Beauty and the Beast (1991) is an all-time Disney classic. This rivals any Walt Disney movie for the best ever made. It has everything needed to earn this distinction. Read here why!
Belle looks for her lost father and stumbles upon an old castle deep in the forest. Her dad is imprisoned after he came there for refuge by a beast. She offers to stay there in his place. The Beast hopes to break his curse by her presence and sets out to accomplish this seemingly impossible task.
There are scores of quality elements to this motion picture. Let's start with one of the most obvious... the songs. Disney is known for its excellent songs and scores. Classics such as "Be Our Guest", "Gaston", "Belle", and "Beauty and the Beast" are tremendous tunes that people still sing today. THREE of these songs were nominated for best original song. That's incredible and rarely heard of. Oh ya, the score won, and the film was nominated for best picture. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy modern Disney animation, but they usually only have 1 exceptional song. In Beauty and the Beast, every song is fantastic.
As usual, the animation is exceptional. What else is new when it's Disney? The lead, Belle, is a wonderful main character. She provides characteristics of independence while wanting a family, caring yet decisive and the willingness to lay down her life for the ones she loves. That is the kind of person you want in your life. She's consistently considered one of the best Disney princesses, and I agree.
Next, Beast himself is a dynamic character. He overcomes his own problems to try and fix his life and lift the curse. The choice example doesn't even involve Belle. When Beast has beaten Gaston, he decides not to kill him. He does this on his own. He doesn't see Belle and change. No, he changes on the inside.
Also, all of the side characters including Lumiere the candlestick, and Cogsworth the clock are great. There are so many other things I love in this film too.
In the ballroom scene, the song describes the common love affair. It's not like most TV shows where they're best friends for several years. It's more like the line "Barely even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly". At least that's my experience.
Comments