Disney’s Cinderella is available on Digital HD, Blu-ray & Disney Movies Anywhere

Ever since we saw the Seattle screening of the new live-action Cinderella movie, my kids have been begging me to watch it again. We even thought we were going to watch the new Cinderella one night at an outdoor movie event with our neighbors and were so excited. It was more than a little disappointing when it ended up being the older animated version that we already own, but I’m happy the kids handled it as well as they did and enjoyed the older movie together.

Knowing that they were crazy excited to watch the film again, I had the release date off 9/18/2015 set in my calendar so I could make sure I picked it up as soon as it came out. We were thrilled when we finally got a chance to have a Cinderella viewing party with our neighbors who were also owed a re-do on the Cinderella movie night.

Here are just a few of the reasons why you should own Cinderella:

The Beauty of It
The inner child in me loves all the imagery of the Cinderella story with castles and princess and ballroom dances, so I’m going to state the obvious and tell you that, like all things Disney, the new Cinderella movie is a beautiful and well-shot film. It’s hard to go wrong with rolling hills, non-scary woods, English gardens, meadows with deer, and flowing ball dresses, but it’s even more gorgeous than I imagined it would be and really fun to watch. Kindness
If you ever thought the old Cinderella was kind of a push-over, you will love the new spin on the classic character. Given Ella’s {aka Cinderella} backstory, it becomes clear that her kindness isn’t a passive trait, but rather another way she shows her strength. Her mom tells her, “Have courage. Be kind,” and she takes the words to heart. Even in the face of horrible grief and loss, Ella displays immense amounts of kindness to everyone around her. Knowing this, it makes much more sense that Cinderella puts up with so much from her step family, and it gives her kindness a sort of strength that I love.

Everyone wants their children to treat others well, but Ella takes it an extra step further in many occasions. This is especially apparent in the moments when she is faced with someone who she has nothing to benefit from by helping and she still displays compassion and thoughtfulness. Courage
While I would argue that the sort of kindness Ella shows takes a huge amount of courage, the theme of courage also takes other forms in the film showing Ella as a strong character with substance. Being kind and courageous are two things I would love to instill in my own children, so I love that this gave us a great talking point about all the ways being kind and having courage helped Ella to overcome adversity and create a happy life for herself in spite of her tragic circumstances.

On Death and Dying
Speaking of her sad circumstances, it should be noted that there is a lot of death and dying in the movie. At one point my son leaned over and said, “Why does everyone die in this movie?” and I didn’t have a good answer for him. This also made it a bit difficult to keep him quiet because all this death brought up very intense discussion about why they died {which was never really explored in the movie itself}, what was going to happen next, and ultimately leading towards the heavier stuff I definitely don’t want to be talking through with a four year old while everyone around me is enjoying a movie.

But, even though the movie is admittedly very sad in parts, I loved the way that those that were close to Ella handled death. The way her father spoke of her mother often made me very happy and it was clear that they were intent on keeping her mother’s spirit alive and honoring her wishes, which was such a cool thing to see in a kids’ movie. Although I would be lying if I said I didn’t shed a tear or two, the payoff in the end makes it worth it in my opinion. Love at First Sight Isn’t Enough
I didn’t marry after one date and I know I don’t want that for my children, so I would personally like to do away with “love at first sight”. It is one thing if you get a feeling that you’ve found “the one” and then you have a courtship and eventually marry, but I really don’t like the idea of pushing love at first sight as I feel it sets up very unhealthy expectations of love down the road. In this version of Cinderella, the idea of love at first sight is downplayed and you see a much deeper and healthier relationship develop between Ella and the prince. As a parent, I loved this new version for its healthier relationship portrayal. All of us that watched the film agreed that there’s a whole lot more to this film than meets the eye. It may not be a fully redone version of Cinderella and does closely resemble the original Disney animated classic in many ways, but there’s also a lot of heart and depth to this new film that I love, which was why I knew this was a movie we needed to own.

And, now you can own it, too! Cinderella arrived on Blu-ray Combo Pack, Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere September 15th. The release has special bonus features that include over 12 minutes of additional scenes, the “ Frozen Fever” theatrical short and more. Here are a few of our favorites:

·       A Fairy Tale Comes to Life – Filmmakers and cast reflect on Cinderella’s enduring power, and the joys and challenges of bringing this iconic tale to life.

·       Costume Test Fun – See the work of Academy Award-winning® Costume Designer Sandy Powell (The Aviator, 2004) and share some lighthearted moments with the cast.

·       Staging The Ball – You’re invited behind the scenes for the making of the Palace Ball sequence, including its spectacular set, stunning costumes and more. It’s a lavish and massive undertaking…and a magical day on set.

·       Alternate Opening: Ella's Childhood – View moments from Ella’s idyllic childhood that do not appear in the movie. With an introduction by Director Kenneth Branagh.

·       Frozen Fever – It’s Anna’s birthday, and Elsa and Kristoff are determined to give her the best celebration ever – but when Elsa catches a cold, her powers may put more than just the party at risk.

Let's make the kindness that Cinderella displayed more prevalent. Share your words of kindness at cinderellakindness.com for the Million Words of Kindness Campaign inspired by her motto to “have courage and be kind.”

You can find even more Cinderella fun on Facebook, @CinderellaMovie on Twitter, or @DisneyCinderella on Instagram. You can also visit Cinderella We Heart It.