Cendrillon (Cinderella) (1899) Short, Drama, Fantasy (DVD)

Directed by: Georges Méliès (uncredited).

Starring: Barral, Bleuette Bernon, Carmely. 

Cinderella (French: Cendrillon) is an 1899 French film directed by George Méliès, based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. It was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 219–224 in its catalogues, where it is advertised as a grande féerie extraordinaire en 20 tableaux.

Méliès modeled the film's visual style on the engravings of Gustave Doré, who had illustrated the story for an edition of Perrault's fairy tales. (Doré was stylistically influential across Méliès's career, especially in this film and in his film adaptations of four other works Doré had illustrated: Red Riding Hood, Blue Beard, The Wandering Jew, and Baron Munchausen's Dream.) The direct inspiration for the film of Cinderella was probably a stage adaptation premiered in 1896 by the Théâtre de la Galerie-Vivienne and played by the Troupe Raymond at Méliès's own theatre of illustions, the Théatre Robert-Houdin, at Christmastime of 1897; Méliès may also have been inspired by the Théâtre du Châtelet's lavish 1895 stage production of the story.

Cinderella was Méliès's first film with multiple scenes (tableaux), using six distinct sets and five changes of scene within the film. (His catalogue, by dividing the action into smaller beats, lists twenty tableaux within the film, a generous numbering probably devised for publicity reasons.) So many extras were used in Cinderella that Méliès designated a Chief Extra to lead them.

Runtime: 5 Minutes 35 Seconds.

Contained in: Transparent Plastic Wallets.

Format: Either PAL or NTSC (depending on world location), Region 0 (Multi-Region/Worldwide).