Saturday, June 09, 2007

#100 Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Directed by Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise
Starring: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White

Beauty and the Beast is a simple story with a moral that you shouldn't judge people based on appearance. An admirable and oft-used message within Disney films. Although the film shies away from allowing Belle to marry the beast in his cursed animal form (presumably and understandably for fear of being too radical) this is forgivable in the sense that the heroine is rewarded for falling in love with someone physically intimidating and undesirable. Beauty can also be construed as a social commentary on the treatment of outsiders in society, coming shortly after the exploratory views of Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands.

The magical thing about classic Disney is in the music. Disney songs don't feel included for the mere sake of it. They further the narrative, and in some ways develop the characters involved. Whether it's the manic yet charming 'Be Our Guest', which instantly alters the pre-conception of the castle as a dark and heavy environment, or the sweet and poignant title track, detailing the implications of judging somebody at face value; Beauty and the Beast is a funny and sweepingly grand fairy tale with gorgeous intentions.

1 comment:

DL said...

Ooh, I love Personal Canons. I've been meaning to do one for a long time now, but want to see a couple of movies first before I do so.

Anyway, Beauty and the Beast = good choice.