Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast; animated musical romance, USA, 1991; D: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise, S: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Jerry Orbach, Richard White, Angela Lansbury

Belle is a mildly eccentric girl in a small provincial town, unsuccessfully courted by the arrogant Gaston. One day, Belle's father disappears. She goes to look for him and finds him in a mysterious castle of a humanoid Beast that was casted under a spell by a witch. The Beast releases the father, but keeps Belle because only the love of a woman can break the spell and turn him back to a human, as well as his servants who were transformed into humanoid furniture. In order to nurse her sick father, Belle returns home. Gaston organizes an attack on the Beast, but dies. Belle admits that she loves the Beast and he transforms back into the prince again.

The Walt Disney animation studio managed to find an almost optimal merger of their sugary childish style with a more modern filmmaking aesthetics, and use of emotions and gestures, and thus in 1991 their "Beauty and the Beast" was met with appropriate reward: critical acclaim, commercial success and several awards. It is a fine film, yet not without a few banalities, naive moments, a few overstretched subplots and forced musical scenes (for instance, when Gaston sings in the pub and breaks everything while fighting and shooting, for a rather clumsy attempt at humor). Still, despite all of its standard Disney elements that do not bring anything new, it is hard to picture any other American animated film from the 90s that has such shrillness, spirit and charm as well as an excellent and sympathetic heroine, Belle (wonderfully voiced by Paige O'Hara). In the opening act, she is all absorbed in her book, but has no difficulty to jump over a rope or dodge water falling from the roof. 

Thanks to the romantic calligraphy, even the most basic moments are impressive, from playing in the snow up to Belle reading "Romeo and Juliet" to the Beast and then wishing that he reads to her for once or when she does not look at him wildly eating due to "politeness". Her physiognomy is so charming that when she smiles she almost overshadows Snow White: such euphony was lost by Disney a long time ago. Unfortunately, it is very good, but not great: the tender romantic build up between Belle and the Beast is shortened, rushed, shown in too many ellipses and takes up too little time, whereas too much time is wasted on imposed 'off-topic' musical sequences of a humanoid furniture jumping from the window into the pool and other goofy nonsense that contaminates the emotional core. Or better said, the authors were afraid of making a truly more emotional, grown up story about a relationship. We needed less of furniture dancing and more of Belle and the Beast interacting, since him just having a library is not enough to fully buy she would suddenly change her mind towards him. Still, the core message that beauty can soften even a brute soul, or that real beauty can be found in a kind personality, regardless of physical looks, is noble and touching, whereas the title song composed by Alan Menken and sung by Celine Dion is simply perfect, forming an incredible lucky streak of stunning music in Disney animated films of that era. 

Grade:+++