Be Reel: Beauty and the Beast

When Beauty and the Beast was released in 1991 it was met with nothing but praise. Belle, the independent "bookworm" princess, was a direct response to criticisms of Ariel (The Little Mermaid) and how her only defining trait seemed to be wanting to find love. Howard Ashman and Alan Menken wrote 8 new songs for the film, and nearly all of them would go on to be Disney classics. In 1992 the film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, the first animated film to receive the honor, only one of three animated films to date to be nominated, and it remains the only hand drawn 2D animated feature to be nominated. The film would go on to become an incredibly successful Broadway musical and an intricate part of the Disney brand. With all of these incredible feats achieved by one movie, there is no question as to why Disney had so much faith in their live action adaptation from 2017. For quite a few years now Disney has been re-imagining their classic animated films as live action fairy tales. It began with Alice in Wonderland in 2010, then came Maleficent in 2014, followed by Cinderella in 2015, and finally the Jungle Book, Pete's Dragon, and Alice Through the Looking Glass in 2016. The one notable thing about these films is the fact that they are all adaptations of animated features released before the 1980s. All of these brands have had between 40 to 65 years to establish themselves. Another important fact is that although all of the original animated films were musicals (or at least had some musical aspects to them), their live action counterparts have little-to-no evidence of these songs. All of this would change with Beauty and the Beast (2017). Not only is it based on a film released in Disney Renaissance (the period of time between 1989 and 1999 in which Disney produced such movies as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Mulan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Tarzan), but it would also feature not one or two, but all eight of Ashman and Menken's songs as well as four new songs written for the film by Menken. After 7 years of playing it somewhat safe with their live action versions of classic stories, Disney was finally ready to take a chance by taking one of their most successful animated films of all time and attempting to carry its success over into a live action telling. But did their attempt pay off?

Disney created pure magic and wonder with their retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and it worked astoundingly well. From the first shot that appears on screen it is clear that the film is going to hold onto the magic of the original while simultaneously becoming a more sophisticated story. Both objectively and subjectively the film did everything it needed to. Director Bill Condon managed to take an already enchanting tale as old as time and make it much deeper and more whimsical.

On the objective front, Beauty and the Beast is a marvel to behold. Its story, penned by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos, is seamlessly written, and its characters and settings are amazingly well realized. An entire ensemble of CGI characters are placed front and center and not once do they appear to be fake, and the grandeur of the setting makes for an incredibly magical viewing experience. The way that the castle and town are designed make them look believable but also incredibly magical. The best example of the town’s setting comes during the opening song “Belle,” where Emma Watson’s Belle walks through town during the nearly eight minute musical number. The audience is shown townspeople going about their day, and a wide shot near the end makes the town look incredibly real despite the fact that the sequence was filmed in a pop up town that was half rendered with CGI.

As for the castle, during the iconic dance sequence between Belle and Beast the magic of the building is incredibly well realized. The story as a whole also improved from 1991. The writers took into account plot holes within the first film and made this telling of the story much smoother. Overall, Beauty and the Beast was very objectively successful.

Subjectively, I am a massive fan of this film. It is one of my favorites, if not my favorite film of the year. Beauty and the Beast has long been one of my favorite animated Disney classics, so I had seriously high expectations for this movie. From the first time I saw it a few months back I knew that this would remain one of my favorites. The music was similar enough to the original to pay it homage, but still altered enough to be its own new soundtrack. The three new songs are all great, but the Beast’s “Evermore” stands out as one of the best songs in the whole movie. I also think that the changes made to characters all worked extremely well. Belle is made even more independent, Maurice’s connection to Belle is strengthened, Gaston is a much more evil villain, and LeFou plays a much larger role in this film. The best change made to characters is the connection between Belle and Beast. Their journey of falling in love seems much more natural here and dispels the accusations of Belle suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Their connection feels as though it grows naturally, and so when they are separated it is more impactful than it was 25 years prior.   

Beauty and the Beast had a lot of pressure when it released in theaters, and it undoubtedly triumphed. It currently stands as the tenth highest grossing film of all time (worldwide box office, not accounting for inflation), and is one of only eight films to ever make over $500 million in the US alone. In case this review has not made it clear, I am rating Beauty and the Beast (2017) as Good Good. The film is without a doubt one of my favorites in recent history, and I am hopeful that Disney will be able to recreate this level of production in their upcoming live action Mulan, Aladdin, and Lion King films.