Beauty and the Beast on DVD from MovieMail

MovieMail's Review

Alex Davidson marvels at the first animated film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar before tapping his foot along to the score full of great numbers such as 'Be Our Guest'.

Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar (only Up has since earned the same honour), and looking back on it nearly twenty years after its release it is not hard to see why.

Disney enjoyed a renaissance at the end of the 1980s, both in quality and commercial success, starting with The Little Mermaid, which broke box office records and gave the studio their best reviews in decades. Beauty and the Beast is even better, particularly from a technical standpoint - the crew used computer animation for the first time in the famous ballroom scene, where the couple�s waltz is transformed into a magical spectacle through the pioneering technology.

The Oscar-winning music boasts some great numbers, such as the exhilarating 'Be Our Guest' and the famous title song. The film pays homage from Cocteau�s La belle et la b�te (1946), borrowing imagery from the earlier masterpiece, adding a haunting poetry to the picture. Although suitable for young children, the scarier moments of the film hark back to Disney�s golden years, with sinister scenes worthy of Snow White and Pinocchio. A masterpiece.

Alex Davidson on 27th September 2010
Author of 231 reviews

Film Description

Disney's adaptation of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast follows the adventures of Belle, a bright and beautiful young woman who finds escape from her ordinary life, and the advances of a boorish suitor, Gaston, by reading books. Meanwhile, in a castle in the distance, a cruel young prince is cast under the spell of an enchantress who turns him into a tormented beast, while transforming his servants into animated household objects. In order to remove the curse, the Beast must discover a true love who will return his affection before the last petal falls from an enchanted rose. When Belle's inventor father stumbles upon the Beast's castle and is taken prisoner, Belle comes to the rescue and agrees to take her father's place. With the help of the castle's enchanted staff, she sees beneath the Beast's exterior and discovers the heart and soul of a human prince.