Cinderella II: Dreams Come True

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True consists of three individual stories detailing the adventures of the title character and her various friends (Cinderella struggles to fit into her new royal surroundings, sassy mouse Jaq discovers what it’s like being human, and evil stepsister Anastasia falls for a local baker), and it’s generally not difficult to see why the film is considered one of Disney’s least effective straight-to-video sequels. The inherently slapdash vibe ensures that only very small children will likely find much worth embracing here, as the episodic nature of the movie’s structure leaves one with the impression that the whole thing was cobbled together out of leftovers from a would-be Cinderella TV series. The trio of tales are generally entertaining enough, admittedly, but it becomes increasingly difficult to overlook the second-rate, downright atrocious animation. The lack of compelling visuals only exacerbates the film’s various problems, and there’s ultimately not much here to hold the interest of viewers above a certain age.

** out of ****