#19 - Ilene Woods as Cinderella - Cinderella (1950)
Best Song: Sing Sweet Nightingale
Here's another one who might have benefited from a slightly meatier role. Cinderella is the kind of character who's just along for the ride and doesn't really do anything. I like Cinderella because she's one of the only early Disney princesses to subvert the idea of the high soprano songbird Disney princess and replace it with a warmer alto tone. Sadly for her, though, after Disney's death, this sort of became the standard as Disney movies got more and more Broadway-influenced, and she's since been overshadowed by other voices that stand out from the crowd more.
However, that doesn't mean she's not excellent. All you have to do is look up "Sing Sweet Nightingale" (that's actually kind of like God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, where you have no clue where the comma is supposed to go...), or "So This Is Love" (even though the Prince's voice kinda sucks), and you can tell. Particularly the former, where she gets to harmonize with herself, and you can really tell how great her warm, classical tone and slow vibrato really are. Ilene Woods really does have a great voice.
Unfortunately for her, she just doesn't get to stand out too much, and it's not necessarily her fault. I've always thought Cinderella was kind of a bland character, and Ilene Woods plays her off that way, particularly when she's speaking. I've always kind of hated the way she speak-sings in rhyme in "A Dream Is A Wish" at the beginning of the movie - I just don't like that kind of pandering, over-the-top delivery. It sounds very kids-movie to me.
But what puts her on the list really is the warmth of her singing voice. Her speaking performance isn't anything to write home about, but those lovely tones I was talking about in "Sing, Sweet Nightingale/Sing Sweet, Nightingale" are enough for her to need to be on any Top 20 list. I just couldn't justify bumping her up any higher than that, due to being outshone by the competition.