Over time, Walt Disney films have captured the hearts of millions of people. In particular, women, ranging from toddlers to grandmothers, love and admire the captivating tales of the Disney Princesses. Cinderella and Snow White are two magnificent tales of princesses and the trials and tribulations each young lady is put through. Though these stories differ in some ways, such as conflict and plot, one can see that both stories show how important friendship is to overcoming obstacles and finding true love. Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? ” In the enchanting tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, vanity is the true villain. In the village where Snow White lives, the evil queen is also her step mother. The queen is so vain, that she feels the need to make Snow White dress in rags in order to keep the young girl from surpassing her in beauty. The queen relies on the magic mirror to tell truth of who the fairest lady in the land is.
One morning after asking the mirror the consecutive question of beauty, the mirror responds, saying that a girl with the blackest hair and skin of snow is now the fairest lady in the land. The queen, enraged with jealousy, concludes that she must kill the beautiful Snow White in order to exceed her remarkable beauty. Snow White has a unique and wide variety of friends that help her through her trials and tribulations. Friendship is very important for Snow White’s survival. The first person that shows Snow White a form of friendship is the kinsman.
He is ordered to kill the young princess and bring the evil queen back her heart. Upon doing this task, the kinsman begins weeping and tells Snow White of the evil queen’s plan. He also tells Snow White that she needs to leave the village as soon as possible in order to live. Later, the man brings the queen back a heart of a pig in order to protect Snow White. The second group of friends that Snow White acquires is the loving, adorable creatures that live in the forest. These animals play an immense role in Snow White’s survival. Most importantly, the animals comfort her after she gets lost in the forest due to fear.
The animals help her to realize that everything will be okay, and she will live if she stays positive. Secondly, after Snow White asks the animals if they know of a place for her to live, they lead her to a cottage deep in the forest. After arriving at the cottage and realizing how dirty and unsanitary it is, all the adorable creatures help Snow White to clean the entire cottage and make it livable. Last, but certainly not least, Snow White becomes friends with seven wonderful little men. These dwarfs play a very important role in Snow White’s life.
Not only do these cherished characters give Snow White companionship and a place to live, but they also are the main reason she finds true love. Snow White encounters an old woman (the queen disguised as a witch) one day outside of the cottage and decides to help her. The Woman offers Snow White a magical apple that will make all of her dreams come true. Not knowing that the apple is poisonous, Snow White takes a bite hoping everything she has wished for will come true (namely marrying the prince). Snow White then loses consciousness and is left in the cottage alone on the floor.
When the dwarfs arrive home and realize what has happened to Snow White, they begin to do everything in their power to find her true love in order to bring her back to life. The dwarfs put Snow White in a glass coffin and eventually find the prince, who gives Snow White the kiss of life. At the end of the story, the stepmother (as the witch) is chased up to the top of a mountain by the dwarfs, after trying to murder Snow White. She tries to dislodge a boulder onto the dwarfs to kill them. Then, lightning strikes the edge she is standing on and she falls to her death, along with the boulder and presumably crushing her.
Cinderella is the much-loved only child of a widowed aristocrat. Cinderella’s father decides that she needs a mother’s love and marries a woman with two daughters. After her father’s untimely death, the true nature of her step family is revealed. Cinderella’s stepmother and spiteful stepsisters abuse and mistreat Cinderella. These are only some of the trials that Cinderella has to face. Like Snow White, the villain in this story is also the step mother of the main character, Cinderella. In this story, vanity and jealousy are also the cause the conflict.
The reason Cinderella is forced to wait on her stepfamily like a maid is because they are all envious of her beauty. Cinderella, like Snow White, has many friends that are crucial to her life. As Cinderella blossoms into a beautiful young woman who is kind despite her hardships, she befriends the animals that live in around her house. Cinderella’s animal friends include: Bruno the bloodhound, Major the horse, and many of the mice and birds who live around the chateau. Cinderella finds a mouse inside a trap, releases him, and names him Octavius, “Gus” for short.
She is also friends with a mouse named Jacques, “Jaq” for short, who is the leader of a mouse-pack. One day, after receiving an invite to the royal ball, Cinderella asks her stepmother if she may attend the ball. Her stepmother tells her that she may attend the ball only if she finishes her house work and can find a suitable dress to wear. Gus Jaq and all of Cinderella’s other animal friends help her to complete her chores and fix an old gown that belonged to Cinderella’s mother. They use Cinderella’s stepsisters’ discarded sashes and beads to decorate the old dress.
After Cinderella finishes her chores she puts on the dress and wears it in front of her stepmother. Her step mother realizes that the beads and sashes belong to her daughters, and she ruins the dress, crushing Cinderella’s dream of attending the ball. After being left home alone and losing all hope, one of Cinderella’s most significant friends shows up. Cinderella’s fairy godmother appears to her in the garden, and transforms her appearance for the ball. She transforms the mice into horses, Bruno the dog into a footman, Major the horse into a coachman, a pumpkin into the carriage, and transforms her orn dress into a beautiful blue ball gown with glass slippers. Cinderella departs for the ball after the godmother warns her that the spell will expire at the stroke of midnight. The Prince rejects every girl at the ball until he sees Cinderella, with whom he is immediately smitten. Cinderella and the prince dance throughout the castle grounds until the clock starts to chime midnight. Cinderella flees to her coach and away from the castle, accidentally dropping one of her glass slippers. After this happens, the prince arranges a search for the woman he has fallen in love with (Cinderella).
Cinderella’s animal friends exhibit their undying loyalty toward Cinderella once more whenever the Grand Duke arrives at the house to fit the shoe on the Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters. At this point, Cinderella’s stepmother has locked her in the attic room, knowing Cinderella is who the price has fallen in love with. After realizing the problem, the mice steal the key to Cinderella’s room from the stepmothers pocket and laboriously drag the key up the stairs to her room, barely managing to free her after a fight with the Stepmother’s cat Lucifer. Bruno comes to their rescue and scares the evil cat out of the house.
The prince then fits the shoe on Cinderella and realizes that he has found his true love. Walt Disney movies have taught people of all ages many different life lessons, but one very important lesson is portrayed in every captivating tale; the lesson of friendship. In the two treasured tales of Cinderella and Snow White, one can learn the true importance of friendship. Mainly one learns that friendship helps one to overcome obstacles, conquer fears, and to do other important things, such as find true love. These stories have different characters and conflict, but they both show the benefits and importance of having true friends.
