Photo: Disney, Getty Images It has come to my attention that our streaming overlords have a glaring oversight in their supposedly premium suite of film offerings. I'm talking about the fact that none of them have Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, the 1997 TV movie starring Brandy Norwood as the titular character. The absence of Brandy's Cinderella from streaming has been disturbing me for some time now. Growing up in the early 2000s, I would cancel playdates to catch it on ABC. My sister and I would sit two feet away from the television, close enough to feel the static, and scream along to the movie's breakout track, "Impossible, " while eating Play-Doh. Simply put, its current inaccessibility feels like a small personal tragedy. But it's also a public travesty, one that hit me again the other night when, during her Verzuz battle with Monica, Brandy couldn't sing "Impossible" because she apparently did not have rights over it. Other fans of the 1997 film feel similarly, and public pleas for Brandy's Cinderella are becoming increasingly desperate: For those of you who are unfamiliar: Brandy's Cinderella is one of several live-action remakes of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1957 musical and is famously known as the only Cinderella with a mostly nonwhite cast.
Cinderella DISNEY An orphan named Ella is treated cruelly by her stepmother and stepsisters, who force her to do menial chores. However, her life changes forever when she meets a prince. Browse All Listings The 100 Best Shows on TV TV Guide ranks the series that threw us a lifeline during these wild times Discover Now! Because it's never too early to plan Thursday night... two months from now. See What's New Sign up and add shows to get the latest updates about your favorite shows - Start Now
In addition to its title character, Whitney Houston ( who also executive produced the film) plays the fairy godmother, Filipino-American actor Paolo Montalban is Prince Charming, and Whoopi Goldberg plays his mom, the queen mother. There's even a Black evil stepsister, played by Natalie Desselle. And I know this sounds too good to be true, but in reviewing a bootleg version of this film, I noticed that even many of the extras appear to be BIPOC too. I'm sure you're familiar with the story of Cinderella, but you haven't really experienced it until you've seen this version. Brandy, the stunning songstress herself, is the perfect princess; Whitney Houston is sublime and swathed in gold, and there's not a person alive who hasn't fantasized about finding someone to look at them the way Paolo Montalban looks at Brandy while serenading her. Seriously, look at his face: Which brings me to the music. The soundtrack for Brandy's Cinderella is so effervescent, so magical, that it would have stood alone even without Brandy and Whitney Houston's legendary vocals.