Alexander Grant Movies

The Royal Ballet Company brings Squirrel Nutkin, Tom Thumb, Hunca Munca, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Jeremy Fisher, Pigling Bland, and Pigwig to the screen doing pirouettes and pas de deux in this filmed ballet production directed by Reginald Mills. The film more properly belongs, however, to choreographer Frederick Ashmore, composer John Lanchbery, and costume designer Rostislav Douboujinsky. This literal adaptation concerns the shy Beatrix Potter and how, when all of the toy animals in her room come to life, she emerges from her shell and begins to enjoy life. Sequences include a rowdy dance with Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca destroying a collection of plaster food, a midnight pas de deux between Pigling Bland and Pigwig, and a corps de ballet of dancing mice. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton's take on Perrault's the timeless fairy tale is captured live at the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in this performance starring Dame Margot Fonteyn in the title role. Originally telecast on April 19, 1957 on NBC, this particular incarnation of the Cinderella fable soon became a staple of the Royal Ballet's repertoire, and features Ashton himself in the role of one of the cruel and ugly step-sisters. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi