3234. Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2001)

Starring: Jennifer Hale, Rob Paulsen, Corey Burton

Director: John Kafka

Running Time: 73 mins

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True is an American film and the sequel to Cinderella. Now a princess in the castle, Cinderella and her mice friends spend their days on a series of fun adventures as they shake up the system in the royal house.

Back in the days when Disney was churning out low-grade animated sequels by the bucketload, Cinderella II: Dreams Come True represents the very worst years of the company’s legendary history. Plastic, inane and awfully plain, Cinderella II is a million miles from the brilliance of its predecessor.

Having said that, I do remember watching this film as a kid. And I liked it. Obviously, it’s no Cinderella, lacking the fairy tale magic, emotional drama and thrilling pacing which makes that film such an iconic piece of Disney lore, but this sequel isn’t quite as offensive to that legacy as you may expect.

Coming together as a collection of short episodes in the castle that were probably meant to be shorts shown on Disney Channel in some way or other, Cinderella II is nowhere near as cinematic as its predecessor, but it’s arguably the perfect kind of film for the people it’s aimed at.

I was about 3 or 4 years old when this was released, and I can tell you that for those young, young viewers, the simplicity of Cinderella II is absolutely perfect. Light, predictable and most importantly rewatchable, the film has an innocent charm to it that, while not particularly likable, means it’s difficult to hate.

Of course, for older viewers, this episodic and shallow retreading of the Cinderella story will offer none of the entertainment value that the youngest viewers will get, but it does at least stand as a testament to just how good the original movie was.

This, while not totally terrible, is a million miles away from the majesty, drama and wonder of the original Cinderella. As the film that created so many of the the fairy tale tropes today, which it did in some style, watching how Disney managed to mess this sequel up is just another reminder of how incredible that original film is.

So, in short, Cinderella II: Dreams Come True is a fairly harmless albeit awfully plain straight-to-DVD sequel from Disney’s darkest years. However, it’s the perfect film to entertain young kids, while you go off and watch Cinderella again. That’s my message, don’t watch this, watch the original movie.