Cinderella II: Dreams Come True

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (also known as Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True) is a 2002 American animated direct-to-video fantasy anthology film, made of unused TV episodes. It is a sequel to the 1950 film Cinderella. Directed by John Kafka from a screenplay written by Jill E. Blotevogel, Tom Rogers and Julie Selbo, it is the first in the series to use digital ink and paint. It stars the voices of Jennifer Hale, Russi Taylor, Corey Burton, and Rob Paulsen.

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True was released on February 26, 2002, and received generally negative reviews from critics.

Prologue
In the royal palace, Cinderella's mice friends Gus and Jaq head to a chamber where the Fairy Godmother is reading the story of Cinderella to the other mice. Much to their disappointment, Gus and Jaq arrive just as she has finished the story. With her help, the mice set off to make a new book to narrate what happens after the Happily Ever After, by stringing three segments of stories together into one narrative.

Aim to Please
Cinderella and Prince Charming return from their Honeymoon, and Cinderella reunites with her mice friends and her dog Bruno. She is later put in charge of the palace banquets and parties while the King and Prince Charming are away. However, Cinderella is dissatisfied with the emphasis on tradition, and decides to organize the upcoming party her own way. Although he initially seems to be shocked at Cinderella's changes, the King ends up satisfied with the party.

Tall Tail
Jaq thinks he is too small to help Cinderella in the palace as he did in the first movie. The Fairy Godmother turns him into a human, named "Sir Hugh," so he can help out. However, this does not stop Pom Pom, the palace's cat, from chasing Jaq around. After an incident with an elephant at a fair, he learns to be happy with himself.

An Uncommon Romance
Anastasia, one of Cinderella's stepsisters, falls in love with a baker named Lathyn, of whom her mother Lady Tremaine and older sister Drizella disapprove. Cinderella, unbeknownst to anyone else, arrives and secretly watches as Lady Tremaine berates Anastasia, thus leading her to help Anastasia in getting ready for the ball together. Later at the ball, Anastasia thanks Cinderella for helping her. Lucifer also has an encounter with Pom Pom, the castle's cat, with whom he falls in love and enlists the help of Jaq & Gus to woo her. They reluctantly agree, but with the understanding that Lucifer won't chase them anymore. Lucifer manages to win Pom Pom's heart, but now the two want to hunt the mice together, so Jaq calls the deal off.

Epilogue
The mice finish their book, and the movie ends as they gather in front of the fire with Cinderella, who begins to read their story.

Cast
As five decades had passed since the release of the original film, a new cast was used for the movie. Although Ilene Woods who played Cinderella was alive during the time, she was too old to reprise the role and was replaced by Jennifer Hale who voiced the character since 2000.
 * Jennifer Hale as Cinderella. She was voiced by Ilene Woods in the original film.
 * Rob Paulsen as Jaq/Grand Duke/The Baker/Sir Hugh/Bert/Flower Vendor. Both the King and Grand Duke were voiced by Luis van Rooten in the original film.
 * Corey Burton as Gus. Jaq and Gus were voiced by Jimmy MacDonald in the original film.
 * Andre Stojka as The King.
 * Russi Taylor as Fairy Godmother, Drizella Tremaine, Mary Mouse, Beatrice, Countless Le Grande and Daphne. Fairy Godmother was voiced by Verna Felton in the original film. Drizella was voiced by Rhoda Williams in the first film
 * Susanne Blakeslee as Lady Tremaine. She was voiced by Eleanor Audley in the original film.
 * Tress MacNeille as Anastasia Tremaine. She was originally voiced by Lucille Bliss.
 * Holland Taylor as Prudence
 * Christopher Daniel Barnes as Prince Charming. He was voiced by William Edward Phipps in the original film.
 * Frank Welker as Lucifer/Pom-Pom/Bruno. Lucifer was voiced by June Foray in the original film. Bruno was also voiced by MacDonald in the first film.

Soundtrack
The songs for the film were performed by Brooke Allison, and while a true soundtrack was never released, all the songs were included on the compilation album Disney's Princess Favorites, which was released shortly before the film. One song, Put It Together (Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo), was also included on the compilation album Superstar Hits, which was released shortly after the film.

Box office
The film surpassed the $120 million mark in home media.

Critical reception
Several critics agreed that it looked like pieced-together remains of a rejected television series, akin to Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World and Atlantis: Milo's Return.

The segment An Uncommon Romance, however, drew particular praise for developing Anastasia's character.

Release
Cinderella II: Dreams Come True was released on February 26, 2002, on DVD and VHS. It was then re-released on December 18, 2007, as a special-edition DVD, going back in the Disney Vault on January 31, 2008. On November 20, 2012, the film was released with the other Cinderella sequel Cinderella III: A Twist in Time as a two-movie collection on DVD and for the first time on Blu-ray. Both sequels along with the 'Diamond Edition' release of the original film returned to the Disney Vault on January 31, 2017.