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Beauty And The Beast was released in a time where Walt Disney Animation Studios were in a phase of a breakthrough despite the death of Walt Disney. The Little Mermaid became a huge success in 1989 and Beauty And The Beast is another great success that has been added to the list of great Disney Classics. This one has received the strongest positive response regarding awards than any Disney animated film (until Up was released). It became the first ever animated film to have been nominated for Best Picture and it won 2 other Academy Awards: Best Song for 'Beauty And The Beast' and Best Original Score (which doesn't surprise me, quite frankly).
Beauty And The Beast bought out in the Disney industry the enchantment and the beauty that they perhaps never thought they'd see again after Walt's passing despite that most of the films between Walt's death and The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast were still very good. They just didn't live up to the level of imagination, charm and magic within it like pretty much all the Disney Renaissances did. The way Beauty And The Beast is filled with so much magic is that there are almost like two different worlds that merge together: the normal village in France with normal people and on the other side, a Beast (a former prince) inside a castle with a moving and talking candlestick, clock, teapot, teacup and others for servants who were humans and are under a spell like the Beast is.
A prince is transformed into a beast by an enchantress as punishment for his cold-hearted attitude and that 'she had seen there is no love in his heart'. She gave him an enchanted rose and if the Beast could love another and earn her love back then the spell would break but if all of the petals fell off, the Beast would remain that way forever. Meanwhile, a young girl named Belle is left alone after her father Maurice heads off to a fair and gets lost in the woods and ends up at the Beast's castle. While home alone, she tries to avoid the clutches of the desperate Gaston who seeks to marry her because 'she is the prettiest girl in town and he deserves the best' and he goes to deep measures to try and make Belle his wife. Maurice's horse returns to Belle and leads her to the Beast's castle where her father is held prisoner and when Beast meets Belle and keeps her captive there instead, everything begins to change and Belle discovers that there is a good man within the Beast that hasn't been discovered before.
Belle is just an absolutely beautiful woman for a cartoon character and the character in general is so powerful hence why I would say that Belle is my favourite Disney Princess. Even a cartoon character has more sense on what's more important about someone than most women in the world nowadays. I think perhaps Beast was quite an eerie character to add in a Disney animated kids film because he is both disfiguring and scary but despite this, they still managed to make him disfiguring to add the drama but also scary to make the audience get more to grips with his character. Gaston is a perfect example of a lot of the men in the world: arrogant, self-absorbed and selfish who think they can just get what they want but not every one has a good physique like Gaston does. Well, for an animation anyway. Lefou is a great character for me because he mysteriously sticks with Gaston even though Gaston treats him like crap (bit like Mr. Smee and Captain Hook) so I guess that goes to show that Lefou is really thick and that Gaston is quite a powerful force over some of the people in that French town. I love all the characters in the castle but I have to say that my favourite character is Lumiere.
Both Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise as co-directors isn't only their first time directing a feature film together but also a feature film that both have directed in general for the first time so I would say that this goes on the list of the greatest directorial debuts list for both of them because they rightfully deserve it. They both did a fantastic job on The Hunchback Of Notre Dame as well. The screenplay was fantastic! I love how they had the prologue of the Beast and the spell he is under at the start and then the film really begins. Personally, I think what makes a film instantly epic is if there is a prologue at the start with solid music and with strong screenplay. I have to say that the script for this film was just fantastic! I think the most crucial point about this film is the message is sends out: no matter how beautiful one really is, it is more about a person for who they are as a person than what a person looks like. I mean, is better loving someone who's ugly with a strong and nice personality than handsome and an evil bastard. It is just a shame that there aren't many people around nowadays who do appreciate that fact.
Overall, Beauty And The Beast is an absolutely beautiful masterpiece that I fell in love with from when I first saw it and still love it now. It is definitely one of Disney's best animated films ever and it deserves to be. It is also one of those films that almost made me cry but failed to do so. I would still call it a tearjerker. Beauty And The Beast was released on the year I was born so that is another reason why I love it. You have no heart if you decide not to watch this! By the way, if any of you have a blu-ray player, go and get it because you enter a world beyond this one while watching it. Highly recommend both the blu-ray and the film.
