Wampyrii doesn't live here any more. Play nice y'all. :)
Wampyrii doesn't live here any more. Play nice y'all. :)
Member since:15.09.2000
Reviews:772
Members who trust:111
I am not a big fan of Disney and that is certainly no secret. I think they make stereotypical, WASP orientated trash most of the time, but there are times when you hav to look and give credit where credit is due. Beauty and the Beast marks one of those times and is a movie which is widely regarded as being the finest animated movie ever made. It may not be the most loved, but it is almost certainly in the top five and ought to have won the Best Picture Oscar for 1991 especially considering the rubbish it was up against. It didn't but you'll not care, you'll just want to watch and enjoy.
Beauty and the Beast is based upon the classic French tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont but of course with the Disney spin added to it - talking candlesticks and usually inanimate objects which suddenly become all singing all dancing clowns were never part of the original story...and the lead charcter of Belle was certainly never a feminist like
she is here. Its a romance, its funny, its cute and its basically horribly charming and (ugh) even adorable to the point where its impossible to dislike it even if you do have jaded views of Disney like me.
The story revolves around a French town where a beautiful girl named Belle lives with her inventor father. Belle loves to read and is pretty much a recluse and rather odd, but that doesn't stop her gaining the attention of the narcissistic Gaston who wants her hand in marriage, and will do whatever it takes to get it. One day Belle's father Maurice disappears in the woods and Belle goes looking for him worried. She stumbles across a mysterious castle populated by a variety of talking objects such as a clock, candlestick etc. basically everything talks, has a personality etc. It is also the home of the 'beast' who is holding Belle's father captive. The beast was once a handsome prince, but has been cursed to remain in his hideous form unless he can find a woman who will truly love him for what he is rather than just being horrified by his outward appearance. He dare not hope that Belle is 'the one' but agrees to release her father if she agrees to stay in the castle with him as a guest...he hopes she will fall in love with him if she does...and there unfolds the romantic tale of Beauty and the Beast.
The morality tale behind this is painfully obvious, and a tale told a million times before(Cyrano de Bergerac springs to mind) but its always a good one and one which people would be wise to take note of. Beauty is only skin deep, you can find your prince or princess in the most unattractive packages whilst those tied with a pretty bow are often empty inside or far worse. Arguably both male characters here are 'using' the girlie for their own means but its a moot point I suppose, at the end of the day its probably not worth over-analysing whats on offer here. Its a heartwarming tale which can be enjoyed by all ages time and again and thats the bottom line.
In terms of technical prowess, Beauty and the Beast is almost faultless. The attention to detail is awesome, right down to such things a strands of loose air falling acrss Belle's forehead, the characters' facial features portraying a full range of emotions accurately and the usually static camera swooping and soaring as it would in a normal non-animated affair. There is a mixture of drawn characters and computer animated backdrop in certain sequences, the most spectacular of which being the ballroom scene, which looks absolutely gorgeous and is almost 100% faultless(I won't say its IS faultless because you can guarantee that something will top it as soon as I do that!). Visually its highly impressive and when you take into account the song and dance routines which are always included being of an extremely high quality, the voice-over cast being excellent, the humour and characterisations spot on too, then you have a simply divine animated movie.
Like I said, I am not a fan of Disney, but credit where credit is due and all that means that Beauty and the Beast would get at least a 9/10 rating from me. Its excellent stuff, probably not something a student is going to want to rush out and buy for themselves, but if you have younger brothers and sisters then definitely worth it. You can guarantee they'll love it.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Jan 16th, 2002
very helpful by (100%):
