Disney’s “Cinderella,” released in 1950 and largely considered to be one of the greatest animated films ever is set to be given new life thanks to a 4K restoration that will debut on Disney+ on August 25.
According to an official press release the restoration was “the culmination of a multi-year effort involving the Walt Disney Studios Restoration and Preservation team, working closely with key players from Walt Disney Animation Studios.” And, truth be told, this new 4K version is stunning.
It had previously been available as a Disney Movie Club exclusive earlier this year, but its Disney+ debut marks the first time the restoration has been available to stream. The new version also streamed earlier this year at the Berlin International Film Festival, where, the release notes, “it had won a Golden Bear Award 52 years earlier in its international debut.”
According to Kevin Schaeffer, director of Restoration for Walt Disney Studios, legendary Disney animators Eric Goldberg (who animated the Genie in “Aladdin” and Phil in “Hercules,” to just name two) and Mike Giaimo (who worked as a production designer on “Frozen II” and will serve in the same capacity on “Wish”), helped oversee the restoration. Goldberg, in particular, has an insane knowledge of animation history and the animation process; he can tell you which classic animator drew which frame of your favorite character. Their insight was undoubtedly essential.
The team also included working with Dorothy McKim (special projects and 2D animation producer for Walt Disney Animation Studios, who recently worked on the Immersive Disney Animation experience), and Bob Bagley (digital imaging manager for Disney Animation), a true murderer’s row of Disney heavyweights.
“Cinderella,” of course, was the 12th Disney animated feature and the one, in some ways, that saved both the division and the company. The 1940’s was a difficult period for the studio, with the outbreak of World War II limiting the company’s distribution overseas and being consigned to make propaganda films in support of Allied efforts. In fact, “Cinderella” was the first feature-length Disney animated film since “Bambi” in 1942; the movies in between were “package films” made up of various shorts, produced more quickly and cheaply.
But “Cinderella” was a deliberate attempt to recall the past glories of the animation studio, like “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” and even though the studio was deeply in debt Walt and the team of animators pushed through. It was the studio’s biggest success since “Snow White,” making nearly as much money and pulling Walt and the rest of the studio out of its hole. Without “Cinderella,” there probably would never have been Disneyland – or maybe even the Disney company itself.
Deceptively simple, it has endured as one of the greatest Disney animated features ever and if you’ve only ever seen “Cinderella” during its theatrical runs (a mainstay of the 1970s and 1980s) or on home video, you’ve never seen it like this.
