Beauty and the Beast 1991
Even though I bought the Blu-ray of this movie and watched it, for some reason I did not write a review. So months after the last time I watched this, I am writing this review to fill in the one gap in Disney animated features that I own. I am not sure when I first saw this movie, though it almost certainly wasn’t at the theaters. I had a great version of it on DVD that included the unfinished version shown in 1991 at the New York Film Festival where it received a 10-minute standing ovation. Even more than The Little Mermaid, this is the movie that brought Disney animation back to the bigtime, where it would stay for a few years until Pixar came along. First, Beauty and the Beast has maybe the best original music of any Disney movie. Second, Belle is a great, very strong female character, much better than the sweet but but hopelessly naïve Ariel, and not the classic Disney princess waiting for a man to sweep her off her feet. There is also a good story, a wide cast of great supporting characters, and some really great animation, including some very good early computer-aided 3D animation. Throw all of that together and this movie definitely belongs near the top of Disney’s accomplishments. Ultimately I may like Aladdin a little more for its humor and action (still with very good songs and a reasonably strong princess), but Beauty and the Beast is not far behind and is better is some areas.
Written: 28 Apr 2018
Owned on: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital