We talk to the team behind Disney's new live action Cinderella, which hits cinemas on Friday

With a production budget of close to $3 million, the film was a huge financial risk for the studio at the time, but it was a big hit commercially, grossing more than $34 million.

It firmly solidified the studio as a major force in the industry and now, 65 years later, it has become one of the studio’s most treasured titles, included on the American Film Institute’s list of the 10 Greatest Animated Films of All Time.

And now it is to return to cinema screens in a new live action treatment, led by British director Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Thor).

He had never toyed with the idea of directing a fairy tale before, but after reading the script by screenwriter Chris Weitz (About a Boy), he found that the story spoke to him in ways he never imagined.

“When I told people that I was going to do the film, I got such a tremendous reaction. It’s made me feel the story is very personal to people, whatever their age. People have asked ‘Is Gus Gus?’, ‘How many parents are going to die?’ The level of interest is high.

“I was captivated by the power of the story”, he explains. “It’s a classic piece of storytelling where the central character goes on a journey that we can really identify with.

“With Cinderella, you can assume that the vast majority of your audience already knows the story, no matter what their age, so what you bring to it as a director, the way you embody the classic iconic moments of the story, was really a wonderful challenge for me.”

A majority British cast have stepped into the iconic roles offered by the fairytale: Downton Abbey’s Lily James is Cinderella; Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden is her prince; Derek Jacobi performs the role of the King; Sophie McShera and Holliday Grainger play the Ugly Sisters; Helena Bonham adds a quirkily comic turn as the Fairy Godmother; and even Rob Brydon turns up as a artist who has been commissioned to paint the royal prince.

Casting his leading lady was key, as Branagh explains: “It was extremely difficult to find someone who could be witty and smart, sharp but not cruel, has a twinkle in her eye and who has an inner beauty as well as a physical beauty, but Lily James’ Cinderella encapsulates all of those qualities.

“You have to root for Cinderella, you have to like her, you have to be on her side, and so an innate likeability was important.

“Lily brought all that the first time she came in to read for the part. She’s a very beautiful girl, and her warmth also allows it to be a very approachable beauty, and somehow we feel that she could be our friend as dazzling as she is.”

The 25-year-old actress, who is currently dating former Doctor Who Matt Smith, felt something appeal to her immediately when she prepared to audition.

She says: “There was a breakdown of the character and it said she had a generosity of spirit. And I felt that spoke to me. I wanted her to have warmth and an open heart – she sees the good in people. You always have to channel yourself through your characters.

“Strength can come from within, dignified strength and grace, and in [behaving] so, she finds happiness in her situation. I was bowled over by the truthful telling of the fairytale.”

Lily James and Cate Blanchett in Cinderella 

And this belief in story and its message has enabled her to ignore the fuss over whether or not her waist had been altered for the film’s publicity shots.

“Why on earth are we focusing on something so irrelevant?", she retorts. "A little boy called Daniel, who’s nine, said ‘It's amazing how you promised your mum to be kind and good and you remembered it’. That's the message."

The film’s Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell adds: “I don’t understand what the criticisms are. Lily does have a small waist and so do all the other girls. They were all wearing corsets.

“Lily’s dress is an optical illusion – the diameter of the skirt is two metres (there are two miles of fabric in the skirt) and the shoulders are huge.”

Powell was delighted to be working on something so indulgently feminine, adding: “It’s a film about girls which doesn’t happen that often. I’d come straight from The Wolf of Wall Street which couldn’t be further away. It was a dream and I ran with it.”

The one key man she did have to dress is clad in rather tight white breeches.

Madden laughs: “There was a certain degree of self-consciousness you have to get over. Luckily all the guys were in the same boat. On set, the costumes feel weirdly masculine and it gives you confidence once you get over the initial embarrassment.”

Derek Jacobi and Richard Madden in Cinderella 

The film’s costumes and production design are stunning and key to the success of its presentation of this universe.

Branagh and the team looked at Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Visconti’s The Leopard, Cyrano de Bergerac, Amelie and The Age of Innocence, and at the history of certain fashions across the centuries, in their explorations pre-filming but feel confident that they have come up with their own world.

He concludes: “We went to the classics but [our team] were out on their own, forging our own version of it. It was allowing room for tiny things which made for a human texture. We worked together to create a young man because we don’t actually know who the prince is.

“We could forge our own rules. We were inspired but also felt very free.”

Cinderella is on general release everywhere from Friday, March 27. The film is preceded by the new short Frozen Fever.