Cinderella II: Dreams Come True – Film Review
Cinderella (voice of Jennifer Hale) finds it difficult to adjust to her new life after marriage. Later, Jaq (voice of Rob Paulsen) is turned into a human and lives as Cinderella’s page boy while Anastasia (voice of Tress MacNeille), Cinderella’s stepsister, finds true love.
We live in a day and age where if a movie does relatively well at the box office and is received positively by audiences and critics alike, a sequel is almost inevitably going to happen. Take for instance another Disney movie, 2013’s Frozen. As soon as that movie was released, it was crystal clear that that would not be the only time we’d be seeing Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf. We knew that there would be another journey to explore.
Not only did the songs perform ridiculously well online such as the infamous “Let It Go” and “Love Is An Open Door”, but the film managed to rake in a whopping $1.280 billion at the box office. Even though it’s been eight years since the film’s release, I still see merchandise for the film in stores and online. So, yes, because Frozen was such a global phenomenon, we got Frozen II (which in my opinion is even better).
So that’s why it is genuinely surprising that it took over fifty years for there to be a proper sequel to Disney’s Cinderella. Of course, back in the 1950s, sequels and animated movies weren’t being released non-stop, but it is quite fascinating to think that in these times, it takes just a few years for a sequel to be approved and then made, but Cinderella‘s sequel was fifty years in the making.
And sadly, Dreams Come True is an absolute disaster of a follow-up that offers virtually none of the magic and childlike wonder that its predecessor had in abundance. This is the definition of a soulless cash grab that really didn’t need to exist. So, why does it exist? Money.
Courtesy of Walt Disney Home Entertainment
All of the characters here feel kind of similar to the ones that we saw in the original film, but there is absolutely no development given to them here. An excellent sequel should take the characters from the first film that we love and are interested in, and flesh them out to their fullest potential.
Take for instance Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2. In the first film, we became greatly attached to Peter Parker / Spider-Man in the first outing, and in the sequel, Raimi made sure to make Parker feel as grounded and as relatable as possible. Even though Parker is a kid with superhuman abilities, Raimi found amazing ways to make him seem just like an ordinary person like all of us. We understand his motivations and we understand who he is as a person.
In Cinderella II, we know who Cinderella is, but she never once evolves or changes from the character that she was in the first installment. All of the returning characters just feel one-sided and flat.
Sure, the animation style here is good and it honestly looks no different than the original film. The animation team at Disney always does a stellar job in that department and I honestly couldn’t tell you a film of theirs that looks horrible. And I know how important animation is in an animated movie. Obviously. But you still need to tell a good story and flesh out your characters. This movie does not do that.
Its story is so generic and boring to watch, the songs here are completely forgettable, and the characters stay the same throughout the story. Disney is widely known for making magical films for children and families. But this is one Disney movie devoid of any sort of magic whatsoever.
Overall Grade: D
MPAA Rating: G
Cast: Jennifer Hale, Corey Burton, Russi Taylor, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Gina La Piana, Rob Paulsen, Andre Stojka, Susanne Blakeslee, Tress MacNeille, Holland Taylor, Frank Welker
Directed by: John Kafka
Distributed by: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Release Date: February 26, 2002
Running Time: 73 minutes