Review: Cinderella and the Secret Prince

It seems like every time someone wants to make a low-budget fairy tale movie, their first thought is to come up with a new take on "Cinderella." One might think that after the extremely poor reception of Happily N'Ever After, this idea would have lost some traction. Yet, it seems that is not the case. Cinderella and the Secret Prince is a novel take on the classic tale that managed to escape my notice when it was released in 2018. Produced by a humble animation studio called Gold Valley Films, which only has four movies under its belt, I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt like I did with Charming, another low-budget fairy tale film that came out around the same time.

I discovered Cinderella and the Secret Prince on Plex, a free streaming service with a number of obscure shows and movies. Though I wasn't expecting much, I found it surprisingly charming. It is very reminiscent of the Barbie movies from the early 2000s that take classic fairy tales and put their own spin on them. The first few minutes are just like the "Cinderella" fairy tale, but then the story pivots in a completely new and unexpected direction. The person who helps Ella is not the Fairy Godmother herself, but the godmother's young apprentice, Crystal, while the true Fairy Godmother is hiding a dark secret. Then it turns out that the prince who Ella danced with at the ball was an imposter, and the true prince is trapped in the body of one of her mouse companions. The rest of the movie focuses on her quest to restore the prince to his true form and get revenge on the witch who cursed him.

It isn't just the story that reminds me of classic Barbie movies. The way that the characters express themselves with their hand gestures, clever smirks, and innocent sincerity are all very nostalgic of how characters from old Barbie movies would move and speak. It isn't too surprising, therefore, that the actress , who plays the role of Ella, is the current voice of Barbie's sister, Stacie, in the newer movies. While the animation looks older than something that came out in 2018, it's still charming with bright colors, expressive faces, and lovely medieval fashions that are reminiscent of Tangled  and other Disney Princess costume designs. Ella is a warm and optimistic princess who treats her friends with patience and understanding just like the classic storybook character.
I would say this was a pleasantly enjoyable film if it hadn't been for the way it ended. I don't think there's anything wrong with giving a movie a sequel or two to provide its fans with more content, but when you end a fairy tale film with a completely contrived problem that's clearly on there for sake of forcing its viewers to watch the sequel, that cheapens the movie and defeats the whole purpose of watching it in the first place. The follow-up to this film, which was shortened from Ella and the Little Sorcerer to Little Sorcerer, came out last year, to give the movie a proper conclusion, but I'm too irritated with the way this one ended to watch it. Who knows if that one is even a proper conclusion? All I can say is that this movie would have had a perfect ending if it had only finished a few minutes earlier.
At this point, I'm not really sure how to feel about this movie. It's an aesthetically pleasing low-budget "Cinderella" adaptation with many unexpected twists and turns, but the ending left me feeling so unsatisfied that I have no desire to watch the sequel. At least they followed up on their cliffhanger, unlike The Other Kingdom, a series I watched recently that ended on a huge cliffhanger with no follow-up. I would only recommend Cinderella and the Secret Prince to people who are feeling nostalgic for the older Barbie films so long as they are aware that it is the first of two parts and are willing to watch Little Sorcerer afterward to finish the story.