We love a Cinderella story, whether on page, stage, or screen. A “Cinderella story” conjures immediate thoughts of glass slippers, pumpkins transformed into carriages, and clocks striking midnight—but also of an underdog with a heart of gold, a glow-up moment, and a happily ever after. But have you ever stopped to consider just how prevalent this fairytale is in our modern-day lexicon? Let’s look to Hollywood movies as an example.
Romcoms
With a love story at its heart and the comedic potential of side characters (particularly the two stepsisters), perhaps it is no wonder that romcoms often use this story. Apart from those that are more direct adaptations, such as Hilary Duff’s A Cinderella Story, there’s Pretty Woman, She’s All That, Miss Congeniality, The Princess Diaries, Maid in Manhattan, What a Girl Wants, and Crazy Rich Asians, just to name a few. While many of these do have other ingredients that make them unique—and elements that bring them more in line with our modern-day sensibilities—they all essentially follow the Cinderella framework.
Classics
Many of the movies that have entered the pantheon of classics are Cinderella stories. The ballet-trained Hollywood actress and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn starred in her fair share, as the cockney flower seller Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, as the chauffeur’s daughter Sabrina in the film of the same name, and as shy shop assistant Jo in Funny Face.
Sports
Be it a story about a single athlete or a team, almost every sports film is a Cinderella story. You’ve got the Rocky franchise with Sylvester Stallone as an underdog boxer fighting a succession of mighty opponents. You’ve got Seabiscuit, where both the jockey and the horse are underdogs. And you’ve got ragtag sports teams aiming for glory, from football (Little Giants) and hockey (The Mighty Ducks) to basketball (Hoosiers) and dodgeball (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story).
Dance Films
Even dance films are not immune from a good Cinderella story. While the closing scene of Billy Elliot features Billy performing as the Swan in Swan Lake, this story of a 1980s British kid from a mining family chasing his dream of becoming a ballet dancer is a Cinderella story through and through. As is Flashdance, in which a young welder at a Pittsburgh steel mill dreams of attending the Conservatory of Dance and Repertory.
Romcoms
With a love story at its heart and the comedic potential of side characters (particularly the two stepsisters), perhaps it is no wonder that romcoms often use this story. Apart from those that are more direct adaptations, such as Hilary Duff’s A Cinderella Story, there’s Pretty Woman, She’s All That, Miss Congeniality, The Princess Diaries, Maid in Manhattan, What a Girl Wants, and Crazy Rich Asians, just to name a few. While many of these do have other ingredients that make them unique—and elements that bring them more in line with our modern-day sensibilities—they all essentially follow the Cinderella framework.
Classics
Many of the movies that have entered the pantheon of classics are Cinderella stories. The ballet-trained Hollywood actress and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn starred in her fair share, as the cockney flower seller Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, as the chauffeur’s daughter Sabrina in the film of the same name, and as shy shop assistant Jo in Funny Face.
Sports
Be it a story about a single athlete or a team, almost every sports film is a Cinderella story. You’ve got the Rocky franchise with Sylvester Stallone as an underdog boxer fighting a succession of mighty opponents. You’ve got Seabiscuit, where both the jockey and the horse are underdogs. And you’ve got ragtag sports teams aiming for glory, from football (Little Giants) and hockey (The Mighty Ducks) to basketball (Hoosiers) and dodgeball (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story).
Dance Films
Even dance films are not immune from a good Cinderella story. While the closing scene of Billy Elliot features Billy performing as the Swan in Swan Lake, this story of a 1980s British kid from a mining family chasing his dream of becoming a ballet dancer is a Cinderella story through and through. As is Flashdance, in which a young welder at a Pittsburgh steel mill dreams of attending the Conservatory of Dance and Repertory.
