"Cinderella," was originally a European folk-tale, telling about a tyrannized heroine, who ends up marrying the prince of the story. Throughout the years, authors such as Walt Disney and Brothers Grimm altered the tale in their own way. Both have numerous differences based on intentions, such as culture, time frame, and plot. More importantly, they changed the story to correspond to whom they are changing the story for. Due to their recommended audiences, Disney's version compared to the Grimm's, "Cinderella," are drastically different.
Disney is focused on making movies for more kids, and the characters take a more friendly approach as opposed to Brothers Grimm's. Disney follows the fairy godmother's role, to grant all of Cinderella's wishes (Grant). This ties the whole story together, to follow through with the main objective, while being as kid-friendly as possible. In Grimm's, white birds, act as Cinderella's support in helping her throughout the whole story, not just the night of the ball (Taylor). These birds have spawn from an enchanted tree, that was planted on Cinderella's, dead mother's, grave. The birds a supposed reincarnation of her mother, who died at the beginning of the story (Taylor). This differs from Disney's version, where the mother did not appear in the plot at all. These differences lie in the fact that Disney wanted to choose a friendlier story, instead of one that would horrify their audience. The fairy godmother, for example, was used to give Cinderella a motherly figure, since her mother was never shown. Grimm, on the other hand, chooses the witchcraft that Cinderella conjures via her wish fulfilling birds (Thorpe). Because of them, Cinderella breezes through her life, just by asking the birds to grant her whatever she wants, instead of being emotionally neglected (Thorpe).
The plot between the two stories is the biggest distinction between them. Disney does not have a mom because, Walt Disney thought he killed his own mother, so he demanded there be no motherly figures in any Disney movie that he was a part of.