Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

7/10

Starring the voices of

Roger Allers

Brenda Chapman

Chris Sanders

Burny Mattinson

Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise

Great sing-along songs to jive to, memorable characters, and an all-around enjoyable screenplay—Disney’s take on the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast is different, enjoyable, and one of the best adaptations out there.
The animation itself is a magical journey with enough musical stops to make it easy to keep up with what’s going on. This Broadway-style musical blend is one of the best Disney created during its Renaissance era, and their later live-action adaptation of the same tale is also one of their finest.

Beauty and the Beast focuses on the relationship between its two leads. The Beast, a prince magically transformed into a monster, and his servants turned into household items as punishment for his arrogance.
Then there’s Belle, a young woman he imprisons in his castle in exchange for her father trespassing on his grounds.

For the spell to be broken, the Beast must learn to love and earn love in return before the last petal of an enchanted rose falls. Belle becomes the subject of the Beast’s affection, and his servants work tirelessly to help him learn to love and be loved in return.

This is Disney’s 30th animated feature film and the third released during the Renaissance period.
To me, it’s the movie that cemented their mastery of musical animations. The story is based on the French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, and Disney also borrowed ideas from the 1946 French film directed by Jean Cocteau.

The animation was both a critical and commercial success for Disney.
It was the first animated film ever nominated for Best Picture (in 1991, losing to The Silence of the Lambs). It remains the only animation nominated when the Best Picture category had only five nominees.
Since 2009, when the category expanded to 10 nominees, Disney/Pixar’s Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010) have also been nominated for Best Picture (as of 2018).
Beauty and the Beast was also the first animated film to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. This feat was later repeated by The Lion King (1994) and Toy Story 2 (1999).

The film’s soundtrack was another huge success for Disney. The album won several awards, including the Golden Globe for Best Original Score, the Academy Award for Best Original Score, and the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for a Motion Picture.
The titular track, “Beauty and the Beast,” performed during the characters’ dance after their enchanting meal, was also a hit. The song won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song, as well as Grammy Awards for Best Song Written for Visual Media and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.

The music, combined with the masterful artwork and screenplay, makes this movie a Disney classic—worth owning and revisiting.