For Walt Disney Animation Studios, the 30th time's the charm. While some may well love the 29 feature length animated films that came prior to or the 20 that have come given that, I prefer Beauty along with the Beast. I could write a entire post on why it is far better than The Lion King or Aladdin (a close second) or even the classics like Snow White and also the Seven Dwarfs or Cinderella, but I'll save that for later. This write-up is strictly about a tale as old as time.
One of the oldest fairy tales, La Belle et la B锟斤拷te, is masterfully adapted by Disney in this Academy Award winning animation. Lengthy ago, a young prince selfishly refused shelter to an old beggar woman who then reveals herself as a attractive enchantress. She cursed him to the form of a monstrous beast for judging her not by her inner beauty but by her outward appearance. If he did not come across a woman to adore him in his frightening embodiment by his 21st birthday, he could be doomed to live the rest of his days as the Beast.
Some time later, Belle, the attractive young bookworm in her little French village is in search of much more out of life. She is unimpressed with Gaston, the town "lady's man" who will do anything to get her to marry him despite all of the other, far more voluptuous, girls pining for him around town. Belle's father, a loony inventor, sets off for the fair with his newest contraption but soon gets lost in a thunderstorm. He finds his way to a dark castle and is promptly taken as prisoner by the terrifying Beast. Back household, Belle learns that her father is missing and traces him into the castle where she pleads with Beast to let her take the old man's location. He agrees understanding that, in spite of his raging temper amongst other things, he have to find a way for her to fall in really like with him.
The unfolding story is accompanied by numerous memorable songs which includes one that earned Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (posthumously) an Oscar. Angela Lansbury does a great job in that certain song as does Paige O'Hara, the voice of Belle, on others. Although Beauty and the Beast may perhaps at very first seem like a girly or kids movie, it is not at all. Not just does Beast sing (in a manly way) in 'Something There' but the rest of the plot always has a sinister feel looming over even the sweetest of moments.
If your kids have grown up only on Pixar movies, you owe it to them to share this treat of conventional animation. Absolutely nothing about the timeless story has aged obviously and you know there's magic when Disney is beginning to revert to this style of filmmaking. The entire family members has some thing to adore about this movie and it'll have you on the edge of your seat in suspense to see if "'Twas beauty killed the beast". That's why I give Beauty plus the Beast a 9/10.
