Kind viewers, welcome to Cinema Scene. Today we are featuring Walt Disney Animation Studios take on three popular fairy tales: “Tangled,” “Princess and the Frog,” and “Cinderella.”

Our first feature is the 2010 3-D animation, “Tangled,” directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard. The storyline is a creative reworking of the Brothers Grimm’s 1812 German story of Rapunzel, a long-haired girl trapped in a tower. The film opens with the humorous narration of the dashing Flynn Rider, voiced by Zachary Levi. There was once a magical flower which contained many healing properties. The flower was used to save the ailing queen just before she gave birth to Princess Rapunzel.

Rapunzel, voiced by the popular singer-songwriter Mandy Moore, is thus born with enchanted golden hair. Wishing to possess the rare power of the hair for herself, the flower’s original keeper Mother Gothel, voiced by two-time Tony Award-winning Donna Murphy, kidnaps the infant. Years go by, and the long-haired Rapunzel is still locked up in the tower. All her life, she has been forbidden to go outside. As Rapunzel’s eighteenth birthday approaches, she hopes to visit the kingdom to view the “lights in the sky,” which she has seen every year from her tower.

Meanwhile, Flynn Rider steals the lost princess’s tiara from the palace. While evading the palace guards, he flees into the tower. Rapunzel overpowers the unsuspecting Flynn and prevents his escape. The two make a deal: if Flynn will take Rapunzel to see the light festival, she will let him go with the tiara.

They thus find themselves tangled in an adventure filled with all sorts of colorful and exciting characters. With witty humor and memorable songs, “Tangled” is a magical tale which inspires all to trust their intuition and follow their dreams. The film received a nomination for the 2011 Oscar for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song.

Let’s look at another Disney animated film, “The Princess and the Frog.” Written and directed by leading animation duo Ron Clements and John Musker, the 2009 production is an update of the Grimm brothers’ fairy tale “The Frog Prince.” Set in New Orleans, USA, our main characters, Tiana and Prince Naveen, are two very different individuals. Tiana, voiced by Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose, lives in a less fortunate part of town. Like her late father, Tiana is a talented cook and hopes to start her very own restaurant so she can share her father’s tasty, homemade veggie gumbo.

Prince Naveen of Maldonia, on the other hand, loves to freely roam the streets and play jazz music. After losing his entitlement to his parents’ finances, he has arrived at New Orleans in the hope of marrying a wealthy lady. A perfect candidate seems to be Charlotte LaBouff, voiced by Jennifer Cody, whose father is hosting a masquerade ball in Naveen’s honor.

Naveen and his assistant, Lawrence, voiced by Peter Bartlett, meet a local magician, Dr. Facilier, voiced by 2-time Primetime Emmy- winner Keith David. With malicious intentions of inheriting the LaBouff fortunes, the magician turns Naveen into a frog and gives Lawrence a talisman that makes him look like the prince.

When Tiana meets the frog Prince Naveen at the ball, he convinces her to kiss him to turn him back into a human, but instead, Tiana is also turned into a frog! The two must now set out in search of a means to lift Dr. Facilier’s curse. Along the way, Tiana and Prince Naveen are joined by a trumpet-playing crocodile, a firefly, and other benevolent friends.

“The Princess and the Frog” takes viewers on a lively journey, with a heartwarming message of overcoming differences and finding strengths in others. The film earned three Oscar nominations in 2010, for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song – two nominations – and Best Animated Feature Film of the Year.

Our final feature of the day is the all-time classic Disney fairytale from 1950, “Cinderella.” Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske, the film is based on pioneering French author Charles Perrault’s “Cendrillon.” The plot revolves around a girl named Cinderella, whose aristocrat father remarried the haughty Lady Tremaine, voiced by Eleanor Audley, and passed away shortly thereafter.

Cinderella is left with her stepmother and two stepsisters, Drizella and Anastasia, voiced by Rhoda Williams and Lucille Bliss, who treat the unfortunate girl as a household servant. Cinderella, voiced by Ilene Woods, wakes up every morning to a long list of chores. In the palace, the King holds a grand ball to find a suitable princess for his son, Prince Charming. Lady Tremaine assigns Cinderella a mountain of tasks that she must finish before she is allowed to attend the ball, while Drizella and Anastasia ruin the dress that her mouse friends helped make for her.

Just as the fair maiden loses all hope, a Fairy Godmother, voiced by Verna Felton, appears in front of her to make her dreams come true, but warns Cinderella that she must return home before the stroke of midnight, when the effects of the magic will wear off. At the ball, Cinderella’s beauty immediately wins over Prince Charming’s heart. The two dance together through the night. When the clock strikes midnight, Cinderella rushes out, accidentally losing one of her glass slippers.

The King sends the Grand Duke to every household in search of the girl who fits the glass slipper. Lady Tremaine, now aware that the girl they are seeking is in fact none other than Cinderella, will do everything in her power to prevent the Prince from finding this out. The spectacularly animated “Cinderella” is a true Disney classic which conveys a heartwarming message that good things happen to those who are honest, kind, and sincere. The film was nominated for three 1951 Oscars for Best Music, Original Song, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture, and Best Sound, Recording.

The fairy tale trio of “Tangled,” “The Princess and the Frog” and “Cinderella” all show that with sincerity and love, wondrous dreams do come true.

Thank you for watching today’s episode of Cinema Scene. Please stay with us on Supreme Master Television for Vegetarianism: The Noble Way of Living, coming up next after Noteworthy News. May the light of the Divine fill your lives with true bliss.