By Lacy Baugher for Movies on November 21st, 2014

Lily James and Richard Madden Star in Magical Live Action ‘Cinderella’ Trailer

Lily James looks pretty perfect as Cinderella (Photo: Disney)
Lily James looks pretty perfect as Cinderella (Photo: Disney)
Disney is bringing one of its most iconic animated heroines to life – in a film that’s positively stuffed full of fabulous British actors. The House of Mouse has released the first trailer for its live action version of film classic Cinderella – and it’s surprisingly good.

Downton Abbey’s Lily James trades in her flapper dresses for a ball gown as the titular Disney princess, and she gets the King in the North (also known as Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden) as her Prince Charming. 

Director Kenneth Bragnagh has assembled a top-notch supporting cast, including Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother, Cate Blanchett as Cinderella’s wicked stepmother, and The Borgias’ Holliday Grainger and James’ own Downton co-star Sophie McShera as the horrible stepsisters. 

Watch the trailer for yourselves and see what you think of James's leading lady debut: 

Things I’m Excited About? That the moral underpinning of this particular Cinderella seems to be that  kindness and courage are truly magical, rather than oh it’s just about a girl who wants to go to a fancy dress party and gets a much-hoped for magical assist from a sorceress. To be honest, Cinderella has never been a particular favorite fairy tale of mine, but this trailer manages to make the story feel fresh, which is no small accomplishment.

"Goodness can seem pious. It can seem righteous. It can seem too good to be true. We needed Cinderella to remain funny, sexy, smart and crucially kind," Branagh told E!News in a recent interview. "There was talk way back about redefining goodness as a superpower and kindness in the same way. I think it can be very active and charismatic and compelling, but it needs to be lightly done. This Cinderella, she's not empowered in the sense of being adversarial or self-pitying or victimized. She makes her own choices and she doesn't indulge in her own pain or have any regard for her own hardships. She's generous of spirit, and we needed that in the actress. Lily has great generosity of spirit, which really you can't fake. I think the audience will intuit that. She is good company. She's un-showy, yet she's charismatic.”

Also, from the shallow end: Cinderella’s iconic blue gown is simply *amazing*.

Cinderella will hit theaters on March 13, 2015. Do you think Cousin Rose will make a good Disney princess? She certainly looks the part. 

By Lacy Baugher for Movies on November 21st, 2014
Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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