for the film, by which some of the filmmakers and cast were pleasantly surprised; Goldberg found the process somewhat difficult due to being surrounded by several professional singers, namely Houston, Brandy and Peters. The studio originally planned to release an original soundtrack featuring the film's music. However, this idea was abandoned due to conflicts between Houston and Brandy's respective record labels. Filming Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella was the first of the three versions of the musical to be shot on film. Principal photography began on June 23, 1997 and was completed over a 28-day period, primarily on stages 22 and 26 at Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, California, which had been the location of MGM Studios during what is now revered as "the golden age of the movie musical." With a then-unprecedented production budget of $12 million, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella is one of the most expensive television films ever made; some media publications dubbed the program "the most expensive two hours ever produced for television." In September 1997, Disney Telefilms president Charles Hirschhorn identified the film as the studio's most costly upcoming project. According to A. J. Jacobs of Entertainment Weekly, the film's budget was approximately four-times that of a typical television film. Disney granted the producers this amount because they felt confident that the film would eventually make its budget back once it was released on home video. Zadan agreed that "We've only been able to make [expensive musicals] because of the home-video component. The show loses money, and the home video [market] makes back the money that you lose." However, the film's budget is one of the lowest among the contemporary Cinderella adaptations. The film's costumes were designed by Ellen Mirojnick, who aspired towards making them "both funny and stylish" in appearance. The main characters were dressed in costumes that complemented their roles and personalities, the stepfamily's "loud" dresses in contrast to Cinderella's warmer, more neutral tones. Meanwhile, the royal family wears different shades of purple, a color often associated with royalty. In order to give Cinderella's ballgown a "magical look", Mirojnick combined blue and white detailing into the dress, in addition to incorporating a peplum, a design element that had not been used in previous versions of the gown. Cinderella's "glass slippers" were made of shatterproof acrylic as opposed to glass, and only one pair was designed to fit Brandy's feet; the shoe the prince