1991 Disney movieRating: 14/20 (Abbey: 20/20; Jen: 19/20)
Plot: Belle is a beautiful but lazy nerd who does nothing but read about dragons. She's the daughter of a kooky inventor. She catches the eye of Gaston, a burly hunter who hangs around with a midget. He nudges the midget one day and says, "Midget, check this. I'm going to hit that." Attempts to hit that prove fruitless. Belle's dad gets lost on the way to an inventor's contest and ends up the prisoner of the Beast who lives in an enchanted castle with talking furniture and a horny candlestick. Belle sacrifices herself for the freedom of her father, and eventually they fall in love and everybody lives happily ever after. Except for Gaston, who aside from having a bad case of blue balls also plummets to his death at the end.
Beauty and the Beast is a good enough movie. It's got lots of nice color and some great animated landscapes. There's Disney's typical creative energy bubbling below the surface of this telling of the classic fairy tale. Unfortunately, it's got lots of problems. First, it's an old school musical complete with dancing and furniture choreography, but there's really only one great song. This is a short movie, but there are still a lot of extraneous moments, most of them songs. The worst offender is the song about Gaston which does nothing but pound home what we already figured out about him. I don't like him much as a villain anyway. Actually, I don't really like any of the characters. The romance happens much too quickly, too quickly to really feel anything, so the ending, which should have been magical and beautiful, ends up as a ho-hum moment with really lazy animation. Belle is just another Disney princess; she's got nothing to offer other than being a pretty prop. The Beast is a jerk who deserved what he got anyway, and his transition into a loving and gentle creature is really contrived and unrealistic. I always imagine that once he's a prince again, he runs off and finds somebody better since he's obviously just using her to break the spell. And there's not really a likable or memorable talking inanimate object either. They're there mostly for comic relief and are more annoying than necessary. I was really hoping Belle would accidentally drop the little teacup (Chip?) and end that misery. And despite some really beautiful animated moments, there are just as many times when the characters and the scenery don't mesh, making it look more like one of those straight-to-video deals than a Disney big-budget theatrical release. Cocteau's version of the fairy tale, although flawed, is better than this one. And I still don't get the ending to the fairy tale. Why does he need to turn back into a prince? Isn't the point that she loves him for who he is and not what he looks like? And why were all the inanimate objects punished by the sorceress? What did they do wrong?
16 comments:
Giving the greatest Disney animated film a 14 is bull$#!^. I considered ignoring this review, but that's not happening. I have to get the kiddies who have good taste in cartoons to bed, so more later. I will say that compared to this, Cocteau's version is overrated crap.
Let me make this easier:
Tier One:
Pinocchio
Fantasia
The Lion King
Cinderella
Peter Pan
The Jungle Book
Snow White (huge midget bonus)
Robin Hood
Alice in Wonderland (midgets in abundance)
Tier Two:
The Little Mermaid
Mulan
Tarzan
Dumbo
The Great Mouse Detective
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
Tier Three:
The Emperor's New Groove
Fantasia 2000
The Rescuers
101 Dalmations
Lilo and Stich
Sleeping Beauty
Fox and the Hound
Tier Four:
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Lady and the Tramp
Bambi
Sword and the Stone
The Black Cauldron
Brother Bear
Tier Five:
Atlantis
Treasure Planet
Home on the Range
I either haven't seen or don't know the following: Salados Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (I like the Sleepy Hollow part of this though), The Aristocats, Oliver and Company, The Rescuers Down Under, Hercules, Pocahontas.
Typing this out, it occurs to me that Disney really likes midgets and really dislikes black people. I remember black characters in Lilo and Stich and Atlantis. Is that it?
I'm really unsure about The Rescuers and 101 Dalmations and should have put them with The Three Caballeros. I'm not sure I even finished Treasure Planet, so it's probably unfair for me to list it. I'm also not sure about some of these I've not seen in a while or only saw once. I may be a tier off on 'Hunchback' or 'Dalmations' or 'Rescuers' or even 'Bambi'.
Wait a second...do Hayao Miyazaki's movies count since the're distributed by Disney? I'm not sure I've seen one of those that is not as good as 'Beauty and the Beast'. And there are, I think, three Pixar movies that aren't at least as good as 'Beauty and the Beast'.
And have you see the Cocteau version? I wouldn't be bothered by somebody not enjoying it, but "crap" seems a little harsh.
What's with the "This post has been removed by the author" stuff? How can I attack your views if you delete them? I do remember some of the more offensive stuff, though.
First, your list.
Tier one transgressions:
"Pinocchio" is great and I can find no fault with it except the colors always seemed washed out to me. The new release may be better.
"Fantasia" is almost more art than movie. Besides "The Sorceror's Apprentice", there is no part that gets me very emotionally involved.
"The Lion King" is a cloying movie that is good with the masses, has three good songs, and a bunch of yuck. Simba is a very unsympathetic lead. I do like Scar, though.
"Cinderella" is a good movie with a bad message.
"Peter Pan" is very entertaining.
I really like "The Jungle Book", but I was suprised to see you rank it so high. I love King Louie, Kaa, and Sher Khan(?) but don't like Mowgli the moron much.
"Snow White" is an absolute classic for its time, but she is an idiot with the most annoying voice in movie history. Her singing makes me want to cry, and not in a good way. How can I like a twit that takes the apple from a wart-covered hag?
"Robin Hood" is a good movie that does not rate nearly this high.
"Alice in Wonderland" is only great when you're stoned. It is incredibly imaginative while being very uninvolving. Another idiot girl.
Tier two:
Right about where "The Little Mermaid" belongs. Great villian with an overly tidy ending. I really like "Mulan". "Tarzan" is underrated by most. Great songs and story.
We have discussed "Dumbo" and I have never seen "The Great Mouse Dectective".
I think "Aladdin" is one of Disney's greatest. The songs are great, the animation is beautiful, and William's Genie is funny without being annoying. Jaffar and Iago are great, and it has a terrific climax.
Tier three:
"101 Dalmations" is a little weak on the animation, but has a great story, sympathic characters, and a classic villian in Cruella de Ville. This deserves to be much higher.
I also think "The Emperor's New Groove" is freakin' hilarious.
Spade and Goodman and Puddy and the chick are perfect.
Tier Four:
I really like "The Hunchback of Notre", but it would be better without Demi Moore (as would most movies).
I am stunned that "Bambi" and "Lady and the Tramp" are this low. I can only attribute this to the fact that you have no heart. "Bambi" is a little simple by today's standards, but is an amazingly touching rendering of a brilliant idea; a year in the life of it's many sweet characters, and the sensitive introduction of the concept of death to uncounted millions. It is rightfully considered one of Disney's greatest by everyone but you, apparently.
We both seem to agree that "Atlantis" sucks. "The Aristocats" and "Pocohantas" are OK. You should see "Hercules". James Woods as Hades and DeVito are very good.
Why is "Beauty and the Beast" the greatest?
From the beginning Stiers narration, this film is magic. Nothing is wasted in the telling of this fairy tale (if you watch the version minus the redundant "Human Again").
You said you didn't care for the animation. I say from the waterfall, to the dinner scene, to the unprecedented ballroom scene, to the battle at the end, this is Disney's most beautiful film.
You didn't care for the songs. I this "Belle" is perfect for establishing the setting. "Be Our Guest" and "Beauty and the Beast" are classics. I think Gaston's song is hilarious and contrary to being unnecessary, continues a tradition (especially on Broadway) of giving different characters their own themes. I love the lyrics. "The Mob Song" is also very tense and dramatic leading up to the final battle.
The score in this movie is also beautiful, especially when Belle visits the West Wing.
Annoyingly here is where i ran into a 4096 character limit. More to come
The main characters in this film are perfect. Belle is a character that the audience can actually look up to. She is smart and brave and she is the best female role model that Disney has created. The Beast and Gaston are the ultimate examples of not judging a book by it's cover. The messages in this film are deep and compliment it's humor and cute characters. Unlike the litany of other Disney leads who, through horrible fate, or sheer stupidity, find themselves in terrible situations, Belle and The Beast are saved by the good qualities within.
Disney reborn:
Disney animation quality began to drop off with "Sleeping Beauty". The quality and consistency of the films began to suffer after "The Jungle Book". The studio's 20 year down period ended after "The Little Mermaid" and especially "Beauty and the Beast" redefined what animated films could be. This period also raised the quality stakes and laid the groundwork for the great Pixar films to come. Only ONE animated film has ever been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Oscar is not always right, but "Beauty and the Beast" is so great that it deserved to break that barrier.
A great heroine, very funny supporting characters, ground-breaking animation, seemless storytelling incorporating top Broadway-quality songs, and a wonderful moral combine to make "Beauty and the Beast" the greatest pre-Pixar animated film.
I liked Cocteau's version, although I think it is overrated and suffers by comparison. I'm sure it was amazing in 1946, but I thought it was a little slow and I didn't like the ending. Maybe the great reviews set me up to be disappointed. I would give it a 15, while the Disney version is my ninth favorite film of all-time and gets a 20.
To give it a 14 (or 7 out of 10, or a B-/C+) is wrong.
Here is a list of my favorite animated Disney films (the "greatest" list would look different).
1. "Beauty and the Beast"
2. "Aladdin"
3. "Pinocchio"
4. "101 Dalmations"
5. "The Emperor's New Groove"
6. "Lady and the Tramp"
7. "Tarzan"
8. "Bambi"
9. "Cinderella"
10."The Little Mermaid"
11."Peter Pan"
12."Fantasia"
13."Mulan"
14."Snow White..."
15."The Jungle Book"
16."The Hunchback of Notre Dame"
17."Hercules"
18."The Fox and the Hound"
19."The Lion King"
20."Robin Hood"
whew
Well, you certainly are passionate about this...
Firstly, I don't think any actual information is gone from the deleted comment...I just tried to condense the verbosity.
As always, you raise some interesting points. I think you're most wrong about 'The Lion King' but it's entirely possible you're not as I've only seen that one 1 1/2 times. I actually can't watch it because of the songs. I worked at Toys 'R' Us when that came out and had to listen to three songs twice per hour. It got painful.
'Fantasia' is art, and like most paintings, there's a certain amount of subjectivity in judging it. I think it's great. And I do believe great visuals working with great music is emotionally involving.
I forgot all about how annoying Snow White's voice is...too high. But it's the first and gets that huge midget bonus.
Now that I think about it, I actually like 'Mulan' and 'Tarzan' both better than 'Mermaid'...I always wonder if it's because I've seen parts of 'Mermaid' zillions of times and am just sick of it. The girls always have that one in.
'Aladdin'...the animation is better than 'B&B' but I disagree re: Robin Williams. The genie IS annoying. It's a very distracting character that disrupts any kind of flow this movie could have had.
I'm surprised you rank 'Emperor' so high...it's another I've only seen once, but I thought it was universally despised and that I was in a small minority of people who liked it. But yeah, I thought it was funny.
I guess I need to revisit 'Dalmations' and 'The Rescuers,' the latter which I don't believe you mentioned at all. 'Bambi' and 'Lady and the Tramp' are just too precious.
If pressured, I'd have no problem moving 'Lion,' 'Snow White,' 'Robin Hood,' and 'Alice' down and 'Mulan' and 'Tarzan' up.
I don't like the message behind 'Beauty and the Beast' (why does he have to change back at the end?) but that's not the biggest problem I have with the movie.
Songs: The entire "Be Our Guest" scene is really great, very fun to watch. I don't like the song "Beauty and the Beast" AT ALL, however. And whatever their purposes, I just don't care for the songs about Belle or Gaston. They're too long, and that time could have been used in better ways--like making the romance more plausible.
Characters: Nope. I dislike them. There's really nothing interesting about Gaston. He's a jerk, and that's about it. Without any depth (Disney usually does villains so well), I'm just not going to care as much. And whiney Belle? I don't really like her either. I actually think she's sort of a flat character. She's pretty. She likes fairy tales. Umm...she's nice? I'll agree that she's a good female role model compared to a lot of the other princesses or secondary characters, but I don't think that necessarily makes her a character I'll automatically enjoy watching. And the Beast? Isn't it horrible fate and stupidity (arrogance?) that gets him into the mess in the first place? He was a beastly jerk during the prelude, was arguably even a bigger jerk when the father trespassed, continued to be a big jerk once Belle arrived, and then in about 12 hours turned into something lovable? I don't buy it. I don't think his character was developed in a satisfying way, probably because the storytellers wanted to get another song about Gaston in there or have a candlestick make some jokes. I never could connect with the beast. I felt sorry for the talking inanimate objects, but not for the beast, and that made his transition into a heroic and loving character harder for me to buy into. The character just didn't work for me.
Animation: I'll take the simpler animated style, thank you very much. I don't see the same problem in 'Lion King' or 'Aladdin' or 'Mermaid,' but 'Beauty and the Beast,' for me, loses depth and soul because it's animated (quite obviously) with a computer. So many times, the characters in the foreground just don't mesh with the backgrounds. There's a flatness that makes everything look really unnatural, like 2-D puffing its chest out and announcing that it's actually 3-D. The characters look fine, the settings look fine...but together, it just looks, well, off. I don't think the beast moves naturally either. The ballroom scene? I know that's held up as a great Disney achievement, but I just don't see it. Again, I don't think it all meshes. The lines are too crisp and everything looks kind of flat to me.
'Beauty and the Beast' needed to be poetic in the development of the love story. Disney's version too often goes for cheap laughs and manipulation, and I think it all distracts from the story and keeps me from really feeling attached to the characters. The use of a pretty song and some pretty scenery isn't going to convince me that a romance is real. Watching Beast throw a hissy fit and smash up his room and yell at Belle in a threatening way works to convince me that he's not a character I want to root for though.
'Beauty and the Beast' is a good movie (a 14 isn't really a "C" for me...I don't think of it as a grading scale) but I don't think it's one of Disney's greatest.
By the way, I'm going to try to watch Dalmations, Emperor, Hunchback, Hercules, maybe Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Rescuers, and (uggh) Bambi with Abbey before summer's out...maybe I'll adjust my tiers. I'd be curious to see what you think of 'Great Mouse Detective,' but there are a couple pretty intense moments (thinking of the daughters here)...Abbey has watched it dozens of times and likes it, but I think the bat character might have given her nightmares.
After the book I wrote, I was kind of hoping you would concede all points and tell me I was right. Since that never happens with my wife, I guess I shouldn't have expected it from you.
I don't know about this being a 3-D wannabe (again, you and 3-D). I've always thought the colors in this are rich, deep and beautiful. I have never noticed anything wrong with backgrounds or movement. I especially love the Beast's leap across the stairway when he is going to demand her to come to dinner. Maybe I'll see flaws on my 28th viewing.
Not to get all female, excusing guy's flaws, but I sympathize with The Beast. He is full of rage and fear. He was probably really picked on in college. He thinks he may remain a beast. They are intruders and she almost screws everything up by nearly touching the flower. He has remorse after he looses his temper. He follows her and saves her. They see what's underneath in eash other. He is then willing to give up any chance of breaking the spell by letting her go. The romance between soul-mates makes sense and he does not deserve to have himself and the servants remain under the spell.
Gaston is not meant to be likeable. He is one dimensional and I have known good looking, idiot jerks who get the girl. His song is one of the funniest parts of the film and has great value. I love that he doesn't have a chance with Belle. I don't know what you want from her, but her character has great depth. Please don't make me explain all of her good qualities. Still a 20 and the best.
One last thing, maybe. I'll check out "The Great Mouse Detective", and I think you may want to check out a movie called "Waltz With Bashir".
Oh, come on...a "yeah, you're right" would have just been offensive. I knew I was opening up a can of worms by watching 'Beauty and the Beast' and sticking it in the blog...halfway through, I turned to Jen and said, "I think this is in Cory's top ten...he's not going to like what my blog post about it..." She told me to just leave it off, but what fun would that be?
I realize a lot of people rate 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Aladdin' pretty high, if not 1-2 like you've got them. There's always room for subjectivity in judging most movies (like you being 4 points off with the flawless 'The Third Man'...and Jen being 6 points off), but it seems there's even more room with animated films. I was talking with my brother and his 2 favorites are 'Mulan' and 'Lilo and Stich' although I know there's a lot he's never seen.
I don't want Gaston to be likable as in a guy I want to root for...I want my villains to have enough to them that makes me like to hate them though. Gaston doesn't do it for me. He's an arrogant bully, and that's it. If he deserves to die at the end, Beast deserved to remain a Beast.
I do like the colors of 'Beauty and the Beast,' and I appreciate its attempt to be an old-school musical.
I've put 'Bashir' on hold...looks interesting.
Yeah, I'm glad that you didn't just concede. I like arguing with you even more than with my wife.
Ah yes, I knew I would find Cory here, defending this movie.
I might give this one a 16 though. Its better than a couple of your tier one disney animated films. The Lion King is a shot for shot remake of Bambi...Robin Hood is made on way too cheap a budget. You could bump either of those, and put Beauty and the Beast in there instead, and make Cory content.
My friends and cartoons. Its just weird.
'Robin Hood' is cheap? I haven't seen it in a long time.
As I said in one of these comments (I assume you couldn't make it through all of those), I've only seen 'The Lion King' all the way through once. It's possible I'm overrating it.
Cory does have a pair of children to enjoy cartoons with; however, it seems he was a fan of cartoons long before they came along. So yeah, maybe it's just weird.
Yeah Robin Hood is very cheap. Its a fun story, and I think the voice acting is fine, but the animation is very hastily done, with lots of poorly defined background scenes.
As for the Lion King, I just never got into it. It was all right, but not great to me.
And yes, Cory has enjoyed cartoons for a long time. Like I said, once I saw you were reviewing Beauty and the Beast and not giving it stellar scores, that this would be a popular location for discussion.
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