Stockholm Syndrome:The Movie

Disney comes through with another solid lesson for the kids:

You're a hideous beast but you can be fixed with magic if you behave as everyone would like you to. Otherwise you're totally fucked.

Magnificent and wonderful, a pretty much perfect film.

What was it like to be the Beast?

The prologue, set in stained glass, presents an important detail that’s easy to overlook. The prince was young, a teenager. The enchanted rose, unforgettably floating inside its glass case, was to bloom “until his twenty-first year.” It’s unclear just how many years he spent under the spell, but two or three would be enough. So he was perhaps eighteen on that fateful winter’s night when the enchantress saw right through him, “that there was no love in his heart.” We are not permitted to question her judgment, but it is a chilling revelation. In the film’s first statement on inner versus outer beauty, his outside was made to match his inside.

Full review here

The first animated film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, it is no wonder why Beauty and the Beast is considered the pinnacle of Disney animation. In my opinion the best animated film of all-time, Beauty and the Beast combines high-class story-telling with a ground-breaking musical score and unforgettable characters to create a fairy tale that, after two decades, has continued to stand the test of time. Although Beauty did lose is record-breaking Best Picture nomination to Silence of the Lambs, it picked up two equally as impressive Oscars for its music, courtesy of composer Alan Menken and late lyricist Howard Ashman. Beauty and the Beast will forever remain my favourite animated film.

Disney's first animated feature to land a Best Picture nod is a sleek and graceful nod to Cocteau.

I ended up rewatching this tonight mostly because I needed to remind myself why I love it so much after watching a particularly painful touring production of the Broadway show. (Yes, I am predictable and nerdy.) And within roughly a minute, all those positive memories came rushing back to me. Howard Ashman's contribution to the film can't be overstated, but this time--what with Disney's recent layoffs--I found myself thrilled anew at the striking color and detail of the hand-drawn animation. It breaks my heart that we may not get something so gorgeous and artful from Disney for years to come, but at least we have this gem.

Beauty and the Beast is a pretty darn good film. I just have never come around to the thinking that it is a great one.

The animation is wonderful, the music is outstanding, and it is a well made, warm, inviting film that I could watch many more times without complaint. The problem is simply that personally, I have just never felt the connection to it that is necessary to rank it among the masterpieces of animation.

Grandísima peli de Disney, un clásico de mi infancia.

One of the most beautiful animated films ever made, and one of Disney's very best. Beauty and the Beast is one of the all-time masterpieces of the genre.

Some memorable songs elevate an otherwise unremarkable plot line.