Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (G, 2002)

CINDERELLA II: DREAMS COME TRUE contains three episodes befalling everyone's favorite princess after she's married and living happily ever after. Picking up after her return from her honeymoon, this animated film is narrated by Cinderella's fairy Godmother and faithful mice friends, who're out to write a new Cinderella book with more of the fantastic fairy tales that have charmed audiences ever since the original.

As with any Disney release, the stories are filled with upstanding moral values encouraging individuality and strength of character in situations where it's not always easy. There are several gratuitous singing numbers, and plenty of laughs to keep the whole family entertained. But it's the mice, especially Jack, who ventures forth as a human at one point, who are the true stars here, and the ones kids will mimic for their memorable one-liners and unmistakable voices.

What the film lacks in terms of drama as compared to the original (the sense of urgency and purpose found in the singular plot of the latter isn't attempted here) it more than makes up for in terms of charm. The princess is every bit as pleasing (especially to her tiny friends) and humble as you would expect after her well-known rags to riches story, while her fairy Godmother is just as wonderfully benevolent and bumbling as audiences remember. Despite failing to break new ground in terms of its storyline, Cinderella II ultimately wins by breathing new life and substance into several classic characters of fairy tale past.