Although Cinderella is rated PG, there's nothing that scary here. True, it begins with a Bambi-style bombshell as Cinderella suddenly loses her young mother to some unspecified illness. It's not graphic (she dies in bed, looking as beautiful as ever), though it is traumatic. Later, her father dies off-camera shortly after her awful stepmother and stepsisters move in, and soon Cinderella is relegated to the attic, where she lives as a servant and hangs out with her beloved CGI mice.

While Cinderella is treated terribly, the movie is very black and white about good and evil. Blanchett is the kind of icy villainess kids may want to boo and hiss, but they probably won't be scared of her. Meanwhile the stepsisters are played for comic relief, so they're rightfully laughable. (Thankfully, they don't cut off their toes in an effort to fit into the slipper like in the gruesome Brothers Grimm version.) Throughout the film, kids know whom to root for and whom to jeer.

My daughter and her three friends, all between ages 7 and 9, were engaged throughout, if not enthralled. It's pure fantasy, and they got that. Though we didn't notice any preschoolers cry, we heard a lot of them chattering. At an hour and 45 minutes, it's a bit long and slow for tots, but should be fine for ages 7 and up. There were also a bunch of teens in front of us who snickered at some of the cheesier romantic bits, so if your children are old enough to be jaded, they might do better with Into the Woods.

The Frozen short before Cinderella was the highlight of the night for me and my daughter. The seven-minute Frozen Fever features a flu-stricken Elsa trying to throw the perfect birthday party for her sister, Anna, with help from Olaf the snowman and Kristoff. Of course, things do not go as planned. No spoilers here! It's really adorable and there's a sweet new song, though it probably won't catch on like "Let It Go," which is probably a good thing. As for Cinderella, enjoy the visuals and then remind your daughter like I did that in real life she shouldn't wait for a prince to rescue her—she's perfectly capable of saving herself.

Cinderella opens nationally on Friday, March 13.

Read more of our parent film reviews.

Photos courtesy of Disney