Average Rating: 
Rating:  - One of the best films ever made!
Disney's animated version of the classic tale, "Beauty and the Beast," is every bit as enchanting as the "tale as old as time" that it tells, making its way into our hearts as well as motion picture history. Being the first film nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as six nominations altogether, Disney proves that it has what it takes to make an animated feature enjoyable for adults and children. I remember watching the film as a small child, and now, as an adult, is hasn't lost its luster, and everything is just as I enjoyed it before. Through brilliant animation and song, as well as some terrific voice talents, the story of unexpected love comes to new and exciting life. Small-town girl Belle is forced to head into the woods once her father turns up missing, bringing her to a gloomy, secluded castle where she finds him and his captor, a vicious-looking beast. Of course, the beginning of the movie explains the beast's origins: he was once a selfish prince who, after turning out an old beggar woman, was transformed, given an enchanted rose, and told "if he could learn to love another, and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time." This begins their rocky-turned-romantic relationship, as they begin to warm to one another. Meanwhile, the town brute, Gaston, has plans of his own, involving some sinister maneuvers involving Belle's father in hopes that she will agree to marry him. Many have hailed this as the best of Disney's films, and they wouldn't be wrong in saying so, either. It's easy to see why the movie has become such a success: there are elements at work in this film, just as in every other Disney film, only they seem to have taken on a small degree of maturity with this film's creation. The animation is some of the best and most believable I've seen for an animated film in a long time. Most of the scenes involving solely characters is the same as most of Disney's works, but there are scenes of pure life-like reality that have a special flare to them. The ballroom scene is one such scene: the camera angles sweep across a room filled with high-arched glass windows and a chandelier which looks as real as the words you're reading on this page. Some nice effects go into the creation of the castle as well, especially in the end once everything returns to normal. The is one of the most moving Disney soundtracks to come along since that of "Cinderella" and "Pinocchio." It is clear that composers were striving to capture the feeling and influence of their previous score for "The Little Mermaid," and they truly succeed in doing so. The songs are delightful and will have kids and adults alike smiling and singing along. The score is the perfect underlining for scenes of romance as well as tension and suspense. In case you were wondering, three of the originally written songs were nominated for Academy Awards; that should say something. This is one of Disney's most ambitious and successful projects, ranking alongside such cinematic achievements as the successes of "Citizen Kane" and "Gone With The Wind." Winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture, as well as its Oscar nominations, "Beauty and the Beast" is a hallmark of a time when movies were something that everyone, young and old alike, could enjoy on the same levels. This is the best picture of 1991.
Rating: - Beauty is the Best
Like the sumptuous DVD of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves", Disney has produced another gloriously packaged keepsake for its Academy Award-nominated film "Beauty and the Beast".The DVD has enough contents to keep the viewer busy for days! There are three versions of the movie here! The "work in progress" version (all line drawings, black and white, and rough) is a little hard to watch after a while, but very interesting, nonetheless. The menues are adorable and Disneyesque. I find the disks to be very easy to navigate. Although, on disk 2 the voices tell you not to choose the "rose window" -- that leads to the west wing of the castle and is forbidden!! Of course, the first thing I wanted to do was click on the rose window. So there is a sense of fun on the disk. I found the documentaries to be especially informative. The art of animation is explained. The use of computers is shown. The process of developing the story is fascinating: A powdered wig fop was the original villain. "Be My Guest" was sung to Belle's father, not Belle. There are lots of these stories. There are galleries that show the film's early artwork and the "Dangerous Liaisons" look that the artists were going for. The movie itself is very entertaining. I'm a huge admirer of the opening musical number ("this small provential town...") - it sets the mood and tone for the film so wonderfully. "Beauty and the Beast" proved that Disney can sometimes achieve greatness with the animated film like Uncle Walt used to in the old days. It's right up there with "Lion King" as one of the best films in the new Michael Eisner/Disney regime.
Rating: - Thank You Disney!
The wait was worth it for 'Beauty and the Beast' to make it's way to DVD. This has got to be the DVD with the best bonus features EVER! You start out with a highly in-depth look at the making of the film and the history of the story all hosted by the delightful Celine Dion. Celine also hosts a HIGHLY entertaining segment called "The Story Behind The Story." In this segment actors Angela Lansbury, Robby Benson, Jodi Benson, Ming-Na, James Earl Jones, Paige O'Hara and David Ogden Stiers relive the Disney versions and original stories of 'The Hunchback of Note Dame,' 'The Jungle Book,' 'Mulan,' 'The Lion King,' 'Cinderella, 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Pocahontas.' The DVD also features the music video to the highly successful song "Beauty and the Beast" performed by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. For some unknown reason, Disney felt it necessary to include a newer version of the song performed by Jump 5. It's a crime that Disney wasted these talentless youngster's time to record a version of the song that in no way fits into the magic of this film. Celine and Peabo already recorded the song beautifully. Why did Disney hire people who can't sing a note to record the same song? The film itself has been fully resorted and the picture and sound quality has never been better. It even includes a new musical number "Human Again" which I could really do without. Many people like the song but I think it's poorly written and even more poorly performed. But it doesn't take anything away from this being one of the greatest films ever made. I'm really happy with what Disney has come up with this time. This "Special Edition" actually is special. I can only hope Disney continues with these "Special Editions" and bring us 'Aladdin,' 'The Little Mermaid,' and all the other Disney classics. Hopefully they will do this sooner than later.
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