Aschenputtel (1989)

Shortly before Cinderella’s mother dies, she promises her daughter that she will watch over her from heaven. The following year, Cinderella is not very enthusiastic when her father remarries. Cinderella’s domineering stepmother and her two spoiled daughters make Cinderella work hard for them and humiliate her. When her father goes shopping, her stepsisters ask him for new dresses for the prince’s three-day ball, where he intends to choose a princess as his bride. Cinderella asks only that her father bring her the first twig that brushes against his hat; planted on her mother’s grave, the twig quickly grows into a large hazel tree with magical powers. When Cinderella asks to be taken to the ball, her stepmother sets her the task of sorting a large plate of lentils (“the good ones in the pot, the bad ones in the crop”). Cinderella gets help from her friends, the pigeons. The magic tree grants her wish to catch a glimpse of the prince. The next day, when Cinderella is given permission to attend the ball, her stepmother tells her to sort a plate of peas. Once again, the pigeons help Cinderella. This time, the magic tree gives her a beautiful ball gown and a carriage. She immediately rides to the castle, where the prince asks her to dance. Since the tree’s magic lasts only until midnight, Cinderella hurries away from the ball when the clock strikes twelve. The prince’s search for his mysterious dance partner comes to nothing. The next day, when her stepmother locks Cinderella up, the pigeons help her again. Meanwhile, the prince is initially disappointed when Cinderella does not appear, but is all the more delighted when she arrives. When all the princesses present, dressed alike, faint at the sight of Cinderella, she feels ashamed of her origins and flees again; this time she leaves one of her dancing shoes on the castle steps. Her stepsisters are delighted when the prince travels throughout the country to find the mysterious owner of the shoe. Both cut off their heels so the shoe will fit, but the pigeons expose them when blood drips from their feet. The prince insists that Cinderella, who is hiding in the dovecote, try on the shoe. To the horror of her stepmother and stepsisters, it fits; Cinderella and the prince marry.