7 fun facts to celebrate Cinderella’s 70th anniversary

“Cinderella,” Disney’s 12th animated feature film, was released on Feb. 15, 1950, and worked its magic to save Walt Disney Productions from collapse.

The company was suffering from box office bombs and difficulty in distributing its films directly after World War II. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy. The studio was $4 million in debt and it was Walt Disney who started production of the film in 1948 hoping for a hit.

The film became the greatest critical and commercial success since “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” It helped turn the studio around. Here are seven fun facts about the film:

1. The voice of Cinderella, Ilene Woods, got the role without ever knowing she auditioned for the part. All Woods did was do a good deed and help out her songwriter friends who writing music for the movie by singing on the demos. She sang the demos for “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo,” “So This Is Love,” and “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” which were sent to Walt Disney. He liked her voice so much, he cast her without giving her a formal audition.

2. If the voice of Lady Tremaine in the film sounds a little familiar, consider this. Eleanor Audley, who was the voice and live-action model of Lady Tremaine, also provided the voice and was the live action model for Maleficent in “Sleeping Beauty.”

3. The Prince is never called “Prince Charming” in the film. He is never called any name in the film.

4. Lucifer the cat, was modeled after Disney animator Ward Kimball’s plump, six-toed calico cat called Feetsy. 

5.  William Phipps provided the speaking voice of Prince Charming. His singing voice came from future daytime talk show host Mike Douglas.

6. Take a close look at the carriage that Cinderella and the Prince take after the wedding. It has an emblem of a sword and two Hidden Mickey Mouse heads.

7. The studio re-released “Cinderella” in theaters six times: in 1957, 1965, 1973, 1981, 1987, and 2013.