Beauty and the Beast (1991) Encore Review

“Don’t you see? She’s the one. The girl we have been waiting for. She has come to break the spell. ” – Lumiere

Number of Times Seen – At least 5 times (Theater in 1991, video, 2 Apr 2014 and 14 Apr 2017)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – A young woman offers herself as a prisoner in her father’s stead when he is captured by an incredible beast

My Take on it – After coming home from watching the new live action adaptation of this story, I felt the need to rewatch this in order to re-confirm to myself that I was correct in my assertion that the remake is wasted because it doesn’t come anywhere close to being as great as this one does despite it being a virtual doppelganger.

THis film is the right way to tell this story and it does a wonderful job via the use of animation to merge the enchanted and human aspects of the fable this is based one.

The animation is superb and I still am amazed at the way they shot the dancing scene.

As with most Disney animated films, the voice cast is superb and they get both the verbal and musical aspects of it just right.

They somehow found a great way to show us the emotional impact of the storyline and I believe that this is one of the very best of Disney’s animated features.

It really isn’t shocking at all that this film was able to be the first animated film ever to be nominate for the Oscar for Best Picture.

Only two other animated films have made the cut ever since Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010), but both of them did it after they lifted the 5 nominee rule, which would make it slightly easier to make the expanded list.

The music is amazing here and I can listen to the title song over and over because it is so powerfully emotional and helps us believe the romance between the two main characters.

Listen to it here in both versions (from the credits (Celine Dion) and from within the film (Angela Lansbury).

Which version of this song do you like better?

Suffice it to say, skip the remake and watch (or rewatch) this one!

Bottom Line – Amazing way to tell this story. The animation is superbly done and is able to easily merge the enchanted and emotional parts of the story.  Voice cast is great as always with Disney productions.  The way that this film tells its story is done so emotionally that it really is one of the best animated films ever made and deserved to be the very first animated feature to be able to get an Oscar Best Picture nomination (and the sole one to do so with the 5 nominee limit). The music is spectacular and really helps give us such a great feeling for the the characters and the story being told. Skip the remake, this is the only one you need to see. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia –  Angela Lansbury, the voice of Mrs. Potts, thought that another character would be better suited to sing the ballad “Beauty and the Beast”. The director asked her to make at least one recording to have for a backup if nothing else worked, and that one recording ended up in the film. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (no change from original review)

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