Day 30: Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Starring: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Michael Pierce, Rex Everhart, Jesse Corti, Hal Smith, Jo Anne Worley, Kath Soucie, Brian Cummings, Alvin Epstein, Tony Jay, Alec Murphy, Mary Kay Bergman, Frank Welker  

Songs: "Belle," "Gaston," "Be Out Guest," "Something There," "The Mob Song," "Beauty and the Beast"

Beauty and the Beast is the thirtieth Disney animated feature, the third film of the Disney Renaissance, based on the French fairy tale by Jean-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont.  It tells the story of Belle, who goes to take her father's place as a captive in an enchanted castle where she falls in love with the Beast.

Much like The Little Mermaid, the idea to make this movie originated with Walt Disney in the 1930s.  Attempts to develop the story happened in the late '30s after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and again in the 1950s, but it never quite took.  In the 1980s, after the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the studio revisited the idea of Beauty and the Beast.  In 1989, Jeffrey Katzenberg decided the movie should be re-envisioned as a musical in the style of The Little Mermaid.

This movie, of course, was one of the most successful movies Disney had ever made, both financially and critically.  It was the first (and, until 2010, the only) animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award.  It also had three of its songs ("Belle," "Be Our Guest," "Beauty and the Beast") nominated for Best Original Song, which "Beauty and the Beast" won.  The film was also the first Disney movie to be adapted to a Broadway musical.

Overall, this film is beautiful -- the animation, the backgrounds, the voice acting, the music... all just stunning.  The CGI elements and traditionally animated elements are blended perfectly here, and it honestly looks the most organic of any of the movies so far that have blended the two techniques.  And the music, of course, is some of the best -- Menken and Ashman at the top of their game.  This movie is special in that it is definitely a piece of art, but it also works amazingly well as entertainment.  It's safe to say that I love this movie.  I loved it as a kid and love it now, just a really lovely film.

What I Liked: The backgrounds.  Some of the most beautiful backgrounds ever in a Disney movie.  Jerry Orbach as Lumiére... oh gosh, what a performance from such a wonderful actor.  But most of all, the song "Something There," which is probably my favorite Disney love song.  One of my favorite stories connected with this movie is that lyricist Howard Ashman gave Paige O'Hara as Belle the one word direction "Barbra" to get her to deliver the line, "new and a bit alarming," as he envisioned it -- with the inflection Barbra Streisand would have used.   

What I Disliked: Honestly, nothing.

Should You Watch This Movie: I can't believe you're even asking me this.  Of course!!