Cinderella is the much-loved only child of a widowed aristocrat. After deciding that his beloved daughter needs a mother’s care, Cinderella’s father marries a proud and haughty woman named Lady Tremaine. She too has been married before, and has two daughters by her first marriage, Anastasia and Drizella, who are just Cinderella’s age. Plain and socially awkward, these stepsisters are bitterly envious of the beautiful and charming Cinderella.
The family lives in happiness for several years, until the death of Cinderella’s father. After that, Lady Tremaine’s true nature is revealed, and she and her spiteful daughters take over the estate, and begin to abuse and mistreat Cinderella, envious of her beauty. She is forced into housekeeping responsibilities and made to wait upon her jealous stepsisters like a maid.
As Cinderella blossoms into a beautiful young woman who is kind despite her hardships, she befriends the animals living in the barn, including Bruno the Bloodhound, Major the horse, and many of the mice and birds who live in and around the chateau. Cinderella finds a mouse inside a trap, releases him, and names him Gus. She is also friends with a mouse named Jaq, the leader of a mouse-pack. (“A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes”)
At the royal palace, the King is angry that his son does not intend to marry. The King is determined to see grandchildren, so he and the Duke organize a ball for Prince Charming in an effort to cause his son to fall in love and marry, with every eligible maiden in the kingdom ordered to attend.
