Lady Tremaine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lady Tremaine
Enlarge
Lady Tremaine

Lady Tremaine (also known as the Wicked Stepmother) is a fictional character from Disney's film version of Charles Perrault's fairy tale, Cinderella. Her voice actor, Eleanor Audley, would later be the voice actress for the evil witch Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty, which was released nine years later - there can be many likenesses drawn from the art styles of Maleficent and Lady Tremaine.

Lady Tremaine is first introduced when Cinderella's father, a wealthy widower, felt that she needed a mother figure, so he married the widowed Lady Tremaine. She was described as a woman of good family who had two preteen daughters the same age as Cinderella: Anastasia and Drusilla, who were both rather plain and socially awkward. She also owned a very stubborn, malicious cat named Lucifer, who was just like her in terms of personality. Lady Tremaine showed her true colors when Cinderella's father passed away: she was a bitter, cruel, and selfish woman determined to forward her own interests as well as that of her daughters. She was openly jealous of the kind and beautiful Cinderella, who was hampered and abused by her step-family until she had to become a maid in her own household.

Cold, ruthless, and calculating, Lady Tremaine's primary role as antagonist is simple: to oppress Cinderella and shatter her dream of a happily ever after. Throughout the film, Lady Tremaine repeatedly tries to keep Cinderella as downtrodden as possible and will stop at nothing to prevent her from being happy.

She also appeared in the direct-to-video sequel Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, this time voiced by Susan Blakeslee, who coincidentally (or not) also voiced Maleficent in the Kingdom Hearts video game series.

Lady Tremaine is set to feature largely in "Cinderella III". From what the trailer and early plot descriptions show, she somehow ends up with the Fairy Godmother's magic wand. She then uses her new found power to reverse Cinderella's happily ever after. It should be noted that her part should appear not dissimilar from The Evil Queen in "Snow White".