I think one of the big reasons I actually liked this version of Cinderella compared to many others is that they actually gave character to the evil stepmother.
In several adaptations, the evil stepmother is always just that – mean to Cinderella because her father is now dead.
And she wants to prevent Ella from going through something like that and ruining her prospects of a good husband.
But I can still appreciate that the film tried to do something with the stepmother instead of her just being a terrible person.