BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
A film review by Ken Johnson
Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson
85 min., G, Musical/Fantasy, 1991 Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise Voices of: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury
A prince gets a curse put on him that turns him into a beast (voice of Robby Benson). If, by the time an enchanted rose flower dies, he hasn't fallen in love with a girl, and she in love with him, he will stay a beast forever. If he falls in love and a girl falls in love with him he gets to become a prince again. Belle (voice of Paige O'Hara) gets forced to stay in the Beast's castle and the two start to fall in love with each other.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is a *very* good film, and, if you haven't gone to see it yet, I highly suggest you go out to see it. The animation is perfect, much better, I think, than in the Don Bluth films. When I was watching this film I sometimes forgot that I was watching an animated film. It has been quite a while since I have seen a full animated film this good. I almost had decided to wait for this film to show up on video but I decided to go see it in the theaters. I am really glad that I did because if the Disney Studios are smart they won't release this film on video and keep releasing it only in the theaters. The last full animated film that I liked this much was FANTASIA last April in the theaters. The songs are wonderful. They were written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman (whom this film was dedicated to in the end), who have also done THE LITTLE MERMAID and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.
I found that for the most part BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was much better than THE LITTLE MERMAID. I found that the story is much better for BEAUTY. THE LITTLE MERMAID was a bit too perfect for me. For some reason I seem to like BEAUTY's songs more, I don't know why. The animation though was just as good, I feel, as in THE LITTLE MERMAID.
The voices I feel were well cast. Robby Benson has a gruff yet caring voice that was perfect for the beast. Paige O'Hara, I feel, had a voice sweet enough to be the beautiful Belle. Richard White did the boasting Gaston who wants to marry Belle at any cost. Angela Lansbury, Jerry Orbach, and David Ogden Stiers were among the talented voices that did the enchanted furniture in the Beast's castle. Angela was Mrs. Potts, Jerry was Lumiere, and David was Cogsworth.
Speaking of the voices, the characters themselves were wonderfully done: Cogsworth as the enchanted clock that was always worrying if what he was doing might anger The Beast; Lumiere as the little candelabra who doesn't worry about what he is doing as long as he thinks that he is doing right; Mrs. Potts as the caring and nurturing teapot who cares about Belle and wants to make sure that she is happy at the Beast's castle; Chip as the little chipped tea cup that is always wondering what is going on; Belle the beautiful girl who despises Gaston and starts to fall in love with the Beast; Gaston as the boasting man who believes that every woman wants him and refuses to accept the fact that Belle doesn't; the Beast who gets very angry easily and feels that he will end up being a beast for the rest of his life; Belle's eccentric inventor father who everybody laughs at; and the buffoon who is always hanging around Gaston.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is perfect family fare, and I highly recommend it to anyone to go see. I give BEAUTY AND THE BEAST a five on a scale of zero to five. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is rated G which means it contains nothing objectionable.
Ken J. blj@mithrandir.cs.unh.edu
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