A Decade of Storytelling Magic in Disney's Cinderella (2015)

As of March 2025, it’s Cinderella’s  (2015) ten year anniversary, and given the state of Disney's most recent live-action remake of an animated classic (ahem), it's important to revisit the storytelling tips and tricks of the trade that made this film successful.

Disney’s Cinderella (2015) was one of their first live-action princess remakes. The film reimagines the 1950 animated movie which primarily focused on the mice and hardly on Cinderella herself. Seriously. Go back and watch it. Thankfully, the live-action expands on the original storyline, giving audiences something new with a familial flare.

But what exactly made Cinderella (2015) so successful? How did the creative team behind the film imbue more stories, more context, into it when there wasn’t much in the 1950 version to go off of? How can storytellers apply the same magic that made Cinderella (2015) a good story? Let’s bibbidi bobbidi boo our way into another storytelling review.

Summarizing The Story You Know—But With a Twist

(And I don’t mean the flawless 2007 film Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.)

From fairytale to musical and stage production to animated drawings to live performers, the tale of Cinderella has been told over and over and over. It’s easy to get the many versions mixed, so here’s a quick summary.

Disney's Cinderella (2015) is a visually stunning live-action remake of the beloved fairy tale, following the kind-hearted Ella (Lily James) as she endures mistreatment from her cruel stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and jealous stepsisters after her father's passing. Despite her hardships, Ella remains courageous and kind, embodying her mother's (Hayley Atwell) wisdom to "have courage and be kind.”

With the help of her Fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter), she transforms into an unrecognizable woman in a gown fit for a princess for one magical night at the royal ball, capturing the heart of Prince Kit (Richard Madden).

Upon losing one of her glass slippers and saving the other in the attic, Ella’s stepmother discovers the remaining slipper and destroys it. Upon visiting the last house in the kingdom, Prince, now King, Kit discovers Ella singing where her true identity is revealed, proving that courage and kindness lead to a happily ever after.

Shaping Storytelling Elements to Fit Cinderella (2015) Like a Glass Slipper

If you’re new to the storytelling review, welcome! If you’re an art lover like me, welcome back! As a refresher, there are 6 elements to a successful story: 4 elements of engineering and 2 elements of architecture.

Let’s start with the concept behind the film.

Conceptualizing Cinderella as More than a Fairy Tale

We know from author Larry Brooks that a successful story concept is when a character, struggling with an internal conflict, is given something to obtain or accomplish.

Now, Cinderella (2015) kind of breaks this rule. Just as in real life where everyone wants something, before a story begins, every character should want something. Even if that desire is to go downstairs and make a sandwich or to solve world hunger. But in Ella’s case, she doesn’t necessarily want something before the story begins which can leave viewers waiting for that to become clear. Thankfully, over the opening act, it does.

Ella wants to preserve the home her parents built in their house. We see Ella playing with the mice and geese. We see Ella dancing with her father. We see Ella’s strong relationship with her mother. All events that take place in and around the house.

Ella’s determination to stay at her family home is something her servant friend even asks her about while they’re in the village, of why she stays when she could just run away. Ella responds, “Because I made my father and mother a promise: to cherish the place we were so happy. They loved our house, and now that they’re gone, I love it for them. It’s my home.”

Ultimately, however, Ella walks away from that house because it's no longer her home. Any remnant of hope she had to maintain love there was snuffed out when Lady Tremaine shattered Ella’s slipper. Because Ella’s internal conflict is kindness. Ella is given every opportunity to be cruel and crass as well as every reason to be and do so. But she doesn’t. She chooses not to and instead chooses kindness.

Based on all of this evidence, Director Kenneth Branagh left enough storytelling bread crumbs for an astute storytelling reviewer such as us to draw this conclusion about Cinderella’s concept: an orphaned country girl struggles to stay positive while preserving the home her step family is ruining.

The crazy part is that Ella does actually, kinda, technically preserve and save her family home through her courage and kindness. Whether that’s standing up to Lady Tremaine or speaking genuinely with Kit, her relationships save her from the attic and exile Lady Tremaine from the house and kingdom.

It’s almost like giving a character a goal to reach for while fighting demons, like, works.

Kill ‘Em with Kindness

Alright, we know this one. I mean, they kind of hit you over the head with it. But if you haven’t seen the movie or literally any marketing merchandise for the movie, you’d know the theme of Cinderella  (2015) is “have courage and be kind.”

While it is heavy handed at times — (personal pet peeves of mine: particularly crying on the bench, “I’d said I’d have courage, but I don’t. Not anymore. I don’t believe anymore!” and the dialogue at the end before Ella and Kit step out onto the balcony, “I do hate myself in paintings.” “Be kind.” “And have courage.” “And all will be well.” BARF. LITERAL CHEESY BARF.) — but, hey, it worked.

At least it was on theme. It worked for the story the team was telling and wasn’t out of character. At least the story actually means something.

To the film’s credit, Ella’s internal conflict and what she wants are directly informed by each other. Her experiences, specifically her childhood of love and laughter, informed how she saw people and the world. And when others who didn’t see the world as love and laughter came into her world, Ella faced really hard decisions and endured really hard lessons that put her inner conflict, her courage and kindness, to the test.

Which is what makes it really satisfying when she turns to Lady Tremaine at the bottom of the stairs and says, “I forgive you.”

As Larry Brooks puts it, “The moment you bring an issue into a character’s experience, and especially when that issue is an inner demon, you are putting your thematic hat on, worn simultaneously with your characterization hat.”

Creating Characters Fit For a Crown

Reimagining such a classic tale as Cinderella couldn’t have been an easy task. Or maybe it was, if you look back far enough. If we wonder about how Cinderella got where she was. How can Cinderella understand the mice (and the birds)? How did Lady Tremaine end up with such a vile disposition and outlook on the world? Why does the Prince marry a girl he spent one party with?

Perhaps the most powerful answer to these inquiries resides in this quote by Larry Brooks, “Characters live out the plot and the antagonistic forces that make plot possible.”

None of Cinderella would be possible if it weren’t for her stepmother, Lady Tremaine, and the Grand Duke, which was a fun revision as I mostly remember him in the animated version as nothing more than a gangly man with a monocle and boisterous mustache.

A Well Dressed Villain Hides an Even Darker Past

I mean, in one line the creative team nails Lady Tremaine’s character by revealing her worldview. In the attic, Ella urges, “That’s not true. Kindness is free. Love is free.” And Lady Tremaine scoffs, “Love is not free. For everything, you must pay — pay.”

Right before this, Lady Tremaine tells Ella how “the light of her life died.” How she was forced to remarry lest be destitute and her second husband died as well. How she hoped to marry one of her beautiful stupid daughters to the Prince but that was snatched away too.

Lady Tremaine had to break the slipper and whatever relationship she had with Ella in exchange for advantageous matches from the Grand Duke for her daughters. Lady Tremaine traded her kindness, the epitome of what Ella believes, for what she wanted, even to the point of trying to hide Ella from the Captain of the Guard and Kit.

In the end, Lady Tremaine does pay for her actions as she’s banished from the kingdom for everything, indeed, you must pay.

Adding Depth Where There Was None

In the 1950 animated film, we didn’t know much, or anything, about the Prince. But from Kit’s first on screen appearance in the forest, his behavior of going after a woman on a rogue horse, his humility at shielding his identity upon realizing his own subject does not know him, his sincerity and sympathy for Ella’s circumstances when she admits the cruelty she suffers is not his doing (And the Scottish accent slipping out at, “And neither yours either, I’ll bet,” is just - thank you, Branagh, for leaving that in), we see not only Kit’s countenance but his torn loyalties in being a polite Prince and a wild child who pursues the passions of his heart.

Even though Kit’s screen time is on the shorter end and his dialogue is few, we see a real person behind the princely waistcoat and know enough about him to relate to him. Maybe not about having our portraits painted or wandering a moonlit garden, but about losing a parent and forging your own path despite what others expect. 

Building a Gilded Plot Structure

With concept acting as our blueprints, character as our foundation, and theme as the electricity running through floors and walls, structure is where stories go vertical. Walls are erected. Roof trusses are installed. The plot takes shape with just a little bit of story engineering.

Here’s the plot structure and milestone breakdowns for Cinderella (2015):

• Inciting Incident - Something New Arrives and Foreshadows Meaning to the First Plot Point

  • Ella’s mother dies, prompting, Ella’s father to welcome Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizella into their home.

• First Plot Point - A Cataclysmic Event Thrusting the Protagonist into Uncharted Waters 

  • Farmer John arrives at Ella’s home to inform her that her father took ill on the road and died.

• First Pinch Point - A Full Scale View of the Antagonist and Reminder of What’s at Stake

  • Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizella give Ella the name of “Cinderella” causing her to breakdown and run off on horseback.

• Midpoint - Something New Arrives and Changes Everything

  • Ella meets her fairy godmother who restores her dress (okay - makes it new, let’s be real) and gives her a way to go to the ball.

• Second Pinch Point - The Antagonist Drops the Protagonist to Their Lowest

  • Lady Tremaine confronts Ella with an ultimatum to let her run the kingdom with Kit as a puppet king, and when Ella refuses, Lady Tremaine shatters Ella’s slipper and locks her in the attic.

• Second Plot Point - The Final Piece to the Puzzle Puts the Protagonist Back in the Game

  • The mice open the attic window for Ella’s voice to carry to the Captain, guards, Grand Duke, and Kit below.

Listen, I didn’t say it was a good Second Plot Point, but that’s the Plot Point they went with. I get it; the mice were a classic component of the original animated film, but the hero is supposed to save themselves! I’m sorry, but Ella doesn’t do that here!

They cut her off at the knee! Literally, she’s sitting wistfully by a window and singing and just wishing things would be different. Like, really? That’s what we went with? What if the mice didn’t get the window open? You’re gonna leave that to chance? It’s lazy. It plummets suspended disbelief. It takes the audience out of the story - it’s rubbish. Cinderella should have saved herself with a little more gumption than just mere acceptance.

Lizards and Pumpkins and Subplots Oh My

Now this is something I don’t normally discuss, but this is so crucial to the main plot that it could be confused as the main plot itself but it’s not.

It’s often purported that all Cinderella wanted was to go to a party, to attend the ball, but she doesn’t want to go to the ball until after the First Pinch Point has occurred which is deep into the second act and verging on the third where protagonists switch from reaction mode to proactive mode — BECAUSE PRINCE KIT IS A SUBPLOT.

Kit is in Cinderella (2015) to serve Ella, the story about her, the story of Cinderella. The movie isn’t called Ella and Kit. It’s called Cinderella for a reason. That scene where Lady Tremaine shatters the glass slipper? Wouldn’t be possible if there wasn’t a glass slipper. A glass slipper wouldn’t exist if Cinderella didn’t have that desire to go to the ball, if she didn’t have that connection with Kit, if she never ran off into the forest, if Lady Tremaine and her stepsisters had never been cruel to her.

Characters are the drivers of plot structure. It’s why we frame our buildings on firm foundations. The subplot of Kit simultaneously moves the narrative forward while characterizing him and others, transforming the foundation into marble and the stone walls into a glittering palace.

A Nightingale Voice in Every Scene

With story engineering elements in place, it is the shimmering scenes and the enchanting voices within them that weave a tale of transformation. These elements stitch magic into every moment on the journey from rags to riches, turning simple storytelling into a spellbinding adventure.

From Cinders to Castle: How Cinderella (2015) Builds Its Scenes

With scenes acting as the drywall that hold in every stud and nail making up plot structure, there’s no question why Cinderella (2015) is a near flawless film. Each scene has an external conflict that sparks characters into action and reactions that not only align with the plot structure itself but also with the character(s) nature and underlying motivations.

For example,  the cruelty surrounding Ella transformed her “into a creature of ash and toil” as we saw in the First Pinch Point back in Act Two, and while she refrains from telling Kit her name throughout the story, Ella reclaims the name bestowed upon her and introduces herself to Kit in Act Four with the name Cinderella.

Timing is crucial to elicit the biggest pay off. Like when Lady Tremaine scolds Ella after destroying her dress, saying, “Mark my words: you shall not go to the ball!” Whilst Ella’s fairy godmother tells her in the carriage, “For you shall go to the ball.”

In just a simple scene of posing for a portrait, we see Kit grapple with what he wants versus obliging his father, the King, and the Grand Duke and his duties to the crown. This scene furthers the plot structure, by bringing about another scene (Ella delivering the news about the ball to Lady Tremaine) as an obvious consequence and brings about the Midpoint, all while deepening characterization with a humorous and affectionate tone.

Much like a magic wand, a deft hand is needed to balance character, theme, and plot to execute the story’s overall concept.

Cinderella (2015)’s Voice Is Nothing Like Drizella’s

Let’s just get this out of the way: Cinderella (2015) is hilarious. Okay, maybe not Ella herself, unless it’s when she speaks French to Lady Tremaine and her stepsisters, but even then it’s their reactions that make it funny. Lady Tremaine, frozen and squeaking, “Good!” followed by Anastasia and Drizella saying, “What did she say?” “I speak French, not Italian.”

One of my personal favorites - and this is so stupid - is the town crier announcing the ball in the village when a dog barks in the background. “Hear ye, hear… ye!” (dog barks) “Quiet!” (dog whines)

I mean, it’s the little things. Lady Tremaine telling Drizella after her terrible singing, “Do shut up,” and a woman in the kingdom telling the Captain of the Guard, “Do you think I can try the other foot?” “I don’t think so.”

Even Kit and the Captain of the Guard after fencing in the palace! “Ha.” “Ha?” “Yes, ha.” And speaking of Kit, and this is also a good example of characterization, his Stark - excuse me - snark when he tells Princess Shalina that he hopes she does ”not find their little kingdom too confining” is immaculate it even impresses the King.

Not to mention Kit’s line in the secret garden’s swing where he repeats Ella’s, “Lizards and pumpkins…” It easily could have been ruined when said as a question or mockingly, but Madden says it almost carefully. Turning it over, inspecting it, trying it on for size before Kit realizes he just needs to go after Ella rather than figure it out himself. This is the girl who asked him not to hurt a stag, afterall.

And! Oh! And! The, “Yes, I did,” line?! Swooning. SWOONING. Ten out of ten. Did I first watch the movie mostly for Scottish actor, known for his role as the fictional character Robb Stark in the hit drama series Game of Thrones, Richard Madden? Yes, yes it was. But as a Downton Abbey, period drama lover it was also for Lily James. And Patrick Doyle. I mean, that film score is perfection; I won’t be taking criticism — thank you.

Yes, the costumes are gorgeous. The sets are stunningly beautiful, and the set dressing, the wall paper - the swan chandelier! Clutch my pearls, I want Ella’s mother’s embroidery spool storage so bad.

But let’s talk about the shot of young Ella sitting outside the room with her flats half on, half off her heels. It’s such subtle foreshadowing, a hint, a tip of the hat to Ella losing her slipper later on that I tip my heels to you, Mr. Branagh for a job well done.

I mean, the shot of Kit curled up on his father’s bed?! The two of them under the crown resting at the peak of the bedpost?! Where you see Kit as small and emotionally vulnerable and scared?! Brilliant. Showstopping. Amazing. No notes.

Final Verdict: Mo’s No or Go Pile

Yes. 100% Cinderella (205) is in my go pile. Are you kidding? The gorgeous Lily James? The skilled Cate Blanchette? Richard Madden with those steely baby blues? They knew what they were doing in that costuming department, let me tell you.

Even a decade later, Cinderella (2015) still shimmers like a glass slipper beneath moonlight with its magic as timeless as the fairy tale itself. With breathtaking visuals, heartfelt performances, and storytelling woven with courage and kindness, this film will continue to enchant generations.

Like all great stories, it reminds us that dreams, no matter how fragile, can shine brilliantly if we only have courage enough to pursue them. So join me in celebrating Cinderella (2015) 10-year anniversary and step once more into the magical world where kindness never fades and happily ever afters are always within reach.