The singer, who also co-produced the film, was originally supposed to play Cinderella, but eventually chose the Fairy Godmother role instead it was her suggestion to cast Brandy in the lead. Houston as the Fairy Godmother, meanwhile, still remains one of Hollywood’s best casting decisions ever. The multicultural casting alongside Brandy only added even more representation into the mix, including the prince, played by the Filipino-American actor Paolo Montalbán. It was a choice not without its hurdles, however: “There was an executive at Disney-who will remain nameless-and he was very nervous about a Black Cinderella,” Craig Zadan, an executive producer, told Shondaland for an oral history of the film. Brandy, a teen icon at the time, became the first Black princess in Disney’s history, giving an opportunity for young Black girls to see themselves represented on-screen. When Iscove’s Cinderella was first released, it broke barriers.
If you’re intrigued, and haven’t had the chance to see it, you’re in luck: It will be available to stream (for the first time ever!) on Disney+ starting Friday. Manaha calls herself a super ordinary girl but one day she gets a chance to enter the pageant. Her dream since she was a child was to enter the Miss Seiran Contest, a beauty pageant that decides who is the most beautiful girl in school. Because of all of this, the film continues to have a devoted fanbase, even more than two decades after its release. Kamiya Manaha is a high school girl with little confidence in herself.
Its fantastic costumes, original songs (scored by Rodgers and Hammerstein), and diverse casting infused the classic story with a fresh, new feel.
BLACK CINDERELLA TV
With such a wonderful, star-studded cast including the legendary Whitney Houston, Brandy, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bernadette Peters, it’s hard to believe it was a TV movie. The tale of Cinderella has been told countless times, but for me, the best take on the fairy tale has always been Robert Iscove’s 1997 version.
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