The Bloody Version Of Cinderella
Public DomainA 1916 illustration shows one of Cinderella’s stepsisters preparing to mutilate her foot so it will fit in the lost shoe.
Cinderella is perhaps the quintessential Disney movie. A young girl with an evil stepmother and a dim future becomes a princess with the help of her fairy godmother and goes on to live happily ever after.
In the sequel, Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, one of her stepsisters even turns out not to be as cruel as she initially seemed. However, the Brothers Grimm version of the story wasn’t so forgiving to the young women.
After the ball, when the prince finds Cinderella’s lost slipper, he sets out to locate its owner, just as in the Disney movie. But then the tale takes a bloodier twist. When the first stepsister finds that her foot is too big for the shoe, her mother tells her, “Cut off your toe. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot.”
The slipper fills with blood, and the prince asks her sister to try the shoe on instead. The second stepsister then cuts off part of her heel in an attempt to fool the prince.
The royal finally tracks down Cinderella, and their wedding day soon arrives. The stepsisters attend the ceremony, but as they walk down the aisle, birds peck out their eyes, leaving them blind.
The 1950 Disney adaptation was sure to leave out all of the blood.
