Best Disney Movies of the 1990s Part 2

Beauty and the Beast

Getting back to my ranking of the best Disney movies of the 1990s, we come to Beauty and the Beast, released in 1991.  Based in medieval (or non-iPhone age) France, this enchanting story involves the beautiful but quirky young girl named Belle and her quest for something more than 'this provincial life.' She gets much more than she bargained for when she is imprisoned by an fearsome beast in an enchanted castle.  She then falls in love with him, which breaks the curse placed upon the castle and returns the Beast and all his servants back to human form.  Let's break this down by my 4 part criteria I established earlier: Plot, Characters, Animation and Music.

~ Plot ~ 6.5 out of 10

• One of the most pronounced issues with the plot has to be the curse itself. We learn that the magic rose would bloom until his 21st birthday, after which, if he has not found his true love, the curse on the castle will become permanent.  We also learn the curse has been in effect for 10 years. That means it began when the Beast was 11 years old!  This leads to several follow up questions.

1. Why would the enchantress punish an 11 year old spoiled brat with ten years of being ostracized and depressed?
2. Why were every single person who lived in the castle also be punished just because they let the prince answer the door?
3. With so many people living in the castle, why was there no butler/doorman. 
4. How could no one in Belle's village not know there was a giant castle just a few hours down the road this whole time?

• Yes, this is over-analyzing, but it goes to show that plot isn't the all-important factor when the music, animation and characters can shine through. And no children's movie can have a lock-down plot  because the general 9 year old audience isn't going to care. 

But other than the set up of the movie, the actual plot is fairly solid.

• Belle's father gets lost trying to find an inventors competition and finds himself inside the Beast's castle to escape the rain and the wolves. Makes sense.
• Belle uses his horse, which escaped and ran back home, to find the castle and asks the Beast to imprison her in his place. Also makes sense (assuming horses are that good with directions)
• Belle tries to run away after the Beast almost eats her for touching his magic rose. Understandable.

That face alone would scare me.

• Beast saves Belle from wolves and they begin to fall in love. BUT her father returns home and tries to convince everyone that the Beast is real and they need to save Belle. All very practical.
• That gives Gaston, the town hero, a chance to force Belle to marry him by having her father thrown in a crazy house.

This made me smile

• Belle's father makes a 3rd dumb decision (#1, going down a clearly sketchy path. #2, raving about a Beast) when he goes to rescue Belle himself and collapses from the cold. 
• The Beast, out of love, allows Belle to save her father and return home (why didn't she just bring him back to the castle???), where Gaston puts his plan into action and Belle is forced to prove the Beast is real with the magic mirror.
• As a result, Belle and her father are locked up in their own house, 'cause there's no way someone can't escape from their own house, and Gaston leads the townspeople on a Crusade to 'Kill the Beast.' 
• Belle and her father somehow outrace the mob after escaping and try to warn the Beast. A final battle ensues where the villain turns his back on the fallen hero, giving said hero the opportunity to knock the villain into a bottomless pit. 
• The spell is broken just as the Beast dies and he is returned to human form...and his apparently brought back to life. Everyone lives happily ever after. The End

With all that said, the plot holds up pretty good.  The magic spell and the few other glaring issues (in bold) with the plot lead me to a rating of 6.5 out of 10.

~ Characters ~ 8 out of 10

• Belle is beautiful, brave and bold. Just like many of the Disney female characters, she is almost too good to be true.  A great role model and and an idealized figure. Enough said.

No one eyebrows can be THAT perfect

• Beast is a very complex character that was arguably the deepest male character Disney had ever created up to this point. We see his anger and bitterness over his 'monstrous' punishment but we also see that underneath all that fur, he is still human and feels human emotions. It's a great example of looking beyond what you see to discover the true self. Wow, that got philosophical in a hurry. But maybe that was the idea behind the character. Young children can learn that a scary looking appearance might not mean a scary or evil person and that everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, a lesson that most adults have a hard time learning. 
• One creative point about the character that I personally enjoy is the detail with which the animators created a true 'beast.'  Look at this...

That's pretty cool!

• Gaston is a stereotypical ladies man who thinks himself a god.  However, to call him 'evil' might be an exaggeration. I would say his only truly evil action is attempting to imprison Belle's father to force her to marry him. Leading a mob to kill the Beast is an understandable (and unfortunate) human reaction to something frightening that no one understands. Otherwise, Gaston is really only guilty of hubris.  I don't think he's a purely evil character like Ursula, Maleficent or Scar.  In some ways, fear is the true villain in Beauty and the Beast. Fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of rejection. How's that for philosophy. 
• Maurice (Belle's father) is actually a very important character because he personally drives the plot by leading Belle to the castle in the first place and luring her to leave the castle when he collapses in the snow trying to rescue her. But his personally is very jovial and loving, so we don't blame him for the events of the movie, although he is primarily responsible for moving the plot. 

How can you not love this little old man.

• The supporting characters from the castle are very memorable, particularly Lumiere, Cogsworth and Mrs. Pots. They form the comedic relief of an otherwise serious plot, very much like Timon and Pumba.  They don't need to be developed or deep because we know from the beginning they are kind and caring supporting characters. They are also very important in leading Belle and the Beast closer together, culminating in the dance sequence from the title song, one of the better Disney songs ever created, in my opinion.

I believe this movie is very character driven and the story is better for it. This deserves an 8 out of 10.

~ Animation ~ 7 out of 10

•  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qtTPTxvoPA
• This scene is the poster child for the movie and its animation. The panning camera ballroom scenes are, if nothing else, 3D-esque. That means a lot coming from 1991 and the result is stunning. It compliments the hand drawn animation, which is just so smooth and elegant, it makes me yearn for the days before Pixar.  This was a step up from "The Little Mermaid," but there was still much animation innovation to come later in the decade...7/10

~ Music ~ 8 out of 10

• This movie incorporated some of the best music in any Disney movie. 

1. "Belle" is a catchy tune that is lively and upbeat, but also charming.  It's a great way to introduce you to some of the major characters and it ups the ante for the rest of the movie.
2. "Gaston" is such a fun song. I was fortunate enough to perform this as Gaston for my high school's musical rendition of the movie. It's not really a villain song, which supports my hypothesis that Gaston is not a purely evil character.  It's lively, energetic and bright.  In fact, there's nothing in the song that would suggest Gaston is anything more than the village hero. Yes, it shows he is boastful and full of himself, but when your the only good looking guy in the entire town, that's a logical thought process.   
3. "Something There" is cute and begins to establish the relationship between the main characters. It's not my favorite by far, but it's not bad. It's almost like the composers wanted to take a break to prepare themselves for an epic second half of the movie.
4. "Beauty and the Beast" is the flagship song. No one can perform this better than Angela Lansbury (Celine Dion tried).  The background music is soft, but strong, allowing her voice to be the center of attention, but strengthened by the music.  The violins and brass harmonize perfectly to create one of the most beloved Disney songs of all time.
5. "The Mob Song" is really the villain's song of the movie, but it portrays the entire village as the villain. That's a pretty cool effect and goes back to my philosophical undertones for the film.  The song itself is dark, powerful and angry and it works very well with the rest of the movie.  Not the best villain song ever, but pretty darn good.

• Overall, I wish there were one or two more memorable songs, but this movie is still as good as "The Little Mermaid" in terms of music, if not better. 

• And as with most Disney movies, the ending music is EPIC. A great way to end a great movie.