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Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (also known as simply Cinderella) is a 1997 American musical fantasy television film produced by Walt Disney Television, directed by Robert Iscove and written by Robert L. Freedman. Based on the French fairy tale by Charles Perrault, the film is the second remake and third version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical, which originally aired on television in 1957.
Adapted from Oscar Hammerstein II’s book, Freedman modernized the script to appeal to more contemporary audiences by updating its themes, particularly re-writing its main character into a stronger heroine. Co-produced by Whitney Houston, who also appears as Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, the film stars Brandy in the titular role and features a racially diverse cast consisting of Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, Bernadette Peters, Veanne Cox, Natalie Desselle, Victor Garber and Paolo Montalban.
Cinderella proved a major ratings success, originally airing to 60 million viewers and establishing itself as the most-watched television musical in decades, earning ABC its highest Sunday-night ratings in 10 years. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella was nominated for several industry awards, including seven Primetime Emmy Awards, winning one for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program. The program’s success inspired Disney and ABC to produce several similar musical projects. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella is regarded by contemporary critics as a groundbreaking film due to the unprecedented diversity of its cast and Brandy’s role.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella is considered to be a “groundbreaking” film due to its diverse cast, particularly casting a black actress as Cinderella. A BET biographer referred to the production as a “phenomenon” whose cast “broke new ground.” Following its success, Disney considered adapting the fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty” into a musical set in Spain featuring Latin music, but the idea never materialized. Brandy is considered to be the first African-American to play Cinderella on-screen. Newsweek opined that Brandy’s casting proved that “the idea of a black girl playing the classic Cinderella was [not] unthinkable”, calling it “especially significant because” Disney’s 1950 film “sent a painful message that only white women could be princesses. Brandy’s performance earned her the titles “the first Cinderella of color”, “the first black Cinderella” and “the first African-American princess” by various media publications, while Shondaland.com contributor Kendra James dubbed Brandy “Disney’s first black princess”, crediting her with proving that “Cinderella could have microbraids” and crowning her the Cinderella of the 1990s. James concluded, “for a generation of young children of color, ‘Cinderella’ became an iconic memory of their childhoods, of seeing themselves in a black princess who could lock eyes and fall in love with a Filipino prince.” Similar to the film, the stage adaptation has consistently demonstrated color-blind casting. In 2014, actress Keke Palmer was cast as Cinderella on Broadway, becoming the first black actress to play the role on Broadway. Identifying Brandy as one of her inspirations for the role, Palmer explained, “I feel like the reason I’m able to do this is definitely because Brandy did it on TV”.