Cinderella In Hitchcock's 'The Birds'

Chapter 2

Ladybirds’ Cinderella (Fig. 6) from 1944 was an exception in publishing during this period. It is this very book that helped Ladybird move from the war era into the modern commercial era. This was because the book was published just as WWII was ending, meaning that more money was available to the company and they could finally afford to produce a book that was in some way a homage to how their books were produced before the war. As labour and materials was still scarce, the company had to find a cost effective way of narrating the story. As there have been many versions of Cinderella throughout history, Ladybird altered the known version to become simplistic and short; such as only containing one ball instead of three along with

Not everything adds up, such as the white tudor windows but I think this is where artistic license comes into play. I think this is a way of placing the story in a recognisable, everyday scene. Another example of how Winter’s Cinderella resembles pop-culture sources is when she is running through the forest in a later scene. She is a mirror image of Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” (1963) (Figs. 11 and 12). As you can see the comparison is quite striking. It must also be noted her dress style. She is seen in a very modern dress which doesn't exactly say “poor”. This is another example, in my opinion, of how the artist places the setting in a more modern day scene. This aids in the audience empathising and understanding the story and it’s characters more. Cinderella is also seen wearing four costume dresses in the book; one pink, one blue, one white and gold along with her white wedding dress. Her pastel pink dress makes the cover yet her blue dress doesn’t. I think this was used as a way of differing the book with Disney’s version and setting it apart. Winter filled the pages of this book with a popart version of Cinderella disguised in an advertising style that people latched onto. This book of Cinderella, from 1964, has been known as the pivotal version of the character and story amongst children of that