When it comes to Animated Disney movies, Beauty and the Beast is particularly special. Not only was it a hit both critically and financially, but it was the first-ever animated feature to be nominated for best picture at the 64th Academy Awards at a time when the best-animated feature category was absent until the early 2000s’. This was a movie that was in a long lineup of other successful movies of its kind in a time called the Disney Renaissance and it may arguably be the best of the bunch from a story standpoint. After Decades of enchanting audiences around the globe, it’s safe to say that this film is what I like to call an abundance of pure Disney magic in all the best ways possible.
Once upon a time, there was a young prince who lived in a shining castle. However, the prince was unkind and selfish to his servants or anyone in need because of his royal position. One night, a beggar came to the castle and offered the prince a single rose for shelter. The prince shunned her away seeing her ugly face but soon after she reveals herself to be a beautiful enchantress. She places a cruse on the prince along with the castle and all who lived there. The prince turns into a hideous beast and was left with the magical rose that would bloom until his 21st birthday. Years pass and we meet Belle, the daughter of a crazy inventor for a father and has a love for books. Despite her good looks, she can care less about what others think about her especially Gaston who clearly has the hots for her.
Belle’s father Maurice leaves for an invention fair, but gets lost in the process and ends up at the Beast’s castle where the Beast imprisons him. A worried Belle follows after his father after seeing his horse come back to her home. Belle finds Maurice but is caught by the Beast. Belle makes the difficult discission to take her father’s place and the Beast accepts. Belle breaks down knowing the choice she has made and the Beast tries to be on Belle’s good side even with him having bad manners and a short temper. Belle meets the servants who have been cursed into being talking inanimate objects as they try their best to comfort her and welcome her to her new home. Knowing that Belle may be the only hope to break the spell, the Beast tries everything he can to please her and discovers something there that wasn’t there before. Meanwhile, Gaston gets word of Belle’s disappearance and uses that fact to his advantage in forcefully marrying her.
The Story almost feels like a broadway musical but with cartoon characters and I mean that in the best way possible. There is real weight to the situations both romantically and story-wise. The love between Belle and the Beast is well-paced and almost feels natural as they have to start from scratch in order to win each other over. The two of them are the main heart of the story and it may quite possibly be one of the best developed animated Disney romances in any Disney film to date. The side characters are a lot of fun too especially when we get to meet the inanimate objects. Whether it’s Lumiar and Cogsworth bickering at each other, or Mrs Potts bring a sincere and lovely voice to cheer anybody up, there is always a character that is fun to watch and they give a great performance no matter what the scene calls for. As for Gaston, he may not be my personal favorite Disney villain, but his motivations make sense, and it’s personally very funny how many times he attempts to marry Belle even though she could care less.
The Hand-Drawn Animation is perfectly paced and sometimes stunningly gorgeous. The character designs are particularly interesting as we get to see a wide range of Disney-styled characters and the characters in the beast’s castle. The Beast, in particular, is the most impressive in how swiftly and threatening he moves when we first meet him and how his clothing starts out messy and unorganized. It’s obvious that the animators had a lot of fun with giving personalities to the inanimate object servants as they are bouncy and energetic and their movements in themselves add on to the colorful personalities they already have to make them irresistible to watch. The backgrounds are lovely and they are great at setting the mood whether it be inside the cursed castle or the fall scenery in the village. There are also some very impressive shots when it comes to the musical numbers. Sometimes they use a combination of traditional hand-drawn with 3D visual effects to create larger-than-life scenes like the in the Ballroom that Belle and the Beast dance in or some moments in the Be our Guest sequence.The Music needs no introduction as some of the songs would go on to be household classics such as “Tale as Old as Time” or “Be Our Guest” The music was composed by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman and their work on the score made the movie much more like a broadway musical. The songs are lovely and enchanting as they leap off the screen with delightful results. The rest of the music composition is also remarkable as it’s cinematic and subtly dramatic in its presentation.
This film is quite the treasure and even though it didn’t win the Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards, it’s still not that hard to see how it managed to even get that remark as this movie is gorgeously animated with Incredible songwriting, lovable characters, and a story that has a real romantic weight that makes the whole movie have much more meaning to the whole thing. Is this the best movie from the Disney Renaissance? That is still debatable. What I do know is that this movie will continue to enchant the young and old as this truly is a Tale as old as time itself.
(Final Grade: A)