Three Wishes for Cinderella

[baleanoptera]

I don't know why but summer always makes me rather nostalgic. Last year that resulted in listening to a lot of old music, this year I've apparently turned my head towards tv shows I've loved. Be warned etc...

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:..or if you will:
Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel,
Tři oříšky pro Popelku,
or Tre Nøtter til Askepott

Granted she does wear beautiful dresses and gets her prince, but the Cinderella of my youth was also a cross-dressing, crossbow shooting girl who rode to her ball instead of doing that whole carriage thing. That’s because my Cinderella was the one shown in the Czechoslovakian and German production "Three Wishes for Cinderella".





This is Popelku, or Cinderella if you will, with her rather wonderful horse. When I was little I was so envious of that horse. Also the first scene of her riding showed her riding without a saddle. This impressed me greatly!

Out on this riding trip she also meets the Prince and throws a snowball at him, ruins his hunt and steals his horse. Ahh...young love.



Then there is the Prince, here seen with his friends. The Prince loves riding, hunting and wearing brightly coloured tights. Here he is seen sporting a rather fetching red pair. To be honest I never cared that much for the Prince. He might be charming, but he isn't very clever and our Cinderella has to spell everything out for him again and again.

Also when the King tells him it's time he married someone he moans:
"But it was easier for you father. You got to marry Mother. I have to find some complete stranger!"
So um...yeah, not the sharpest knife in the drawer.




The twist with this version of the Cinderella story is that instead of a fairy godmother Cinderella gets three hazelnuts. Thanks to an owl and some never properly explained magic they crack to reveal different sets of clothes. The first is a hunting outfit, then a ball gown and the last is her wedding gown.

(In fact I was so used to this Cinderella version that when I first saw the Disney version the whole fairy godmother thing confused me. Imagine me at around nine going:" Huh? Who is this woman in blue? Why is she waiving a wand - and what's the deal with those mice!?")

As a result of these outfits a lot of the plot centres around Cinderella, in various disguises, meeting the Prince and him falling in love with her. As mentioned above on of the hazelnuts contain a hunting outfit. Since Cinderella's late father obviously believed in gender neutral upbringing he taught his daughter to ride like a boy, and how to hunt and be very good with a crossbow. So Popelku dresses up like a boy hunter, joins the Prince's hunting party and ends up winning a shooting contest.



In addition to this all the classic tropes of the fairytale are here, including the annoying stepsister. Here the stepsister is doing her "I get to go to the ball and you don't" routine. Well, we all know that is going to come back to bite her in a karmic way.




And of course the wicked stepmother who alongside being wicked has a rather fascinating taste in hats and headgear. This being the most infamous one.




Nut number two contain this ball gown, and solves Cinderella's problem of not having anything to wear for the ball. (Take that wicked stepsister!)
I've been trying to find a picture that shows the whole gown, but sadly no.
At the ball the Prince truly falls for Cinderella, and says he has found the bride he wants. Cinderella remains rather cool and collected and says he has forgotten one thing.
"What is that?", the Prince asks.
"To ask if she will have you."

When you’re around eight this sort of dialogue makes a huge impression. ;D



Now it turns out she does want him and he is allowed to place the famous shoe on her foot. At this point I still didn't care that much for the prince - however I really liked the dress and the horse.

I grew up with this show on Norwegian television. It's broadcast every 24th of December in a very strange, dubbed version. The songs on the other hand were kept in their original Czech, so it wasn’t until I heard the German version I realised what the lyrics were about. Now the songs might be cheesy, but I don’t care. I love them like you can only love something you’ve grown up with and always adored. Above is the German version and here is the Czech version.

The best fanpage about the show is here.

Also I must thank sillyheart for a post that inspired this whole nostalgia trip.

Comments

[22by7.livejournal.com]

ooh, boy!Popelku is so cute. (and i think i prefer the name 'Popelku' now!) also, i swear the the stepmother's outlandish umbrella-hat was actually seen on the heads of students and their mothers back at my high school - it was quite the fashion for a year :/

[richlayers.livejournal.com]

This looks great! I'll have to see if I can get it on netflix....

Also... you should so crosspost this to told_tales. :)

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

I'd definitely recommend it. If possible try to get an un-dubbed version with text. I understand the dubbed British version lacks a few scenes.


And I'll gladly crosspost.

[adraefan.livejournal.com]

I've decided that when something is three things - wonderful, terrifying, bad-ass - it is the best it can be.

And this is definitely all three of those things. I especially like that hat! And the song! Oy.

[sunnyskywalker]

This looks like the best Cinderella ever! She looks so adorable and awesome :D I'm definitely going to have to look for this - and then get my sister to watch it, because the Disney version was her favorite movie when she was little, and I think she'd appreciate this one.

[sillyheart.livejournal.com]

Awwwwwww the video!!! Made me all teary hehehe gosh I'm such a softy! Never actually heard the song that goes with it but the singer I think I Karel Gott most famous for singing the title melody of "Die Biene Maja" in German. I once met him, wohoo good on ya, me!

Oh I so wish I could have the DVD with english sub titles so I could show it to my boyfriend (who'd hate it because he's so manly and all that haha but I'd just cry my eyes out!

Thanks for posting this!

xxSilke

[notexotic.livejournal.com]

Here via told_tales.

This looks like something I would have adored as a kid--too bad I didn't grow up in Germany! I particularly love the fact that she takes herself to the ball, thank you very much. And the stepmother's hat is truly epic. Thank you so much for sharing this!

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

I've decided that when something is three things - wonderful, terrifying, bad-ass - it is the best it can be.

Hee! This is a statement I can get behind!

The hat is a thing of wonder. I'm forever grateful to the costume person who thought up that hat. It's possibly one of my favourite character props ever. Take one look at that hat and you pretty much know what the Wicked Stepmother is all about.

As for the song...well..I blame this film for giving me a soft spot for German Schlager songs. ;) (though it must be said I actually like the song better in its Czech version, even if I then don't understand a words of what is sung. Possibly it's the nostalgia of it all. Btw - there is a discussion: In what way does nostalgia and sentimental feelings influence the aesthetic judgement? And is it wrong if it does?)

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Hee. the video makes me all teary also. Then again I still get all giddy and excited at the scene where Popelko enters the castle, walks down the hall and everybody turns to look at her.

And if its any consolation my significant other also goes a little WTF? about this film. ;)

As for thanks - you are more than welcome! After all if its wasn't for your music post this post wouldn't have existed!

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm biased - but I think it is the best Cinderella ever. hee. Possibly because Cinderella herself is such a strong character - at least in comparison with other version.
(that said I did eventually come to love the Disney version as well - especially the singing mice. Because who cannot love singing mice, huh?)

I don't know how available this is in English though. DVD's have been released in both German and Norwegian, but not in English. But I think the English-dubbed version is to be found on YouTube.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

The Hat has been seen in real life? Oh my! I wish I could have seen it. It's one of my favourite movie props ever. Mostly because it's so outrageous, but also because it actually says quite a lot about the character.

And boy!Popelku is the best. Interestingly enough the Prince flirts with boy!Popelku as well - including setting the prize ring for the hunting contest on Popelku's finger. But then again the Prince spends most of his time running around in the forest with his two best mates, and sometimes they pretend they are women and dance with each other. There are also tussles in the snow. You might think I'm kidding - but wearily I'm not. ;)

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed!

I also love the fact that she takes herself to the ball. I also love that even if she gets the hunter costume via a nut, this wouldn't have meant anything if she wasn't already a skilled hunter. So yay Popelku!

And the stepmother's hat is a thing of love. I wish I knew how they came up with the design!?

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Nostalgia can sometimes be a good thing! ;)

The thing with the portable cassette player sound familiar. I think I've done the same thing once or twice myself. But not with The Slipper and the Rose, though I think I've seen it. Part of the plot centres around the Prince needing to marry for a political alliance, and therefore falling for Cinderella and marrying for love is a problem. Or am I recalling this completely wrong? (the latter is always a possibility. ;P)

And impish spunk describes Popelku very well! I like that.

[adraefan.livejournal.com]

Btw - there is a discussion: In what way does nostalgia and sentimental feelings influence the aesthetic judgement? And is it wrong if it does?

Ooh, that's a good one. I guess if it's nostalgia influencing your judgment, then clearly it's not a purely aesthetic experience anymore. Of course, no one lives in a vacuum and we take our experiences with us to every piece of art. (Though there are certainly things which are so alien and, once we get over the Otherness, we can start to appreciate from a more objective standpoint - but is it good or bad to miss inside jokes while forming an overall aesthetic opinion? I speak of Bollywood, of course.) Ooh, here's a suggested definition of the transcendental: aesthetic pleasure that provokes an (artificial) feeling of nostalgia!

[notexotic.livejournal.com]

this wouldn't have meant anything if she wasn't already a skilled hunter

Very true! Good for her.

Would you mind terribly if I friended you? It seems we have quite a bit in common and I'd love to see more of your posts.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Please go right ahead. It's always fun to meet new people. I'll add you back. :)

[shiruji-angie.livejournal.com]

Popelku is the real Cinderella for me too ;)
The jokes are funny, she is beautiful, the whole thing is more realistic, and I love the doves-scenes in that movie, and every Christmas I wake up, being very happy and childish, because "Tre nøtter til Askepott" is on television that day!!! :D And to me it's naturally that it is a man who's doing all the voices, even Popelku's voice, because I'm so used to hear him :p

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

hee. yes, it just isn't Christmas without Popelku. And I really like the dove scenes too, and the little bit about her dog. It is all those little things that make me love this adaptation really. That and the fact that she is a really tough chick. ;)

And a big yes about the dubbing. It wouldn't be the same without him trying to sound all high-pitched as the step-mother. *g*