The creative minds behind Into The Woods had the Cinderella Original Dark Story infused into the screenplay. While much of the story contained plots from other fairy tales, the most memorable scenes where from the Cinderella story arc.
Infusing the sordid details from the Grimm Fairy Tales’ version, the Cinderella Original Dark Story featured aspects that differed from the version almost everyone knew from childhood. This easily explained the sudden surge in dark versions of fairy tales. It is not an “edgy” take on bedtime stories we enjoyed as kids. It’s a throwback to the days when fairy tales are uncensored.
And so we enumerate details from the Grimm version – the Cinderella Original Dark Story:
– The Cinderella Original Dark Story explained the etymology of “Cinderella”
It was addressed in Into The Woods albeit indirectly. The stepmother referred to Cinderella as too dirty to face anyone. Too unkempt to go to the festival. And when the prince was searching for the shoe’s owner, the stepmother mentioned the dirt again. The dirt found on her face explained the name “Cinderella”.
According to the Cinderella Original Dark Story, her room is so cold. She was basically sleeping beside the fireplace. She would wake up covered in cinders from the fireplace. Hence getting the derogatory name “Cinder Ella“. No mainstream version so far addressed her as “Ella”. But Into The Woods got the reference in the film. So her name was more about the soot and less about the footwear.
– The Cinderella Original Dark Story explained the absence of a Fairy Godmother
Into The Woods may not be about Cinderella alone but characters that need to go into the woods. While Cinderella does not have a Fairy Godmother to help her get to the festival, she has a tree above her mother’s tomb. And that tree started out as a request by Cinderella to her father – “‘The first branch which knocks against your hat on your way home”. Her father (mentioned in the film as someone dead) may not know what would be the branch for. Her request was in contrast to Cinderella’s stepsisters of “beautiful dresses, pearls and jewels”. Cinderella then planted the branch on her mother’s tomb.
Cinderella always cried on her mother’s tomb. It gave sustenance to the branch that she planted, growing into a tree. This became her wishing tree where birds lived and dropped items that she wished for. When her stepmother broke her promise of taking her to the festival, she went straight to the tree and wished to go. Of course, the Hollywood version displayed a supernatural element to the tree. Cinderella called the tree “Mother”. And with a little hurricane of leaves, she got dressed in gold. The Cinderella Original Dark Story is not as magical as to include a pumpkin carriage and rats turning into coachmen. But getting dressed appropriately for the festival is enough.
– The Cinderella Original Dark Story does not mention a time limit
Into The Woods did not mention any time limit too. It simply showed Cinderella running away from the festival before the prince would know who she is. No mention of her family background, not even a slight idea of nobility. Some versions of the Cinderella Original Dark Story suggested that she may be of noble birth through her father. But Cinderella still ran away from the prince just to be safe. Her “mother” did not tell her to do so. It’s Cinderella’s own free will (and common sense) to get out before someone blows her cover.
– The Cinderella Original Dark Story mentioned parts cut from the stepsisters’ feet
While Into The Woods played the feet-cutting scenes for laughs, it served as another nod to the Cinderella Original Dark Story. The stepmother wanted any of her daughters to end up with the prince. So much that she cut off some parts from her own daughters’ feet. For the elder one, she cut off her toes. After blood slipped out of the shoe, the prince dropped her. The stepmother then forced the shoe on her other daughter by cutting her heel. Same bloody reason caused the prince to drop her too.
– The Cinderella Original Dark Story mentioned the punishment to her stepsisters
Into The Woods displayed how the birds from the tree avenged Cinderella in her behalf by plucking out her stepsisters’ eyes. Cinderella is nice just because she is obedient to her parents’ request that she be nice. But early in the story, it became evident how she is fed up. Whether she intended to tighten her stepsister’s hair or not, she still bore the latter’s brunt. Cinderella is too weak to defend herself. All the stepsister had to do is slap her and she falls to the ground.
In the Cinderella Original Dark Story, some versions mentioned this happening in Cinderella’s wedding to the prince. It was brutal and embarrassing for the stepsisters. Some versions even narrated how they, along with their mother, fell to begging on the streets. Blind with mutilated feet, it gave a vengeful spin to the children’s fairy tale.
Interesting analogy isn’t it? We see musicals infuse the Cinderella Original Dark Story into the screenplay as they did here at Into The Woods.
