Cinderella

Cinderella from Hey Cinderella!

Sesame Street News Flash

Numberella wears the number 21 to the ball.

Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Celebration

Prairie Dawn in the starring role of Cinderella.

Prairie Dawn interviewing Cinderella's pumpkin.

Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother, played by Andrea Martin, visit Sesame Street.

Cinderella is the featured character in a folktale which dates as far back as the 1630s. Over the centuries, the best known versions have been written and developed by the likes of Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm and Walt Disney.

The story continues to inspire artists. It was conceived as a made for television musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, while Stephen Sondheim included Cinderella as one of the principal storylines in his Broadway musical Into the Woods. Vince Gill and The Cheetah Girls have even recorded songs inspired by the rags to riches tale.

Portrayals

• In Hey Cinderella!, Belinda Montgomery plays the perpetually persecuted house-cleaner from the fairy tale that bears her name. She loves Arthur, the king's gardener, without knowing he's actually Prince Arthur Charming. She has a dog, Rufus, who helps her with the dishes and snarls at her Stepmother.

• On Sesame Street, Cinderella is usually portrayed by a Lavender Anything Muppet performed by Jerry Nelson, and at least once by Pam Arciero. Her stories have been chronicled in a number of Sesame Street News Flash segments.

• CinderElmo is a rare telling of the story with a male in the lead role, played by Elmo.

• Miss Piggy became Cinderella in Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Celebration with a little help from her ""fairy god-thing" (Gonzo).

• Baby Piggy imagines herself as Cinderella in the third season Muppet Babies episode, "Pigerella."

• Cinderella appeared in a Word of the Day segment with Pau Gasol, where she was played by Ryan Dillon.

References

• Abby Cadabby's mother, who Abby calls her Fairy Godmommy, is Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother. Abby has also used the word the magic word "allerednic" (Cinderella backward) on occassion, such as in episode 4134.

• A pilot for a proposed series was created for the Cinderella story, but never came to full fruition in that form. It has yet to be found.

• Numberella, a Sesame Street parody of Cinderella, was a storybook Gordon read to the kids, which was also acted out by several Anything Muppets.(YouTube)

• The Colambo caper "The Lost Slipper Caper," features Colambo helping Cinderella (performed by Louise Gold) figure out what happened to her glass slipper. The Prince shows up with it, and takes Colambo with him to the palace.(EKA: Episode 3050)

• The Muppets on Puppets features a unique retelling of the story, with Little Girl Sue in the title role.

• In 1980, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy hosted an episode of Great Performances in which they watched the San Francisco Ballet's production of Prokofiev's Cinderella.

• Dinosaurs: Classic Tales featured a parody, "Cinderellasaurus".

• Zoe takes the lead in a version of the "Cinderella" story in the 2004 Sesame Street coloring book, Big Bird's Favorite Fairy Tales. Ernie and Bert play the wicked stepsisters, leaving Zoe home alone while they go to the ball to meet Grover, the Prince. Fairy godmother Rosita helps to put everything right.

• Elmo reprises his role as CinderElmo in the 2008 book Storybook ABCs; Abby Cadabby turns a pumpkin into a coach for him.

• As Piggy has trouble fitting in a pair of shoes that Kermit likes in episode 423 of The Muppet Show, Floyd Pepper pokes fun at her struggling by referring to her as Cinderella.

• Miss Piggy attends a Costume Ball as Cinderella in the short story The Great Dress Disaster.

• Miss Piggy, donned in Cinderella's dress and riding in her pumpkin coach, is presented a glass slipper by Taye Diggs in a commerical for the promotion Give a Day. Get a Disney Day.

• In The Sesame Street Dictionary, the Sesame Street Players put on a pageant of Cinderella, with Prairie Dawn taking on the lead role (with an illustration by Joe Mathieu).

• A 2005 episode of Sesame Street features Elmo, Zoe, and Baby Bear playing with a ball that is actually Cinderella. Her Fairy Godmother accidently turned her into a ball instead of sending her to the Ball, and through yet another mix-up sends the trio to the Prince's Ball with Cinderella.

• In a 2010 episode of Sesame Street, Rosita, Abby, and a penguin are playing princess-roller skating, but the penguin can’t find her second skate. A Prince, played by Paul Rudd, pulls out a glass slipper, but the trio continues to search for the roller skate instead.

• In a 2005 episode of Sesame Street, Telly is in search of interviews for Monster on the Spot, but Cinderella quickly brushes him off.

• Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother (played by Andrea Martin) visit Sesame Street in episode 4061.

• Cinderella and her Pumpkin Coach appear in Elmo's Lift-and-Peek Around the Corner Book.

• Another 2005 episode has the Count suggesting that Snuffy make a wish to float in the clouds, since wishing worked for Cinderella.

• In episode 4139, Abby poofs both Peter Piper and Prince Paul Charming (modeled after the Beatle) to Sesame Street, where the Prince searches Hooper's Store to find the foot that fits the glass slipper.

• Telly joins Ernie's pretend tea party, for which he invited the Friendly Giant, Cinderella and Super Adventure Boy in episode 3886.

• Big Bird reads the Kids a version of Cinderella in a 2008 episode of Sesame Street.

• Prairie Dawn interviews the pumpkin from Cinderella, the beans from Jack and the Beanstalk, and the apple from Snow White in an episode of "Fairy Tales Today." (EKA: Episode 3426)

• Savion reads Baby Natasha the story of Cinderella while attempting to get her to fall asleep during a 1993 episode of Sesame Street.

• Maria shows the magic wand and wings that Gabi wore when she played the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella in episode 3926 of Sesame Street.

• A segment of Abby's Flying Fairy School titled "Cinderella Challange," shows how the class must participate in the "Cinderella Challenge" to gain their Fairy Godmother wings. (EKA: Episode 4191)

• Baby Bear draws Cinderella's carriage in the book Love, Elmo.

• During a "Sesame Street News Flash" Pinocchio says, "My name is Cinderella and for breakfast I ate two dragons!" Of course, he's lying and his nose grows.

• In The Sesame Street 1977 Calendar, Cinderella is shown for the month of February. The illustration was reused for The Sesame Street Library Volume 5.

• The book Look and Find Muppets features a Cinderella themed page.

• The Muppet Babies once again take on the tale in the Big Book of Nursery Rhymes & Fairy Tales.

• According to Ernie in a tweet, Cinderella plays for the Fairy Tale Football League.

• In Elmo's Alphabet Challenge, Abby's Fairy Fly Pad features a locating application that finds where Cinderella's glass slipper is.

Connections

• Jason Alexander played Lionel in the 1997 TV musical.
• Julie Andrews played Cinderella in the 1957 TV musical.
• Kaye Ballard played stepsister Portia in the 1957 TV musical.
• Brandy played Cinderella in the 1997 TV musical.
• Matthew Broderick played Prince Henry in the 1985 Faerie Tale Theatre episode
• Helena Bonham Carter played the Fairy Godmother in the 2015 remake of the Disney version
• Mike Douglas played the singing voice of the Prince in the Disney animated film Cinderella (1950)
• Whoopi Goldberg played the Queen in the 1997 TV musical.
• Edie McClurg played stepsister Bertha in the 1985 Faerie Tale Theatre episode
• Rob Paulsen voiced the Grand Duke in various Disney tie-ins, including Cinderella III: A Twist in Time (2007, direct-to-video), audio books, trailer looping for the 1950 feature, and more
• Bernadette Peters played the Stepmother the 1997 TV musical.
• Vincent Price co-narrated the CBS Radio Workshop episode "Speaking of Cinderella, or If the Shoe Fits" (April 06, 1956)
• Amy Sedaris voiced Cinderella in Shrek the Third (2007)
• Jean Stapleton played the Fairy Godmother in the 1985 Faerie Tale Theatre episode
• Lesley Ann Warren played Cinderella in the 1965 TV musical.