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Description
Episode: N/A
Year: 1991
Writer(s): Roger Allers, Ken Ashbury, Brenda Chapman, Tom Ellery, Kevin Harkey, Robert Lence, Burny Mattinson, Brian Pimental, Joe Ranft, Chris Sanders, Bruce Woodside
The first thing I'd like to say before I get started with this review is that I've never really seen Beauty and the Beast before this review. Yeah, I'm 25, same as this movie, and NEVER seen Beauty and the Beast! Normally, I don't like to go for the super popular stuff that's already well-loved unless I really want to of my own free will and feel I can adequately talk about it. I usually wouldn't go for things like The Lion King unless I really felt like talking about them. Oh, there are plenty more movies in the Disney canon I plan to review personally and even ones done to death, of course, but I'd like to talk about a movie that really did help shape the animation renaissance of the 1990’s and really pushed it in full force!
It's just like they say in the song itself: this is a "tale as old as time", but it manages to take that tale and give it a new and more modern identity all without feeling forced or losing any charm of the original tale. The movie itself actually does away with a lot of the more mystical elements and the more manipulative nature of the original fairy tale to really humanize and flesh out these characters. For example, in the original tale, Belle's father is kidnapped by the Beast himself after trying to claim a gift of three roses on one stem for her, and in exchange for his freedom, he has to give up Belle as his bride to break the curse. The original more or less fell to the conventions of Stockholm syndrome in a way and really made Belle cozy up to this grotesque monster of whom her father threw to as a piece of meat. I assure you, despite what some people may give as negative criticism to this film, they do NOT promote the idea of Stockholm syndrome or falling for an abuser!
This film was the start of Disney giving us more fleshed-out and human princesses starting with Belle, and given the time in which she lives in a woman who loves books and has a brain and headstrong attitude is a true oddity in 18th century Paris. In the time this movie takes place in, beauty really was the superficial thing to most women and even men as seen with Belle and Gaston. Now, they are very smart to make it known that even though Gaston may look like the handsome and rugged hero, right from the get-go he's a pompous and nasty douchebag who all the ladies fawn for because they ain't too bright. And overtime, we see how far Gaston will go in wanting to force Belle to be his wife through underhanded means, but he doesn't start out as the obvious villain, just a douchebag with a big ego. And I have to say, his song is easily my favorite one in this move just for how funny it is! And seriously? Wouldn't you react the way he and the townspeople do to someone like the Beast? So his and the townsfolk’s reactions aren't unjustified, just misplaced.
And speaking of the Beast, they were definitely really smart with his character here. At first, he seems very much like a typical villain: brutish, rude, easily set off when he doesn't get his way, but it's very easy to see where his apprehension comes from. He's been cursed for a decade and is close to death any day because of it. Of course, he's going to be kind of angry about his whole situation after 10 years of isolation and the fear of dying alone with his servants stuck as household objects! And the servants… oh man, they're fun! Lumière with his savoir-faire, Cogsworth as an uptight butt monkey, and Mrs. Potts and Chip, they're all so charming! Need I even bring up "Be Our Guest"? That's like… the best song of the movie by far! It really shows how the art of Disney has improved since their days of using a cheap style for nearly 2 decades!
Back to the misconceptions. A lot of people say this movie promotes things like Stockholm syndrome and caving into your abuser… they couldn't be more WRONG! When the Beast gets violent towards Belle and it reaches a point where she can't take it anymore, she flat out LEAVES HIS ASS! She doesn't give a shit about their deal of staying a prisoner, she only did it to keep her father safe and never once cared about her jailer in the slightest; not because he's a beast, because he's an asshole, and he tried to hurt her! Belle doesn't take shit from ANYBODY! She is the true definition of an intelligent, strong and independent woman who knew when to get out of a bad situation; she only came back for the Beast because he proved his worth to her by saving her life, so Belle returned the favor and healed him because it was the right thing to do. This was the first step in the former prince opening up his heart to another and slowly, but surely, over months of patience and understanding, they actually came to enjoy each other's company and learn to love each other.
The final 20 minutes really show how the characters have grown over the course of the movie perfectly. That battle between the angry mob out to KILL THE BEAST and the servants is both really funny and epic all at once. And that final battle with Gaston… truly a perfect showing of the term "Who is the monster and who is the man?" if I ever saw one! Without a doubt, Disney's version of this classic tale is the superior version; yeah, it can be kind of cliché at times, but it's what you do WITH the clichés that makes what you're doing good and even amazing when you can pull it off. This is easily in my top 10 Disney films without a doubt, and I'm more than happy I got to see it during its 25th anniversary in my 25th year of life! And now that I've finally seen it, I can finally say: Somebody needs to sue Warner Brothers for Quest for Camelot, HOLY SHIT! But seriously, if you can get this film, don't hesitate at all and just get it!
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