The original story of Cinderella, as popularized by Charles Perrault in his 1697 fairy tale “Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper,” is significantly darker and more gruesome than Disney’s beloved animated film adaptation.
In the original tale, Cinderella is subjected to extreme cruelty by her stepmother and stepsisters, who not only mistreat her but also force her to do all the household chores. When her stepsisters are preparing for the royal ball, they cut off parts of their own feet to fit into the magical glass slipper, leading to a gruesome revelation when the prince discovers the blood trickling from their shoes.
In the end, Cinderella forgives her stepsisters, and they are invited to her royal wedding, but not before birds peck out their eyes as a form of punishment.
Disney’s animated adaptation, released in 1950, obviously toned down the darkness of the original story. While it retains elements of Cinderella’s mistreatment by her stepfamily, the focus is on her kindness and resilience making it a more family-friendly and heartwarming rendition of the classic tale.
Tom Blank of Weird History recently shared a video that dives into the super dark origin stories behind Cinderella. The video came with the following note:
In large part thanks to Disney’s version of her story, Cinderella is a familiar fairy tale character. The girl is maltreated by her stepmother and stepsisters, and essentially ends up as their servant. When it comes time for a royal celebration, Cinderella can’t attend – until the intervention of her fairy godmother, some lovable creatures, and a magical gourd. By the time the tale ends, Cinderella finds her Prince – well, he finds her – and they live happily ever after. But this is just one telling of “Cinderella,” and it’s a fairly tame one.
There’s a lot of interesting insight in this video, so check it out!
