Beauty and the Beast

Voices of: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury
Directed by: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Romance
1991

Times Seen:
Tim: 4

Summary: Belle (Paige O'Hara) becomes a prisoner of the Beast (Robby Benson) in his castle. She is fearful of him, but soon discovers there's more to him than his frightening exterior.

Review:

Tim: Beauty and the Beast is one of the all time classics. It was the first animated film ever nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, and the only one until the field was expanded to 10 nominees. It's one of the best animated films ever made, and a terrific movie. While it has aged some over the last two decades, it still maintains its stunning beauty and power.

The story is simple enough and feels both large and small, at the same time. I like that the movie doesn't feel like a massive epic like The Lion King. It's definitely on a much smaller scale. That closeness, though, makes the movie feel special. It's also relatively short at 84 minutes. Still, that's all the time needed to make a huge impact.

I like the message of the film. There's definitely lots to learn here for children. The movie's villain is Gaston, whose greatest vices are arrogance and selfishness. The beast was cursed because he showed the same qualities- thinking he was better than everyone else. He also suffers because of his rage. It's only when he controls his emotions and puts someone else above himself that he finally starts to change his life for the better. Belle is a great role model, and she's definitely different. I like the quality of movies that showcase it's okay to be different from everyone else. Belle's uniqueness makes her special, not weird. That's a great lesson for kids.

This movie features some incredible songs. There's not a bad song in the film, which is rare (most films have at least one poorly constructed song). The film was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, and three were for Best Original Song- for "Belle", "Be Our Guest", and "Beauty and the Beast". The latter song won the Academy Award, which is amazing, because the other two songs likely split the vote to a certain extent. The song is perfectly written, beautiful, and perfectly captures the feeling and romance of the film. I actually love the song and think it's one of the greatest movie songs of all time. It's featured in perhaps the movie's best scene, with the stunning dance sequence. The image of Belle in her yellow dress and the Beast dressed up is the most iconic moment in the film. The scene with the incredible chandelier is just jaw dropping (especially the drop down from above moment).

The characters are so memorable. Besides Belle and the Beast, we have a collection of funny, likable characters. Lumiere and Cogsworth are very enjoyable together. Chip is hilariously cute, and Mrs. Potts is wonderful (thanks to fantastic voice work by Angela Lansbury). Gaston is a worthwhile villain. The characters are really something special here.

While Beauty and the Beast is an unabashed romance, the film is so entertaining that it never feels overly sappy. I loved the tone struck in this film. It's an enjoyable, beautiful movie, and one of the best animated movies ever made. In a catalogue of truly impressive animated films, this one might be the crown jewel.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 9



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Lion King, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs