From the vault: Beauty and the Beast is a Disney classic worth revisiting [Review]
A tale as old as time never gets old.The 1991 animated feature Beauty and the Beast is a perfect example of the classic Disney fairytale. It even starts with, “once upon a time, in a faraway land ...” which was France, by the way, even though everyone spoke with an American or British accent.
When a young, selfish and cruel prince turns away an old beggar woman on a cold night, she reveals herself to be an enchantress and punishes his heartlessness by transforming him into a beast. The only way for him to return to his human form is if someone finds it in their heart to love him despite his monstrous appearance.
The rest is familiar: beast meets girl, beast loses girl, beast gets girl back and the audience leaves having learned a lesson about inner beauty and kindness.
For fans of classic Disney, Beauty and the Beast is a tale as old as time that will have a place in your heart no matter how old you get. The characters are endearing and memorable: Belle is kind and brave, but also stubborn and enjoys breaking the rules; Beast, though a brute at first, becomes gentle and kind in time as he falls in love.
Idealistic? Of course, but this is a Disney movie. For 1991, the layers and textures of the 2D artwork still stands the test of time and so do the original songs and music. Hey, it won two of its six Oscar nominations!
The live action remake coming out this month has a lot of live up to. But, hey, be our guest.
Edited by Sam Gusway