Watch The New CINDERELLA Featurette And Trailer

“Cinderella is not a pushover. She sticks up for herself,” says director Kenneth Branagh in the new behind the scenes look at CINDERELLA.

A live-action feature inspired by the classic fairy tale, “Cinderella” brings to life the timeless images from Disney’s 1950 animated masterpiece as fully-realized characters in a visually-dazzling spectacle for a whole new generation.

Listen as the cast and filmmakers discuss the making of the new film.

Disney has been interested in bringing the enduring story of “Cinderella” to the big screen for some time, to re-introduce the epic love story to audiences of today and build on the characters so well loved around the world. The original “Cinderella” was a monumental moment in Disney’s cinematic history. With a production budget of nearly $3 million, the film was a huge financial risk for the studio at the time, but it opened to critical acclaim and grossed more than $34 million, firmly solidifying the studio as a major force in the industry. Today, the film is included on the American Film Institute’s list of the “10 Greatest Animated Films of all Time” and is one of the studio’s most cherished titles.

Adds Branagh, “In the script, we tried to make absolutely clear that we were presenting a girl whose life would not be dependent on or defined by a man arriving. Her life would not be dependent on or defined by glamorous or expensive things arriving. Also, this girl would not be defined by having some easily available magical or supernatural force, like a fairy godmother, as an omnipotent, omniscient agent who would take care of everything. The Fairy Godmother helps of course, but as in life, things are mostly up to the individual. Cinderella rises to the challenge. It all goes back to this idea of Cinderella’s basic humanity informing the whole piece. It has the fun. But it also has the heart.”

See the live-action version of the classic fairy tale when it opens in theatres March 13, 2015.

Photo: © 2014 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved