "You know what? I deserve better." and was about to up and walk out on her stepfamily.
idk about skating or basketball, but as someone who loved to walk around for hours and hours for fun, skechers shoes are the only ones that gave me 0 feet pain after 6 full hours of walking. bonus points for adding about an inch to my height which is always appreciated
If you ever get the chance to see the R&H version on stage, DO IT! I don't know how different each stage production might be, but the one I saw had all these same songs, plus more character depth, and a political reformation storyline that reminded me of Ever After, but still had all the magical aspects.
This is my personal favorite adaptation of Cinderella. The racial diversity & inclusion, the awesome songs, the humor, the gorgeous and fun costuming and sets! And of course the fabulous duo that was Whitney and Brandy. I grew up with this version, watched it countless times on VHS and know pretty much all the dialogue and songs by heart. My sister and I still quote lines from this movie very often! It really has a special place in my heart. Thanks for reacting to it, loved the commentary, you guys had me laughing out loud multiple times. And I don't know how I never noticed in all these years that they said "giving" a ball, and how weird and funny that actually is, but i will never be able to get through this movie again without noticing and laughing about it lmao, so thanks for that 😂
One of my fav movies as a kid, i never stoped to think about they being asian, black and white, but probably bc im a Brazilian and everyone here is mixed or so 😅
I was pleasantly surprised that the prince was referred to by his name. That doesn't happen often in fairytale adaptations despite princes actually having names - Maria
This movie is most definitely a theater movie! something that absolutely would be on a stage. I love the different connotations when Whitney & Brandy are singing “Impossible” P.S. You guys should definitely watch the BTS of the movie. Whitney & Brandy in the booth working on the vocals is amazing P.P.S LMAO the uncomfortable laugh when the stepsister talks about pulling out her hair is hilarious 😂😂
Love this movie so much. Growing up with this Cinderella was everything, with the singing , costumes, dancing and the first black Cinderella been Brandy. Also rip to Natalie Desselle - Reid ( Minerva) . She was an amazing actress.
This was my favorite movie growing up. I can definitely relate to what Sam said about it being a nice surprise to have representation on screen. I’m biracial (black/white) and seeing brandy as a lead, specifically seeing her with braids meant a lot more to me than I realized at the time. Also I too am jealous of people who can sustain their vibrato 😂
I watched this live when it came out back in 97. It was the talk of the playground and the highest rating for a Disney original tv movie on a regular station to this day. I suggest you d Disney tv other musical Annie with Victor Garbar and Audra McDonald. That one is very good as well. You can also do Disney Tower of Terror tv movie. I believe it’s on RU-vid.
