Cinderella? More like Seen-it-derella!

This weekend, we welcome the latest in a long series of Cinderella movies: Disney's Cinderella, a live-action adaptation of the 1950 Disney film of the same name. Like most film adaptations of this classic tale, this newest Cinderella boasts an impressive cast and a substantial budget. Also, like most adaptations, it exists for no reason.

The tale of Cinderella has been told and retold countless times through generations, passing through oral tradition and written word for centuries. The story shifts and changes depending on who is telling it (and what message they want to impart), with the Brothers Grimm favoring a three three-day ball, a magical tree, and feet mutilation and Perrault favoring a glass slipper and fairy godmother. The core of the story is about a young girl being misunderstood, abused, and unwanted despite her many attempts to be anything but, and the prince who finally sees her for who she really is. It's a pretty simple tale, which makes it easy to adapt. Need to make it a morality play about the joys of being dutiful and subservient? Cinderella's got you covered. Want it to be a story about making your own decisions and self-empowerment? Cinderella's your gal. 

So many movies have been made with Cinderella at the center, but which adaptation is the best?  Let's take a look. For this incredibly scientific study, I'll be focusing on Disney's Cinderella (1950), Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997), Ever After (1998), A Cinderella Story (2004), Ella Enchanted (2004), and Sondheim's Into the Woods (2014), because they're the ones I like. Sorry, CinderFella.

This One's For You

Ladies and gentlemen, you are such a wonderful crowd, we'd like to play a little tune for you. It's one of my personal favorites, and I'd like to dedicate it to some young women who don't think they've seen anything good today – Michele and Sara, this one's for you:

(source)

Also, it's time for some Soundboardt.

Boy Meets World Meets Sequel

The Matthews Family is BACK!

At Tableau Your Mind, we are unabashed fans of many things: 30 Rock, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Joss Whedon, Helena Bonham Carter, and tons of other pop culture touchstones. One thing we haven't been quite as vocal about is our love of Boy Meets World, the incredible 90s sitcom that taught us so many life lessons during our childhood.

Well, we were checking the ol' newswire on Saturday and stumbled upon the announcement that a new Boy Meets World television show is in the works. This sequel is being developed by the Disney Channel and will focus on the life of Cory and Topanga's pre-teen daughter as she learns the many life lessons that Cory himself learned years ago. It's going to be called Girl Meets World, people.

We are 100% psyched about this news, not only because we are fans of the whole original cast, but also because the world is crying out for the kind of earnestness, virtuosity, and silliness that the original show exhibited. It was like the 90s version of iCarly, and the world needs more shows like iCarly.

When we heard the news that the show was being sequelized (sequined?), we were actually re-watching Boy Meets World anyway, due to a series of posts we are working on tentatively called "Sassy Mr. Feeny." So, it suffices to say that we are really looking forward to this. Here's hoping that Danielle Fishel, Ben Savage, William Daniels, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle aren't too busy to be on the show.

Huzzah! This is, unequivocally, amazing news! Rejoice in your own special way. We'll be doing Feeny calls until the cows come home.

Film Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

Let's Turn This Mutha Out

We've been ruminating on Snow White and the Huntsman for a week, trying to figure out how to accurately express our apathy towards this movie. When we first saw the trailers to Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror, we worried that the film's super-seriousness would be its downfall (Spoiler Alert: it is). The film tells the classic story of  Snow White with a twist, but it does so in a very long, dull way. Since we really don't want to delve too deeply into the strengths and weaknesses of the film, we're just going to share some of our thoughts on the film:

Despite the epically-long runtime, very little happens in terms of character development. From the first ten minutes of the film, everyone is already emotionally in place for the final battle. Charlize Theron's Ravenna is super pissed and heart-hungry, Kristen Stewart's Snow

"Salt" and "Tangled": A Comparative Study

For my first post, I wanted to look at the striking similarities between Rapunzel in Disney's Tangled and  Angelina Jolie's character Evelyn Salt in Salt. While these women look very different, it is amazing the similarities that exist. [Spoilers Ahead]