Lady Tremaine
Lady Tremaine, the Evil Stepmother, is the villain of Cinderella.
She is introduced in the prologue of the film. Young Cinderella's father, a widower, anxious for his daughter to have a mother figure, married Lady Tremaine, who is described as a woman of good family, with two daughters of her own (Anastasia and Drizella) and a cat named Lucifer. After Cinderella's father died, Lady Tremaine showed her true colours, pampering her own daughters while forcing Cinderella to become a servant in her own home. After the prologue it is revealed that Cinderella lives in a small room at the top of the tower in her house.
Lady Tremaine possesses no magical powers, and does not hurt Cinderella physically. She allows Cinderella to attend the Royal Ball, on the condition that Cinderella finish all her chores and find a suitable dress. She and her daughters then proceed to heap chore after chore on Cinderella. When, despite this, Cinderella appears ready for the Ball in a suitable dress (her mother's, decorated by her mice and bird friends), Lady Tremaine (indirectly but intentionally) causes her daughters to tear apart Cinderella's dress, leaving her unable to attend the ball. When Cinderella, with the help of the Fairy Godmother, nevertheless attends the ball, her stepfamily do not recognise her, but note a familiarity about her as she dances with Prince Charming.
At the news that the Prince will marry the girl whose foot fits in the glass slipper (accidentally left behind by Cinderella at the Ball), Cinderella falls into a dreamlike trance, singing to herself. Lady Tremaine, realising the identity of the mysterious girl at the Ball, quietly follows Cinderella up the tower and locks her in her room, putting the key in her pocket. The Duke then arrives with the glass slipper, which both Anastasia and Drizella attempt to force their feet into. While this is happening (prologued by the stepsisters' repeated attempts to get the slipper to fit their own feet), two mice, Jaq and Gus, steal the key from Lady Tremaine's pocket and bring it to the door of Cinderella's room. Though delayed by Lucifer, the mice succeed in returning the key to Cinderella, who rushes downstairs to the Duke. Lady Tremaine, in bitterness, trips up the servant bearing the glass slipper, causing it to smash. However, Cinderella reveals that she has the other slipper, and that it fits her foot, much to her stepmother's horror.
Lady Tremaine was voiced by Eleanor Audley, who also provided live-action reference for the character. She was animated by Frank Thomas.
Anastasia and Drizella
Lady Tremaine's daughters, (also called the "Ugly Stepsisters") by her previous marriage, are said in the prologue to have squandered the family's wealth on their own vanity. Unlike Lady Tremaine, they are not cunning or sinister, but are rather simple and without any self control. They constantly issue orders to Cinderella, mostly concerning cleaning or mending their clothes.
Anastasia was voiced by Lucille Bliss and Drizella by Rhoda Williams. They were animated by Ollie Johnston.
Lucifer
Just as Cinderella is accompanied by various animals in the film, Lady Tremaine owns a pet: Lucifer, a large black cat. Lucifer does not always appear to agree with his mistress - he cringes when Lady Tremaine orders Cinderella to give him a bath, and hates listening to Anastasia and Drizella's singing lesson. He does, however, derive pleasure from tormenting Cinderella: he covers the floor of the hall with (recently swept up) dirt, merely so that Cinderella will have to clean it again. However, Lucifer's primary role in the film is to chase the many mice in the house. In the climax of the film, he stops the mice just as they are about to bring the key to Cinderella. Cinderella's bird friends fetch the house's dog, Bruno, who frightens Lucifer, causing the cat to fall from the high tower's window. Given Lucifer's appearance in the film's two sequels, it can be assumed that, like most cats, he landed on his paws.
Lucifer was voiced by June Foray and animated by Ward Kimball.
Trivia
- Disney Historian John Culhane once referred to Lady Tremaine as 'the most hated of all the Disney Villains'.
- Walt Disney personally reccomended Eleanor Audley for the voice of Maleficent, the villain in Sleeping Beauty.
- Lady Maudeline Everglot, in Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride', appears to be a caricature of Lady Tremaine, both in appearance and personality.