Beauty & the Beast (1991)

REVIEW DATE: April 16th, 2022

Beauty & the Beast. I remember when I was into this movie back when I was extremely young. My fraternal twin brother was more into The Jungle Book. However, it had all of those beautiful songs in it. It’s been about a week since I had last done a movie review, because I’ve been thinking about the upcoming holiday that’s tomorrow (Easter). But anyways, let’s get down to the review.

Beauty & the Beast is a 1991 American animated, musical, romantic, & a fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 30th animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios, & the 3rd film to be released produced during a period known as “The Disney Renaissance”. It is also based on the 1756 fairy tale of the same name, along with the directorial debuts of Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise as well. The story focuses on the relation between a young girl, & a prince who has been transformed into a hideous beast as punishment for his arrogance.

CAST:

Paige O’Hara - Belle

Robby Benson - Beast

Richard White - Gaston

Jerry Orbach - Lumiere

David Ogden Stiers - Cogsworth

Angela Lansbury - Mrs. Potts

Bradley Pierce - Chip

Rex Everhart - Maurice

Jesse Corti - LeFou

WARNING: SPOILERS!!

A beggar woman offers a rose to a cruel, & selfish prince in exchange for shelter from a very bad storm. But when he refuses, she reveals her identity as an enchantress, & as punishment for the prince's arrogance, she transforms him into a hideous beast, & his servants into household objects. She casts a spell onto the rose, & warns him that the spell will be broken if he learns to love another person, & be loved back before the last petal falls, which would occur on his 21st birthday, or else he would permanently remain a beast.

Many years later, we meet Belle. She is the daughter of an inventor named Maurice. During her life at the village, she uses avoidance behavior in a polite way on a narcissistic hunter named Gaston, who only wants to marry her for her beauty. Elsewhere, Maurice gets lost in the forest, while on his way to a fair so that he can show off his latest invention which is an…

AUTOMATIC WOOD-CHOPPER

But he seeks refuge in the Beast’s castle. But he is imprisoned by the Beast as punishment for trespassing. Meanwhile, Belle searches for her father, & finds him locked in the castle dungeon. Then, the Beast agrees to free Maurice if she takes his place as prisoner. The Beast asks…

“You wanna stay in the tower?”

But in a different version, there is a stutter. Here’s the video:

Shortly after, she befriends the castle’s servants, & they serve her dinner through a song known as…

BE OUR GUEST!

Here’s the song:

After the song, she goes to a forbidden room known as…

THE WEST WING

& finds the rose. But the Beast catches her red-handed, & in a burst of anger, sends her fleeing from the castle, & into the woods. She is ambushed by a pack of wolves. But the Beast saves her life, & is injured in the process. As Belle heals his wound, they start to get along, fall in love, & they bond with 1 another. Gaston on the other hand, makes a plan to have Maurice locked up in an asylum, because of their disbelief of the Beast’s existence.

After their romantic dance, Belle uses the Beast’s magic mirror to check on her father, & sees him collapsing in the forest. The Beast releases Belle from the castle, so that she can rescue her father, giving her the mirror as a souvenir. After she takes her father to the village, Gaston, & an angry mob led by him arrive to detain Maurice. But she uses the magic mirror to show the Beast to the townsfolk, proving her father’s sanity. Realizing that Belle loves the Beast, Gaston locks Belle, & Maurice in the basement, & rallies the other villagers to follow him to the castle, & kill the Beast.

During the battle, the Beast’s servants fend off the villagers, while Gaston attacks a depressed Beast in the tower of the castle. But he regains his spirit upon seeing Belle return. Gaston is defeated by the Beast. But his life is spared before reuniting with Belle. However, Gaston stabs the Beast with a knife, & then slips & falls to his death.

The Beast passes away in Belle’s arms before the last petal falls. But Belle sadly professes her love to the Beast, & the spell is undone, making the Beast, & his servants become human again. The Prince, & Belle host a ball for the kingdom, & they dance happily.

THE END

When I was a baby, I used to love watching Belle sing to me through the TV. It’s also 1 of my favorite Disney movies ever as well. However, I prefer the Special Edition over the Theatrical Version, because it has the song Human Again in the Special Edition. Even though I don’t hate both of the versions though.

OVERALL: 10/10

(Between the theatrical & special editions)

End of Review