Bottom line:: Cinderella Diamond Edition features the classic movie with enhanced picture and sound and a wealth of bonus features.
MPAA Rating: GGenre: Animation
Guide Age Recommendation: 3+
Runtime: Approx. 75 minutes
Cinderella Diamond Edition - Overview
The Cinderella Diamond Edition Blu-ray is available in the following packs: 6-Disc Jewelry Box Set (which includes Cinderella II and III), 3-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack, 2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack, and High-Definition Digital.
The classic movie follows the story of Cinderella, a happy, gentle young girl who lives with her wicked step-mother and step-sisters. When the king throws a ball to help his son the prince choose a wife, it looks as though Cinderella will not be able to attend. But, with a little help from her fairy godmother, Cinderella goes to the ball and has a magical evening. Though she must return to her old life at the stroke of midnight, there may yet be a way for Cinderella to make all of her dreams come true.
The Blu-ray Diamond Edition presents Cinderella with enhanced picture and sound, along with the following bonus features:
- Personalized Digital Storybook: Bibbidi-Bobbidi-You
- Backstage Disney
- The Real Fairy Godmother
- Behind the Magic: A new disney Princess Fanatasyland
- The Magic of the Glass Slipper: A Cinderella Story
- Alternate Opening Sequence
- "Tangled Ever After": Movie short featuring the characters from Tangled
- Classic DVD Bonus Features
Photo © Disney
Cinderella Diamond Edition - Guide Review for Parents
The story of Cinderella is a classic for a reason -- no need to go into a review of the actual movie here. The timeless story comes to life in HD with the Diamond Edition and features fantastic sound and picture quality.
So the questions that remain are: Are the special features any good? and, Is the movie worth buying if you already own a DVD copy?
Starting with the special features...I have been incredibly impressed with all of the Diamond Edition Disney movies that have come out so far. Cinderella is no exception; however, if I were to rank the Diamond Editions in order of best to least best, Cinderella wouldn't be at the top.
The Blu-ray does not contain as many features as some of the other Diamond titles, and after an hour of trying (with the help of my techie husband, mind you), I was still unable to get the "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-You" digital storybook to sync with my laptop computer or my husband's Windows 8 Slate. Yes, that's right people, not everyone owns an iPad. I'm not saying the issue wasn't "user error," but I've been able to sync the "second screen" feature on every other Disney Blu-ray that offers it no problem.
My distraught 4-year-old and I still watched the digital storybook feature and played around with the second screen content without syncing it. That took all of about 10 minutes. We liked the "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-You" feature, but we weren't blown away by any means. For those who can get the feature to sync, the interaction with the Fairy Godmother does provide quite a magical element for young kids.
The Backstage Disney content isn't abundant, but with the feature on the real life inspiration behind the character of the fairy godmother, we finally found a special feature that sparkled. The story is both fascinating and inspiring. These little known making-of stories about real people and the way events serendipitously unfolded to make the early Disney movies masterpieces are what make the Diamond Edition titles truly special.
So to answer the question of whether or not buying the Diamond Edition of Cinderella is worth it, I would say it is if having HD versions of favorite movies is important to your family. Additionally, the bonus short "Tangled Ever After" is very popular with kids and, while it's only a short, it's fun to have it available to watch anytime. The movie makes a great gift or stocking stuffer for kids or older Disney fans, because even though it's not my favorite Diamond Edition Disney title, it still shines in HD and has a couple of solid bonus features that make it worthy of it's Diamond status.
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