Sneakerella

Did You Know?

• The film features 13 songs, including a cover of "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Disney's animated Cinderella.
• The first single "Kicks" was released on April 29, 2022.
• The film made its linear premiere on Disney Channel in the United States on August 13, 2022.

Plot

In Queens, teenage orphan El works in his late mother's shoe store "Laces", now run by his stepfather Trey, who overworks El instead of his stepbrothers Zelly and Stacy. El closes the store early to join his best friend Sami at a sneaker release, where they meet a girl named Kira, who is impressed by El's insight into people from looking at their shoes. They miss the drop, but El shows Kira around his neighborhood, losing track of time as they fall for each other. El is forced to rush back to the store without a way to contact Kira, and is grounded by Trey. Kira returns home, revealed to be the daughter of sneaker mogul Darius King. Inspired by El, Kira suggests that her sister Liv's shoe design is too "basic" and convinces her father to let her look for another original design before SneakerCon. Learning Kira's identity, Sami and El plan to sneak into King's charity gala. Overwhelmed by running the business alone, Trey decides to sell the store, leading El to draw on memories of his mother and create a unique shoe design with help from the neighborhood. On the night of the gala, Zelly and Stacy trap El in the stockroom, but he is rescued by Gustavo, the community garden's magical caretaker. Gustavo provides El and Sami with outfits, tickets, and a convertible, warning they must leave by midnight. At the event, El's custom shoes become the talk of the crowd, and Sami spreads rumors that El is a sought-after independent designer. El reunites with Kira, but he and Sami flee at midnight, losing one shoe on an escalator. Kira finds the shoe and launches a viral campaign to find her "prince". El arranges a meeting with Kira's father, but Zelly and Stacy steal his other shoe and inform Darius that El is merely a stock boy. Darius and Kira rebuke El for lying. As Trey prepares to close the store, El throws away his designs, which are found by Gustavo.

Cast

El, played by Chosen Jacobs, is a Queens stock boy and aspiring sneaker designer who works at the shoe store his late mother owned. Kira King, portrayed by Lexi Underwood, is the beautiful and fiercely independent daughter of sneaker mogul and ex-NBA star Darius King, played by John Salley. Yvonne Senat Jones plays his wife, Denise. El’s openly lesbian best friend is Sami (Devyn Nekoda), and his friendly neighbor is Gustavo (Juan Chioran). Robyn Alomar plays Kira’s sister, Liv. El hides his design talent from his overburdened stepfather Trey (Bryan Terrell Clark) and his mean stepbrothers Zelly (Kolton Stewart) and Stacy (Hayward Leach). Mekdes Teshome appears as El’s beloved late mother, Rosie. Elia Press plays a Sneakerhead, Andrew Ward plays Sneaker Buster, and William Crockett plays Sneak-Disser.

Production

In October 2020, Disney started making Sneakerella, a fresh take on Cinderella set in sneaker culture, for its streaming service. The screenplay was crafted by David Light, Joseph Raso, Tamara Chestna, Mindy Stern, and George Gore II, with Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum directing. The cast featured Chosen Jacobs, Lexi Underwood, John Salley, Yvonne Senat Jones, Devyn Nekoda, Juan Chioran, Robyn Alomar, Bryan Terrell Clark, Kolton Stewart, and Hayward Leach. Rosenbaum also co-executive-produced, while Jane Startz and Rachel Watanabe-Batton were executive producers. Filming, originally planned for May 2020 in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, was delayed by the pandemic. Production ran from October 19 to December 9, 2020.

Reception

Courtney Howard of Variety found the film a satisfying refreshing take on Cinderella, praising its contemporary approach, performances, chemistry, soundtrack, and costumes, while criticizing some clichés. Radhika Menon of Decider praised the gender-swapped story, diversity, humor, chemistry, and songs, drawing comparisons with Hamilton and In The Heights. Jennifer Green of Common Sense Media rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, stating it promotes positive messages about being true to oneself and the difficulty for women to become entrepreneurs, and praised the diversity of characters. Amy Amatangelo of Paste rated the film 7.6 out of 10, finding Jacobs and Underwood charismatic and delightful, and acclaimed the songs and choreography, but found some plot points nonsensical and Nekoda's character undeveloped. Abhishek Srivastava of The Times of India rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, claiming it recalls hallmarks of Bollywood blockbusters and provides an effective fresh take on Cinderella, while praising the cast performances.