Cinderella (or, as Germans say Aschenputtel), is probably the most popular fairy tale in the world. Being a classic by definition, it can be interpreted in many different ways. Yet most of the audience doesn't even know there are more than one thousand (!) known and classified versions from all over the world with two dominating versions in the West culture, one written by Charles Perrault (this one served Disney for his production) and one by the Brothers Grimm.
Of course, Otto Kubel, as German, used Grimms' Aschenputtel, where there is no fairy, no pumpkin transforming into a carriage, no rodents which become servants, ... And, this is probably the most important difference, there is no forgiveness.
Cinderella by the Grimm Brothers doesn't arrange grooms for her wicked stepsisters. Instead of that, the birds, very important side characters in several fairy tales by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, avenge Cinderella by blinding her nemeses.
Cinderella's stepsisters are obviously in a dominant position, using their power not only to exploit but also to humiliate the poor girl. She is given endless chores and her misery just goes on and on.
But Cinderella is not completely helpless. Her good heart is recognized by higher forces and birds are sent to help her to solve a seemingly impossible task. She did what was ordered and her reward was supposed to be attendance at the prince's ball.
Not just an ordinary ball. This should be The Ball. One time opportunity where the prince should find his wife and future queen!
Still, Cinderella didn't get the opportunity to go. Yes, she did what she should but she couldn't go because she didn't have an appropriate dress. Well, she actually did have one but it was destroyed.
We all know by whom, right?
Cinderella had one more ace up her sleeve. We have already mentioned there is no magic helper in the form of a fairy godmother here. Instead of that, there is a magic tree, Grimms obviously knew about Cenerentolla from Basile's Pentamerone, which gives the girl a spectacular gown for the ball (together with shoes, of course).
There are actually three gowns for three nights in a row, Cinderella always escapes before midnight, the magic hour, but the prince is already so much in love he wants to keep her and take for his wife.
Here we should point out another important difference between Perrault's and Grimms' versions. Everybody knows about glass slippers, some people even know the tale by the title The Glass Slippers, but Jakob and Wilhelm opted for golden shoes which are a bit less exotic, yet clearly suggest her royal status.
The prince made a plan to catch his mysterious dancer on glued steps. Cinderella still manages to escape, only one of her shoes stays glued and the prince's quest for his wife continues. He doesn't know her name. He doesn't know where she lives. A golden shoe was his only lead.
The question is simple. The task is next to impossible. Can he find the leg that fits the shoe? The prince's people searched everywhere. All girls in the kingdom were qualified to try the shoe. It seems none of them was the right size. Who is the mysterious owner of the golden shoe? Who is the prince's future wife?
Finally, the right girl and the future queen was found. It was Cinderella.
Otto Kubel decided to portray the grand finale as the happy couple riding to their future home. The birds who already proved as great helpers joined them in the celebration.
All presented illustrations were first published in 1920 in the picture book titled Cinderella and Other Fairy Tales made by Phoebus Verlag, Munich, and ten years later again as a series of postcards by the legendary Uvachrom.
