Disney Renaissance Month - Beauty and the Beast (1991)

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and I hope you had a great weekend. I ended up spending my Sunday at a local fan convention, which was a lot of fun. But now, it's time to get back to Disney Renaissance Month, and today's review is of what is arguably one of the best films in the entire Disney Renaissance. Beauty and the Beast was released in 1991, and was directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale. The voice cast of this movie includes the likes of Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Jerry Orbach, David Odgen Stiers, Bradley Pierce, Richard White, Rex Everhart, Jesse Corti, Tony Jay, and Angela Lansbury. 

         The movie starts off with a narration about how a young Prince lived in a massive castle at the edge of a forest. The Prince, however, was a spoiled rotten little punk, and when an old beggar woman came to the castle one winter's night seeking shelter in exchange for a single rose, the Prince turned her away. Despite her warning him not to be fooled by appearances, he dismissed her again. Ultimately, the old woman's outward appearance melted away, revealing a beautiful Enchantress, who wouldn't hear out the Prince's apologies, and she cursed him and his castle, as well as his servants. The Enchantress turned the Prince into a hideous Beast, a form she saw fit for his cold heart. On top of that, the rose itself was also enchanted, and the spell could be broken if the Beast found love in another, and earned her love in return, before the final petal fell from the rose. Otherwise, he would remain a Beast forever. As time goes on, the Beast gives up hope as, well, who could ever truly love a Beast? 

           After the title is revealed, we meet Belle, who lives in a small township not far away from the castle. Belle is seen by the townsfolk as unusual as she prefers reading books to socializing and finding a man in her life. The one man that is attracted to Belle is the local hero and big game hunter, Gaston. But, again, she is uninterested, and becomes defensive when Gaston's buddy, LeFou, insults Belle's father, Maurice. Maurice is an inventor, and a bit of an eccentric oddball. Ultimately, when he gets his latest invention, an automatic log chopper, working, Maurice heads off to the fair to show it off. 

           Unfortunately, Maurice gets lost in the forest, and he ends up getting chased by a pack of ravenous wolves, and enters the gates of the castle, heading inside to get warm and dry because of the rain. While the castle's servants, Lumiere and Mrs. Potts, are more willing to help warm him up with a cup of tea by a warm fire, Cogsworth is less than thrilled about the idea. Ultimately, when the Beast arrives, he takes Maurice up to the tower and locks him in a cell. Back in town, Gaston attempts to make a spectacle of proposing marriage to Belle, but she ultimately turns him down. After everyone else leaves, Belle heads to an open field, and sings about her dreams of adventure in the great wide somewhere. Ultimately, her father's horse, Philippe, returns alone and Belle realizes something is wrong. Philippe takes Belle to the castle, where she hears her father's cough and follows it up the tower. Maurice tries to warn Belle to get away from the castle, but the Beast shows up, and informs that Maurice is a prisoner for trespassing. Belle offers to take her father's place as prisoner of her father is allowed to go free. The Beast agrees, and has Maurice sent back to the town. At the behest of Lumiere, the Beast gives Belle a much nicer room in the East Wing, and tells her she is free to roam the castle, but the West Wing is forbidden. After showing her to her room, the Beast informs Belle that she is to join him for dinner. 

          Back in town, Gaston is down in the dumps after being rejected by Belle, but LeFou and the other bar patrons sing of Gaston's praises and his greatness, which makes him feel better. Maurice shows up seeking help in rescuing Belle from the Beast's castle, but the patrons laugh him off as being crazy, which makes Gaston formulate a disgusting plan to get Belle to agree to marry him: use Maurice's questionable sanity to coerce Belle to do anything to keep her father out of an asylum. Back at the castle, Belle refuses to have dinner with the Beast, who orders that she doesn't get to eat if she doesn't eat with him. Ouch. Anyway, some time later, Belle does want some food, and Lumiere and Mrs. Potts agree to make a banquet for her. Or, rather, a Culinary Cabaret, as we get one of the film's most famous moments: the "Be Our Guest" scene. 

          After the musical dinner, Belle gets a tour of the castle from Cogsworth, and she sneaks off to investigate the West Wing, finding the Beast's room, and the rose. The Beast shows up, and demands she leaves his room, fearing what damage she could have done to the rose. Realizing she can't stay, Belle leaves the castle to return home to her father. Unfortunately, she runs afoul of the wolf pack from before. The Beast saves her life, and she takes him back to the castle to tend to his wounds. Back in the town, Gaston bribes Monsieur D'Arque, the sadistic asylum warden, to take Maurice to the asylum if Belle refuses Gaston's proposal of marriage. Monsieur D'Arque, who sees Maurice as harmless and Gaston's scheme as despicable, ultimately agrees to go along with it. Maurice, unable to get help rescuing Belle from the castle, goes off on his own to save her. 

        Belle, meanwhile, has started to grow a friendship with the Beast, who shows her his massive library, saying she can have it if she wants, much to her delight. The Bond between the two grows stronger and stronger, and then we get the other most famous scene in the movie: the ballroom dance scene. The use of CAPS to animate just how MASSIVE the ballroom is, and the sweeping camera movements (so to speak) just add to the sheer majesty of the scene. After their dance, Beast shows Belle a mirror that can show her anyone she wishes to see, and she asks to see her father. Seeing him lost, cold, and ill, Beast let's Belle go, as she needs to save her father. Releasing her as his prisoner, Beast lets Belle keep the mirror. Belle departs and goes to save Maurice. 

          Returning him safely to their home, Belle tells her father about how the Beast wasn't what they initially thought, and was actually nice. Monsieur D'Arque arrives to take Maurice away, despite the protests of both Belle and Maurice. Gaston offers to keep Maurice out of the asylum if Belle agrees to marry him. Belle, once again, refuses, and instead shows the townsfolk the Beast using the enchanted mirror. Gaston locks both Belle and Maurice in the cellar of their home, and takes the mirror and some of the men in the town to the castle with one goal: kill the Beast. 

       Chip, who snuck into Belle's bag and went home with her, saves Belle and Maurice, and she heads off to the castle to stop Gaston. Gaston and his men, meanwhile, are fought off by the castle servants, who manage to send most of them away. Only Gaston stays, still intent on killing the Beast, who is too heartbroken to fight back. It's only when Belle returns that he gains the strength to fight, and holds his own against Gaston, who stabs the Beast with a fatal blow, but falls to his own death in the chasm below. Beast dies in Belle's arms, having his wish to see her again granted. Belle begs him not to go, stating that she loves him, and the final petals fall as he dies. But, her confession of love causes the spell to be broken, and the Beast and his servants are all human again, with the castle being returned to its original state. Belle and the Prince get married, and all ends happily ever after. 

         Beauty and the Beast is a classic romantic tale that, in my opinion, is one of the greatest feats of animation period. As I stated before, the use of the CAPS system in the movie just adds a depth to the film that makes it truly unique, as it gives the film a grand scope with a more cinematic quality like the sweeping movements of a camera. Just the sheer size and scale of the movie is amazing. 

       But, Beauty and the Beast isn't just a technical marvel. The story is also something special, and its two lead characters have genuine growth and very likeable personalities. I thoroughly loved both Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson as Bell and Beast. Now, the human form of the Beast was pretty generic, but the directors said that would be the case, as the audience fell in love with the Beast as a character, and not his human look. 

        The trio of Jerry Orbach, David Odgen Stiers, and Angela Lansbury were all excellent as Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts. It's truly tragic that, sadly, all three performers have passed away in the years since the release of Beauty and the Beast, with Jerry Orbach passing in 2004, David Odgen Stiers passing in 2018, and Angela Lansbury passing in 2022, but their performances will live on as future generations enjoy this timeless masterpiece. 

         I also enjoyed both Richard White as Gaston and Jesse Corti as LeFou, as Gaston is an antagonist who in a traditional fairy tale would be the hero, and LeFou is hilarious as the bumbling stooge. Tony Jay, who would return to voice another character during the Disney Renaissance (we'll get to that before long, believe me), was also fantastic in the movie as Monsieur D'Arque. He's not on screen much, but his voice alone sends chills down the spine. Rex Everhart was fine as Maurice, but he played it up too much of a bumbling man child, something we'd see again with another father character, but I'm getting ahead of myself. 

        The songs, what's there to say? The songs are iconic. "Belle," "Gaston," "Be Our Guest," "Beauty and the Beast," all of these songs are just legendary. Of course, they were written by the duo of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, returning from their successful work on The Little Mermaid. Unfortunately, Beauty and the Beast, which many saw as Howard Ashman's magnum opus, would be the final project he would complete the songwriting for, as he would tragically pass away shortly before the film's release due to complications from the AIDS virus. The work that Howard Ashman did for both Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid is truly icon status, and will be remembered for generations to come. 

        Overall, I have nothing more to say about this tale as old as time. Truly, it is one of Disney's greatest films of all time. I'm giving Beauty and the Beast a rating of 5/5. It is truly that good. Anyway, I bet you're wondering if I'm going to discuss the 2017 live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. Well, wonder no more, as I will be posting a quick review later on today. So, definitely keep an eye out for that. But, as for Disney Renaissance Month, that will resume tomorrow with my review of 1992's Aladdin.

       Anyway guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.