Prince Cinders (Animation)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Main Feature: B-

 

 

In a throwback to purposely-simple yet elegant animation, Prince Cinders (1994) pulls on the mythos of fantasy storytelling with some wit, if not the outright mockery and deconstruction of the Shrek franchise.  Staying within the classical fantasy storybook world, the title character has three mean brothers, then is turned into a funny-looking ape.  He too lands up with a fairy godmother, but she is as inept as Carol Kane in Scrooged (1988), so his order to become a bodybuilder built backfires and she cannot undo the spell.

 

Though it runs a mere 30 minutes, the piece has a kindness and refinement that makes it more child-friendly than the usual that we see in such programming, which explains why a company like First Run would want to add it to its growing stable of such titles.  It goes out of its way to respect the younger audience above what we usually see and that it is a quality production is a plus.  Babette Cole’s book is adapted by Robert Llewellyn, and is consistent, making this a nice if shorter than desired addition to any children’s library.

 

The full frame 1.33 X 1 image is drawn in soft, broad strokes to retain a book like feel.  Even with that, the definition is not bad under the circumstances, with a color palette that we do not see enough.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has no Pro Logic surrounds to speak of, but is clear enough to get all the jokes.  Dirk Higgins music enhances things nicely as well.  The only extras are 10 stills of cel art and previews for five other First Run DVDs aimed for family viewing.  This one holds its own.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo