OUAN401 : Brief 1 :study task 3: Animation analysis (overview #3:)

Semiotics analysis  :

In stark contrast to that , we have the step-mother who is considered by the later generation of animators to be one of Disney’s most terrifying villain, yet the most normal among them having no power or magical ability. The reason for this is brilliant subtleness and realism in the description of her.

During one of the first scene that we are introduced to her, we see Cinderella being called into her chambers. The room is dark , with black and purple as the main palette. And then , before we even get to see her full figure , her green piercing eyes are staring right at Cinderella like it is illuminated. She is then revealed , sitting in bed , doing nothing  but stroking Lucifer the cat with one of her hand, all the while still having that dead stare toward Cinderella and the audience.

Later on , we get a better look at the overall design of the step-mother.She is portray as always wearing dark high-neck dresses, with half-closed judging eyes, raised eyebrows and a darken aura that always spread over her in the scenes she appears, which effects even the backgrounds ( which are always dark and gloomy around her) . Moreover, her pointed chin and big nose reminisce that of an evil witch, which Disney has already established in Snow White, yet she always carrier a proper lady-like form. This of course is a symbol for her antagonistic nature, disciplines and harshness – one who is not only vicious but calculated and would look down upon Cinderella’s beauty through envious eyes and seek to cause her misery for it. She doesn’t need magical power because she is smart and she can take away anything she wants from the protagonist and she plans to take advantage of that every moment she gets. It is this realistic description of the relatable human nature that make her all the more terrifying to Cinderella and the audience.

On a slightly lower level than that, we have the step-sister , whose  rounded faces, big noses, overall “nasty” behaviors are the symbols of their antagonistic roles in the story . A slight different is , instead of having the icy, sinister aura of the mother, their appearance is more of a symbol for arrogance and idiocy ( the big noses and plump face – which signifies their spoiled nature and familiarity to being taking cared of ). This is perhaps why they served a more comedic role for the story.  ‘most of their scenes are played for laughs: they mangle ‘Oh Sing Sweet Nightingale’ (making even Lucifer cover his ears), prace like performing ponies at the ball, and have faces that could stop a sundial…The stepmother’s purpose in the film requires her to be more realistic in design because  she has to be a believable character that you relate to on the level of a real human being.’ The same with Cinderella and the Prince,… The stepsisters, the King, and the Grad Dauke are largely comic characters,’ ( Solomon,2015, A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes, p. 61.)