20/20 (1978–…): Season 0, Episode 0 - Cinderella: The Reunion, A Special Edition of 20/20 - full transcript

(VOCALIZING)

- ♪ Impossible ♪
- ♪ Impossible ♪

♪ Impossible ♪

I remember it like
it was yesterday.

BRANDY: To be the first woman
of color to play her.

Cinderella can be
whoever you want her to be,

because it's a fairy tale,
and that's the beauty.

For Whitney Houston
to be my fairy godmother.

You got a problem with that?

She's gospel fairy
godmother, honey.

As Black as you
could possibly be.



♪ The prince is giving a ball
The prince is giving a ball ♪

DEBRA: I had people tell me
that it wouldn't work.

That we were crazy.

At the time, it was
an extraordinary idea.

Suddenly, you have
a Black woman as a queen,

a white man as the King,
and an Asian man as the prince.

Christopher Rupert
Windermere Vladimir

Carl Alexander François Reginald

Lancelot Herman Gregory James.

What?

♪ And we'll never
come down again ♪

In our gut, we were like,
"This could be really special."

Oh, my God.

If you can dream
it, you can be it.



What you're saying to young
people that were watching,

"This could be you."

(MAJESTIC MUSIC)

(CHILD GIGGLING, MAGICAL MUSIC)

SINGER:♪ When you
wish upon a star ♪

♪ Makes no difference
who you are ♪

♪ Anything your heart desires ♪

♪ Will come to you ♪

TODRICK: Cinderella, can you
believe it's been 25 years

since we shot this thing?

Girl, 25 years and I'm still
wearing this same dress.

Still got it.

Anything change, though?

Ooh, my feet hurt.

Ain't that the truth.

When I was a little girl,
Cinderella to me,

what I saw was
a little blond girl, you know,

she'd be in a garden
with butterflies and bluebirds,

I mean, that was me.

The image that I had
in my head of Cinderella

was Disney's original
animated version.

It was a girl in a blue,
big poofy blue dress

with blond hair.

Her personality was just
very bright, very bubbly.

I mean, she sang with a bird.

♪ A dream is a wish ♪

♪ Your heart makes ♪

Cinderella is an underdog,
Cinderella has lost her father,

and her stepmother is very mean
and keeps her in the basement.

She was a dreamer, and no matter
how she was treated,

she still found her kindness
and found her center.

That inspired me
as a little girl.

If you had asked me before
I saw this specific Cinderella

what a princess was,
I would have immediately thought

blond hair, blue eyes.

Never would I have thought

she was a Black girl
with a raspy sultry tone

to her voice with braids.

There are no hard
and fast rules for fairy tales,

except one, believe in magic.

My favorite princess is Moana.

My favorite princess is Elsa.

My favorite princess is Aurora.

My favorite princess
is Cinderella

because my grandmother's
favorite color is blue.

GIRL: Tiana is my
favorite princess.

Because, like,

I don't really see that many
Black princesses around.

She's more diverse.

So my dreams when
I was a young girl

was to be a singer,

have my own band,
and meet Whitney Houston.

That was it.

I had no idea that my destiny
would take me to a role,

Cinderella, be the first woman
of color to play her,

and then for Whitney
Houston to be...

my fairy godmother?
You got to be kidding me.

DEBRA: I came on board
as Whitney's producing partner.

Whitney loved Cinderella.

It was one of the things she
was most proud of in her career.

She totally understood
the value, the importance,

the significance of having
a Black Cinderella.

I think people are so
fascinated with Cinderella

and the reason why
it's so timeless

is because it is about someone
coming from a place of struggle.

DEBRA: Brandy, at that moment,
was singularly special.

She was 17.

She had a big, successful
television series in "Moesha"

and she also had put out her
first album, so she had it all.

Whitney called me, and she said,
"I've got this project,

Debra and I've got this project,
and we want you to do this movie

called Cinderella,
we want you to play Cinderella."

And I said, "I thought you
were going to be Cinderella."

She was like...

I'm 33 now, I'm not quite
feeling like Cinderella.

"No, honey, I'm not
gonna be Cinderella.

I want you to be Cinderella."

And I started screaming,
I run... ran around the house.

It's a real life fairy tale
for me as myself

and for the character.

It's like a parallel, like I'm
Cinderella, but I'm also...

my dream is also coming true
as Cinderella's dreams

are coming true.

It's all happening
at the same time.

This is a very,
very historical moment, though.

For me.

- No, baby, but...
- I'm standing next to you.

I'm the fairy godmother,
and that's kind of cool.

- Isn't that cool?
- I mean, yeah.

I mean, you're the
perfect Cinderella,

and I'm your fairy godmother.

TODRICK: I had seen Julie
Andrews perform a Cinderella,

Leslie Anne Warren perform,
but I was a huge fan of Brandy,

and I was like
this is going to be a version

of Cinderellathat people

will probably never forget,
and turns out I was right.

♪ In my own little corner
In my own little chair ♪

♪ I can be whatever
I want to be ♪

When she sang "In My
Own Little Corner"

just about this girl
who's lonely and just fantasizes

in her own little corner,
that's her place in life

where she feels safe.

BERNADETTE: She brought an
innocence that's really beautiful.

"In My Own Little Corner"
is what's known in the theaters,

the "I want song", and almost

every musical has that,
where the main character,

you get to know
what do they want.

♪ In my own little corner ♪

♪ All alone ♪

I wish... I wish I
could go to the ball.

DEBRA: When I grew up, I didn't
see people who looked like me

on the screen.

Big or little.

And you don't feel included.

Well, how much does
society value me.

The standard of
beauty was different.

Like, you know, I
remember growing up,

it was blonds have more fun.

I did not think I was beautiful.

And people reminded me
that I wasn't beautiful.

You know, confirming
what I thought of myself.

All of these things
that are subtle,

but around you all the time,

they make you
question who you are

and how far you can go
and what you can be,

and what you can do.

But there's something higher
that can dream bigger for you.

I thought I was
ugly, and then...

I turned out to be
the first Black princess.

That's pretty mind blowing.

The casting of this
was one of the hardest things

I have ever done.

We made the decision
that we were going to do

not color blind casting,
but diverse casting.

There was no specific we want
a Black king or a white king,

it was, you know, whatever came
together, however casting works.

So the idea of having Cinderella

be a young Black
girl at the time

was an extraordinary idea.

But then suddenly you have
a Black woman as a queen,

a white man as the king,

and an Asian man as the prince,

and at first glance
you go, "What?"

Honestly, it didn't really
occur to me until I realized,

"Oh, this is very diversified",
and then afterwards, I thought,

"Oh, this is really special."

You know, periodically,

we're sitting and
watching things happen,

and, you know, you whisper

to the person next to you,
"Can you believe this?"

Cinderellawas never
done that way before.

Um, which was saying
to young people

that were watching
"This could be you."

There's a place for everybody.

There's a chance for everybody.

It's a story for every little
boy and girl of every color.

What did you say your name was?

BRANDY: Cinderella.

WHITNEY: People didn't want me
to do this project,

and I felt like
this is the project

that I am going to
do no matter what.

It was just a fantastic bold,

brave, wonderful,
progressive idea.

♪ Impossible ♪

♪ For a plain yellow pumpkin
To become a golden carriage ♪

♪ Impossible ♪

♪ Impossible ♪

How do I want to
sing "Impossible?"

Hmm...

♪ Impossible ♪

That would be like the...

(HARMONIZING)

...is like the R&B.

You were not doing
that in the movie.

I did something
completely different,

just kept it straight.

Brandy was an R&B singer.

Gospel was in her roots as well,

so this kind of
singing was new to her.

But you know what,
she embraced it like a champ.

Honestly, my ultimate
favorite moment

was never in the movie.

It's in the studio with Whitney.

This is Cinderella.

She doesn't know that

- This is Cinderella.
- when I first released my album,

her name was like in
all of my interviews.

- She was excellent.
- And she's standing next to me.

Nothing beats that.

Nothing beats that moment.

Their chemistry was
just off the charts.

I think Brandy
admired her so much.

I think Whitney was
so loving to her,

and what could be more
perfect than that?

Than having your fairy
godmother be someone

that loves you,
and you look up to.

WHITNEY: She's a very sweet
and innocent child.

Do that note and go
all the way back from the mic,

and I'll come forward.

Who just really
needs encouragement

to get to the next step.

I just wanted to do it right.

♪ Impossible ♪

Brandy has a lighter voice,
and she's, you know,

this young girl, and
she has this kind of

husky breathiness that's very
appealing and worked great

with "In My Own Little Corner"

and, uh, "Impossible."

Im... Do the end.

- ♪ It's possible ♪
- It's poss...

- ♪ It's possible ♪
- ♪ It's possible ♪

- It's...
- ♪ It's possible ♪

- ♪ It's possible ♪
- ♪ It's possible ♪

And Whitney had that strong,
you know, really clear.

♪ Impossible ♪

Real clear belt.

I loved the mixture
of the two voices.

- ♪ It's possible ♪
- ♪ It's possible ♪

- ♪ It's possible ♪
- ♪ It's possible ♪

- ♪ It's possible ♪
- ♪ It's possible ♪

Got that?

♪ But the world is full
of Zanies and fools ♪

♪ Who don't believe
in sensible rules ♪

♪ And won't believe
What sensible people say ♪

♪ And because these daft
And dewy-eyed dopes ♪

♪ Keep building up
impossible hopes ♪

♪ Impossible things ♪

♪ Are happening every day! ♪

She's gospel fairy
godmother, honey.

She sang the
(BLEEP) out of that.

♪ Impossible! ♪

You know, and Brandy
was like Black princess.

And just because of the quality
of her voice,

It's a completely
different story.

♪ Impossible ♪

- ♪ Impossible ♪
- ♪ Impossible ♪

- ♪ Impossible ♪
- ♪ Impossible ♪

♪ Impossible ♪

I remember it like
it was yesterday.

And I'm nervous, but I'm not
nervous because I feel so...

I can be myself around her.

And then she feels like she can
be herself around me.

And so this... this, like,
magic is happening,

and I'm like, "Oh, my God,
she really sings like this."

♪ Imposs... ♪

♪ Imposs...♪ This is the note.

- ♪Imposs...
- ♪ Impossib...

Why are you down there?

Because I can't sing
as high as you, girl.

- ♪ Impossible ♪
- I can't do that.

♪ Impossible ♪

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

On the camera's mark.

CREW: Play back.

The feeling of this whole
project is magical.

Once Whitney and Brandy
became involved with it,

it seemed like we had to change

how we were going to
present the musical.

BILLY: She's a Black woman!

And sassy, and like...

Okay, this is a Black
show now, honey,

and there ain't no turning back.

You want to know
what her problem is?

she can't handle how
fabulous you are.

If there's ever one night,
and I want to go out to a ball,

and someone shows up in an old
frumpy blue and pink dress

and singing "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-
Boo" you're not it, okay?

I want the Whitney
fairy godmother

to come and take me to the ball.

She was a tough fairy godmother,
she's very snappy.

And the small suggestion under
it is you want to make magic

you got to work.

And then those
clothes, gold is regal.

BILLY: Gold feels majestic.

It just pops.

There is an element of fantasy
that you bring to the costume.

What we did was actually
continue the themes

throughout in the
design of the fabric

and the design of the appliqués.
Look at... I mean...

Here it is on Bernadette's coat.

It's on Brandy's spirals.

ELLEN: When you sign on to do
a princess show, there are rules.

Many many moons ago,

they drew Cinderella
in a blue dress.

Oh, it's a beautiful dress.

Those rules have
to be adhered to.

Cinderella will always
have a blue dress.

We wanted the costumes to,
like, just transport you

immediately to something
gorgeous and special

and romantic.

My clothes were so divine that
I wish I could wear them now.

BERNADETTE: Hats that
were kind of asymmetrical,

the colors were royal purple,

and kind of like balloons

and sculpted... like
sculptured skirts.

Bernadette Peters is one of
the sweetest, dearest, kindest

people in the world,
and the wardrobe

gave her an additional edge
to the character

that she was creating.

Well, she's nasty
at her daughter.

Tell me, Cinderella.

What would you say to
capture the prince?

I don't know.

Of course you don't.

I thought, well, this is an
interesting character to play.

You know, to me,

it was just fun to be able to
play somebody mean like that.

Don't change the
path, Cinderella.

It's not very attractive.

It is a risky character
in this production

because it is a white person

mistreating a young Black woman.

So we wanted someone who,
when it was time to be evil,

could truly be evil, but
could also make you love her.

I've always been told
I've got too big a heart.

BOTH: You've got too
big a heart, mother.

If I had to watch one scene
from that movie

over and over again,
it would probably be

"Falling in Love with Love."

♪ Falling in love with love

♪ Is only for make believe ♪

♪ Falling in love with love
Is playing the fool ♪

She's just being so snarky
with even just like

the perfume she's squirting,

and then she looks at Cinderella
and gives herself two squirts,

because Cinderella is not even
worth the perfume spray.

And that's when
she's on her way to the ball.

And she's got her daughters,

and she's all dressed up,
and she's all glamorous,

and she has a feather boa,
and she feels like

her daughters are going
to win the prince.

♪ I fell in a love with love
With love everlasting ♪

♪ But love ♪

♪ Fell out with me ♪

She didn't have a
big, a lot of soul.

Didn't have a lot of soul.

GIRL: I think a princess
would like to sing.

They wear sparkly dresses.

They like to go to balls.

I think they would wear
a ball dress every day.

She doesn't have to
dress up in the gown,

like, she can wear
whatever she want.

Like, she's a... she's the boss.

And, like, some have accessories
on their head,

but some of them don't.

I am already a princess.
That's what I'm gonna say.

Any girl in the world
can be a princess.

Cinderella can be whoever you
want her to be,

because it's a fairy tale,
and that's the beauty.

It's a really great lesson.

It's a really great lesson
for kids of all ages.

You know, "the sweetest sounds
I'll ever hear

are still inside my head.

The kindest words I'll know
are waiting to be said."

♪ And the dearest love ♪

♪ In all the world ♪

♪ Is waiting somewhere for me ♪

♪ Waiting somewhere ♪

♪ Is waiting somewhere ♪

♪ Somewhere for me ♪

Let's see...

"His Royal Highness,

Christopher Rupert
Windermere Vladimir

Carl Alexander...

Fr..." Help me here.

Christopher Rupert
Windermere Vladimir

Carl Alexander François Reginald

Lancelot Herman, Herman, Herman,

he'll thank us for it later,
Gregory James.

Lancelot was an interesting
inclusion in his name.

I thought that
was awfully merry.

There's more?

Okay, I'm like, y'all,
that was too many names.

I'm a just call him Chris.

PC, Prince Chris.

It was really challenging
to cast the role of the prince.

We saw everybody and anybody
who was wildly

in the right age range

including Wayne Brady,
Taye Diggs, Mark Anthony,

Antonio Sabao, Jr.

It was literally like Cinderella
in the slipper.

Kind of in reverse, you know?
Looking to cast this prince.

And it's hard to
cast those roles

because the prince
needed to have a purity

and almost an innocence
about him as well

to really sell the
fairytale of it all.

And the very last day
of our casting in New York,

the very last person to walk
into the room that day

was Paolo Montalban.

I wasn't nervous about it
because I didn't actually know

what the scope of this
production was going to be.

I thought it was going to be
a made for public access

cable production.

Paolo was an understudy
in the production of

The King and Ithat was running
on Broadway.

He was late because he was in
a show, had been in rehearsals,

and he opened his mouth,
and he sings like an angel,

and we were like, "Oh, my God,

how interesting to
have a Filipino prince

with... with our African
American Brandy.

He was this tall, incredibly
good looking guy, but a little stiff

and we went, "how is this
really going to work

with Brandy?"

And so we put them
together and saw

in the rehearsal room
that the chemistry was magic.

♪ Are you the sweet invention ♪

♪ Of a lover's dream ♪

Oh, Paolo, he's just so sweet,

so genuine, and so talented.

When I did the reading
with Brandy on Monday,

everything was so easy,

and so it wasn't that
stressful, I guess.

I guess I didn't know
any better, right?

He was the one that
I was intimidated by

because it's like, he
has this big voice,

this handsome, this tall, just...
But a sweetheart,

and I just wanted
to just match his energy.

I wanted to sing as well as
he was singing in all the songs.

♪ Do I want you ♪

♪ Because you're wonderful ♪

♪ Or are you wonderful ♪

♪ Because I want you ♪

So it was a magic there
between the two of us.

Paolo had this deep honesty,

and I think that quality filled
up the prince.

He was the prince, but he wanted
things that weren't just given

to him as the prince.

He wanted love.

This is a couple
that you root for.

This is a couple that you want
to see together.

He was just so
incredibly charming.

I don't think that I had ever
seen someone Filipino

be the love interest

in anything that I
had ever watched,

and I was just on board.

I had a wonderful
time today, Lionel.

No one treated me like a prince.

What a relief to be
among real people.

Yes, yes, can I
tell you something?

Real people are not all
they are cracked up to be, eh?

When they first asked me
if I would be involved with

Cinderella, I, uh... my first
reaction was, "What role?"

DEBRA: So the first person to
sign on was Jason Alexander.

That was the crack
that we needed.

So people who only know me
sort of from my overnight

success of George Costanza

when I was 25 years
into my career...

Uh, don't know that
most of the time

prior to that I had spent
on the Broadway stage.

I had been studying dance
since I was 13 or 14,

I've been studying
voice since I was 12.

Initially I just thought,

"What do they want me to play?"

I know I'm not Cinderella,
I'm not the prince,

what's left?" So
it was a mystery.

And they said something
about the Prince's valet.

And I went, "I don't think
the prince has a valet."

And if he does, I thought
they meant the town crier

who's sort of saying,
"The prince is having a ball."

♪ The prince is giving a ball ♪

♪ The prince is giving a ball ♪

It wasn't until the script
showed up and I started seeing

this huge preparation number.

And then I went,
"Where did this come from?"

Oh, this guy Lionel seems
to show up in a lot of places.

This is a very interesting role.

Jason Alexander was so much fun.

He was the one that kept
introducing the prince

with all of those names.

♪ His Royal Highness ♪

♪ Christopher Rupert
Son of Her Majesty ♪

♪ Queen Constantina
Charlotte Ermantrude ♪

♪ Guinevere Maisie ♪

- WOMAN: Maisie?
- MAN: Maisie.

JASON: I remember very
little of the song.

I remember (SING-SONG)
"The Prince is Having A Ball,"

"His Royal Majesty,"
and "Now We're in Name Land,"

and I can never
get through that.

But I certainly
don't remember any of the...

♪ The thing, the ball
And we have to have a thing ♪

♪ We have to have a
thing♪ (GIBBERISH)

And a bedsheet, I have no idea
what all of that that stuff was.

♪ Chocolate cheddar
and Charlotte Maisie ♪

A Son of his Caviar
King Maximillian ♪

♪ Alfred Ladislaw
Leopold Sydney ♪

- Sydney?
- ♪Sydney? ♪

♪ Is giving a ball ♪

MAN: At the very end,
there's this iconic moment

where they zoom out,
and you see people

who are doing the fabric,
the people who are dancing

with the meat racks,

and it just goes
so well together.

The prince is giving a ball.

DIRECTOR: And action.

(WOMAN GASPS)

- What do you think, mother?
- (RETCHES)

It's certainly not the sort
of thing you see every day.

I saw it first.

How do you think it
looks on me, mother?

Doing Cinderellawas one of
those projects where every day

was a delight to come to work.

It was all I could
do half the time

to stop myself laughing
and ruin a take.

TODRICK: Oh, my gosh, Calliope
and Minerva were just insane.

I mean, the comedic timing,

it was like peanut
butter and jelly.

They just went together so well.

Both Natalie and
Veanne, pretty funny.

Pretty pretty funny.

As Veanne, playing Calliope,
I am a goof ball,

and I got very excited
about the possibility

of bringing my goof
ball to Calliope.

I've been working on my
naturally infectious laughter.

Excuse me?

The script was written,

"I'm going to laugh infectiously
at all the Prince's jokes."

"Tonight, I'm going
to laugh infectiously

at all the Prince's jokes."

I can try and do the laugh.

Let's see.

I'm not warmed up.

(LAUGHING)

I'm quite close.

(LAUGHING, SNORTING)

I beg you, Calliope, whatever
you do, try not to snort.

Veanne and Natalie

were hysterical, and
why would a fella

want a girl like her,
a fail and fluffy beauty.

♪ Why would a fellow
Want a girl like her ♪

♪ A frail and fluffy beauty? ♪

♪ Why can't a fellow
ever once prefer ♪

♪ A solid girl like me? ♪

♪ She's a frothy little bubble
With a flimsy kind of charm ♪

♪ And with very little trouble
I could break her little arm ♪

Even though they were
supposed to dislike me,

it didn't play that way for me
because I just...

They were so funny and fun.

♪ What's the matter
with the man?

♪ What's the matter
with the man? ♪

I mean, this ended up being
the most expensive two-hour

television movie ever made up
until that time.

CREW: Quiet, please, rehearsal.

When we were creating
the world of Cinderella,

you wanted to make
it real in one sense

but you also wanted to have
that sense of wonder

that you had as a 5-year-old
when you first heard

the story of Cinderella.

Five, six, seven, and...

BRANDY: The dancing...

The dancing, I got to ballroom
dance, learning something new.

That was fun to learn how to

really like, hold my
neck the right way,

and you know, keep
my shoulders down.

(CLASSICAL MUSIC)

And once you get it,
you feel like you're flying

when the music is going,
and you're in the moment.

I just thought they were just
a beautiful couple.

They were both so innocent
and so loving and so sweet.

When Brandy as
Cinderella appeared

at the top of the staircase,
she literally looked

like an angel walking in.

I look up and first
I can't breathe

because she takes
my breath away,

but then you look closely,
I'm breathing as if

I'd come home.

I remember being very nervous

walking to the
front of the stairs.

It was just the first time

I felt like I was Cinderella.

She was the belle of the ball.

She walks in, and
it... The room stops.

The most beautiful girl
in the world has come in.

BRANDY: I really did
feel like a princess.

I knew that this was so great
for the world to see,

especially Black people,

is that she had
braids in her hair.

She represented a culture that

is beautiful, and I just so
appreciated that because that

because was so
much a part of what

I wanted to bring to Cinderella.

♪ Ten minutes ago I met you ♪

♪ And we murmured
our how do you dos ♪

- ♪ I wanted to ring the bells ♪
- He puts them in the middle of

all the dancers and he has them
do a very simple waltz.

- ♪ I have found her ♪
- ♪I have found him ♪

And so in this particular song,
"Ten Minutes Ago,"

they're literally talking about

love at first sight
ten minutes ago.

♪ In the arms of my
love, I'm flying ♪

♪ Over mountain and
meadow and glen ♪

And he just keeps moving
the camera around them

So the background is swirling,
the Prince and Cinderella

are swirling and the camera
is swirling in the midst of it all.

♪ I may never come down again ♪

JASON: I think it was one of the
most audacious bits of filming

that I had ever seen.

I want to be in that circle
with the two of them,

I want to feel the
intimacy, I want to see

every look on their face,

and whenever a piece of film
can put the audience

in the room the way
they experience that on stage,

that to me is transcendent
story telling.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Listen to me.

You've got to call this ball
off immediately.

Not possible.

It's difficult to cancel once
you've got the ball rolling.

We sat around talking about
who should we get for the queen.

And the top of our wish list
was, "Well, wouldn't it be great

if Whoopi Goldberg
decided to do it?"

I was the queen.
I was mother of the prince.

Max, what's he saying?

He's saying he doesn't want
to have another ball.

No, he's not.

I'm Victor Garber,
and I played King Maximillian,

I think is my name.
Was that my name?

More importantly, I was
married to Whoopi Goldberg.

So, really, that's
all you need to know.

She was my queen. She
still is my queen.

Whoopi Goldberg
and Victor Garber,

an interracial couple.

The world needed to see that,
and they were wonderful.

And who are you playing?

What?

- Who are you playing now?
- Me.

I wanted her to be me
in a dress, you know?

A little silly, a little fun.

And I gave her a distinction.

She doesn't finish sentences.
She makes sounds.

No, he's not.

(SQUEAKY NOISES)

(SQUEAKY NOISES)

Here we go.

(SQUEAKY NOISES)

(SQUEAKY NOISES)

I can't even do it.

She really was kind of
the soul in many ways

of the production.

Oh, and the jewels,
she was like, "Well,

if I'm going to be a queen,
I need real jewels."

I love Harry Winston, I said,
"Listen, I'm playing this queen

and I would like to
have some jewels.

Will you guys loan
us some jewels?

WHOOPI: They said, we'll pick
out our most royal jewels,

and so that's what they did.

There were armed guards
just beside the camera

so that if anybody approached
or Whoopi made a mistake

and tried to leave the set
with that jewelry on,

someone would have been shot.

The Harry Winston diamonds
is one of the things

Whoopi Goldberg said,
"That's what you ask for

on your next project.

Management, let's put
the Harry Winston in there.

Let's go.

It ain't too late.

Christopher, darling,
where have you been?

Your father and I
were just talking about you.

Your mother was talking.
I was listening.

The King and the Queen were just
like any other married couple

wanting the best for their son,
wanting him to be happy.

Well, I'm trying to get him
married and get him

out of the castle.

It's like go marry
somebody, please.

You know, your father and I
raised you, you're smart,

you're going to be taking over
the family business, get out.

Well, you know,Cinderella
goes to the ball, you know,

it's love at first
sight with the prince.

You know, the clock
strikes midnight.

I can't stay.

What do you mean?

I have to go.

BILLY: She runs
before she disintegrates

and leaves one of
her glass slippers.

And then the prince searches the
village for who fits the shoe,

and he comes to find that
Cinderella fits the shoe,

and they live
happily ever after.

Very uncomfortable
glass slippers, always.

(WHISPERING) Those
were not my thing

because I wear a size 9,

and a 9 on television
looks like maybe a 12.

That's a secret.

And that is literally
the story of Cinderella.

She is faced with
so much adversity,

but she still looks at her glass
slipper as half full.

♪ Now there's nothing ♪

♪ You won't try ♪

"There's Music in
You," her finale song,

was not part of the original
Rodgers and Hammerstein score

but we knew that we needed
just a sensational song

that used all of
her vocal qualities

and could really, you know,
end the movie with a huge bang.

That's one of my favorite
Whitney songs ever.

♪ And now there's a
song you'll sing ♪

♪ Your whole way through ♪

(VOCALIZING)

It was so beautiful
and floating,

and it's very empowering,
inspiring, and that's Whitney.

♪ Now you're leaving ♪

♪ There's music in you ♪

The power is in you,
and it really is.

For all of us. It
takes our decision,

our free will to push forward

in any circumstance we're in.

WOMAN: Whitney knew how this was
going to influence a generation,

and she was right.

♪ There is music ♪

♪ In you ♪

I think I've always wanted
to be Cinderella.

The music itself was written
some 40-some years ago,

and yet we're seeing it today,

and it sounds very
fresh and very new.

I'm enjoying that.

I'm enjoying Rodgers
and Hammerstein music

brought back to life.

And why not?

Why shouldn't it
reflect the world?

Fairy tales should
reflect the world.

We wanted Cinderella to be
a modern fairytale princess

but be about something,
and be confident.

My name is Jade Jones, I was
Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

Seeing Brandy in Cinderella

was like, "Wow," like,
"That could be me."

♪ Look how I dress fancy ♪

♪ My vocals sweet like candy
An actor sing like Brandy ♪

♪ I represent my city ♪

♪ I'm the greatest
love like Whitney ♪

♪ Impossible, impossible ♪

Magic has no gender.

If you can dream
it, you can be it.

I think it just opened
people's eyes to, "Why not?"

Why can't the world be
however we want to see it?

I think I've always wanted
to be Cinderella.

I even made a video

on my YouTube channel
called Cinderfella,

where I basically reenacted
this whole fantasy.

♪ And because these daft
And dewy-eyed dopes ♪

♪ Keep building up
impossible hopes ♪

♪ Impossible things ♪

♪ Are happening every day ♪

And we were able to put
a little bit of the R&B,

You know, vibe and mix it
with the Broadway vibe,

and it was really nice.

I think it's so cool because
it keeps it fresh, and relevant.

♪ Ten minutes ago I met you ♪

♪ And we murmured
our how do you dos ♪

It certainty was a fun project,
but at the end of the day,

I still think the classic
Rodgers and Hammerstein

version is the way to go.

♪ And I like it so well
That for all I can tell ♪

♪ I may never come down again ♪

It's incredibly moving
that after all these years,

not only has it stood
the test of time,

but it kind of has become
some sort of symbol

for a better world.

People always say,
"Oh,Cinderella,

that changed my life,"
or, "Oh, that was one

of my favorite things
I've ever seen."

It just goes to show
you how many kids,

how many little
girls saw that movie.

Cinderella is saying
no matter where you start,

no matter what happened,
no matter what tragedies

you've had in your
life, if you believe

in the magic in yourself,

you can effect a
change for yourself.

It's within your grasp.

It is a Cinderellathat
invites young girls to think

about themselves in
a more empowered way.

People were so inspired
because it changed people's lives.

It changed...

the way Black little girls
believed in themselves.

I hear to this day, I believe
I can be a princess now.

That movie is the reason
why it's possible.

I know it.

BRANDY: Like, it's timeless.

I think we're all
Cinderellafans.

I think when we look
back and remember,

who didn't want
to be Cinderella?

Cinderella could be anybody.

Cinderella is everybody.

VEANNE: There's no
boundaries because

Cinderellais about a journey

into possibility.

- ♪ It's possible ♪
- ♪ It's possible ♪

(MUSIC ENDS)