I'm old enough that I can remember when seeing a Disney movie was still a fairly major event. Before the advent of videos and DVDs, the only time one saw a Disney film was either at the theater or on television. And yet, for all the charm and uniqueness that Disney's animated films brought to me as a child, I can still remember the moment when I first really fell in love with a Disney movie...and by then I was grown-up.
Grown-up enough to have graduated college and to be sitting in a theater with my fiancee. That was in 1991, and we had gone to see Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I don't think either one of us was prepared for the beauty of that lovely animated film as it unfolded for the first time on the big screen. There was one moment in particular that made me catch my breath: when Belle, right before she sings "I want adventure in the great wide somewhere" runs outside. Our perspective moves upward into the trees so we're given a birds-eye view, then opens out into a stunning autumn panorama of mountains and a river as the music lifts and swells in a beautiful crescendo. That's the moment I fell for this movie. It still makes me catch my breath every time I see it; it also makes me want to cry out "me too!" when Belle sings of her ardent longings for a life of adventure and someone with whom she can share it (though I think I've found those things).
That's the magic of a well-told fairytale, and that's what this movie is from start to finish. I think one reason I enjoyed it then and now is the way Beauty and the Beast combines so many excellent elements, but always in the service of a well-told story. This "tale as old as time" has it all: well-drawn characters (literally as well as figuratively), creative transitions, beautiful artwork, deft touches of humor, a plot that never seems to creak, a villain whose all too human brutality makes you shudder, romance...and blended through it all, the marvelous music of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
"Who Could Ever Learn to Love a Beast?"
The film does an excellent job of setting the story in motion. There's a "prologue" where the Beast's sad story is told in voice-over (David Ogden Stiers provides the narration). The prologue is a bit of clever exposition. The voice-over and the use of stained glass windows firmly establish us in the realm of fairy-tale and provide us with all the background we need, which sets the main action in motion. We learn that the Beast is a prince in disguise, put under an enchantment because of his lack of kindness and love. The spell can only be broken if he learns to love someone and earns her love in return before the last petal falls on an enchanted rose. "Years passed, and the Beast fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a Beast?"
Cue the orchestra, and cue our first look at Belle. She's the answer to the question from the opening moments. We're sure of that, but it's the getting there that's going to be harrowing.
Paige O'Hara provides the voice (both singing and speaking) of Belle, by far the most creative and believable Disney heroine we've ever seen. She's beautiful (hence her name) but also a trifle odd, or at least the townspeople think so. We follow her on her morning walk through town and are treated to a terrific Broadway-style musical number. We learn that her love of books and day-dreamy ways set her aside from the rest of her neighbors. That doesn't stop the arrogant and ridiculous Gaston (Richard White) from assuming that Belle should be his girl, and eventually his wife. The fact that every girl in town is after him except Belle makes her a challenge. He's a hunter, and sets his sights on Belle more or less they way he would a prize duck.
Gaston's over-the-top machismo provides a lot of the early humor in the film ("Gaston, you're positively primeval," Belle says at one point, to which he replies, "Why, thank you, Belle!") but his innate selfishness pushes through, and he eventually morphs into one of the most chilling villains Disney ever put on screen. It's fascinating to watch the dual story-line of Gaston moving from humanity to baser animal instincts at the same time we're watching the Beast move in exactly the opposite direction. (Disney loves the "who is the monster and who is the man" motif...watch for it again in The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Quasi and Frollo.) We, along with Belle, begin to realize that outward appearance may have little to do with who a person really is at heart.
Belle's selflessness is in direct contrast to Gaston's boorish ways. She ends up at the Beast's castle looking for her lost father (Maurice the eccentric inventor, voiced by Rex Everheart). She and her father live alone and their love for one another is strong, so strong that Belle willingly sacrifices her freedom so the Beast will let her father go free. From Belle's perspective, it's a chilling trade; she assumes that like her father she will be locked up in a dungeon by this terrifying monster. But the Beast (Robby Benson) a hulking animal-creature who sometimes prowls around on four legs and sometimes walks upright, has other ideas.
That's because he and all the other enchanted inhabitants of his castle realize that Belle could possibly break the spell. What we don't know from the prologue is that everyone and everything that lived in the Prince's castle, from his servants down to his lapdog, was put under a spell at the same time as the Prince. They've all been turned into animate objects. The maid, Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury) is now a teapot, Cogsworth the butler (David Ogden Stiers) is a clock, and another servant, Lumiere (Jerry Orbach, in truly inspired casting) is now a candlestick. They're all very eager to be "human again" -- as one song (cut from the original film but restored in the special edition) reminds us.
The rest of the movie delves into the question put to us right up front. Who coulld ever learn to love a beast? Indeed, who could? He doesn't love himself; the despair and darkness that settled on him when he fell under the enchantment have made him bitter and prone to angry rages. Can Belle look past that and see his anxious, hopeful heart? Can her own kindness and gentility not only win his heart but give him an example to emulate? Can she love him?
Not precisely your standard romance, and yet it works. The voice performances of Benson and O'Hara are so winning, the joy and humor of the faithful servants so refreshing, and the musical numbers are stunning, especially the famous "Be Our Guest" where Orbach, if you'll forgive the pun, really shines. The number pays tribute to old musical numbers a la Busby Berkley films. The animation is wonderful here as elsewhere, combining the best of old-school animated artwork with computer graphics. (You'll note the computer graphics at work in certain other scenes in the film that appear dazzlingly three-dimensional, especially the ballroom scene where Beast and Belle first dance.)
The happy ending comes (and how!) but not without a price. Remember that nasty, scheming Gaston is still waiting in the wings. His ultimate confrontation with the Beast is really scary...scary enough that it (and another scene involving wild wolves) makes this film too frightening for my six year old. I'd recommend it for slightly older children, and of course for adults who have never forgotten their child-like hopes and heart.
Beauty and the Beast is a masterpiece in every way. It's still the only animated film to ever be nominated for best picture; this was before they segregated animated films into their own category. I would have happily given it that honor. It was certainly my favorite film of the year, and after all these years, remains my favorite Disney animated movie.
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