Be our guest at the enchanted 25th Anniversary celebration of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, universally acclaimed as one of Disney's finest animated features and now honored in the Walt Disney Signature Collection. Join brave, independent Belle on the adventure of a lifetime as she sets out to rescue her father and finds herself in the enchanted castle of a mysterious beast. Enjoy this timeless tale overflowing with unforgettable characters and Academy Award(R)-winning music (Best Song, Best Score, 1991)!|It took more than 600 animators, artists, and technicians three and a half years to complete the project.|BEAUTY is the first animated Disney feature scripted by a woman, Linda Woolverton.|The film marked the first time each animator was credited on screen specifically for the character he or she brought to life.|Disney's animation department won a Scientific and Technical Academy Award for the design and development of the Computer Animated Production System used to make the film.|The style of illustration was inspired by French painters Fragonard and Boucher. Review: Incredibly Beautiful Film. Not to Be Missed - Everyone has that special movie about which it is impossible to be objective. This is that movie for me. I saw it first when my son was seven and he brought it home when a schoolmate loaned it to him. It instantly became a favorite in our house. My son, my daughter, and I have a special bond that this film signifies to this day. From the moment Belle sings, "I want much more than this provincial life," you know you are going to have an experience that goes beyond the ordinary, and you get one that goes beyond your wildest dreams. This film goes into superlatives that leave you breathless. It is hard to list all the summa cum laudes in this film. Disney broke new ground in this film by using a UNIX workstation for the ballroom scene that enabled a three-dimensional representation of the dance sequence, showing Belle and the Beast dancing through the ballroom under the chandelier. The movie features the voices of Paige O'Hara (Belle), Robby Benson (Beast), Jerry Orbach (Lumière), David Ogden Stiers), Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), Chip (Bradley Pierce), and Wardrobe (Joanne Worley). Alan Menken's musical score is outstanding; the title song won the 1991 Best Song Oscar. The combination of a winning score, superb animation, and an unusually magical depth that the cast manages to create -- the viewer will be too spellbound while watching it to be able to say what it is that captivates so totally -- makes this film one that is not to be missed by young and old alike. The story is a traditional tale of a prince turned into a beast by a spell cast by an enchantress. The spell can be broken only if, by the end of his 21st birthday, he falls in love with someone who will also love him. An enchanted rose blooms as a symbol of the spell, and the last petal will fall at the end of the spell. The beauty is a beautiful woman, Belle, in a small French village, who is very intelligent and reads voraciously. She spends much of her time dreaming of living in the worlds she reads about in the books, any place other than the provincial village life she knows. She lives with her father, Maurice, a rather eccentric inventor, and both of them seem to be regarded as odd and unconventional types by the village residents. Gaston, a handsome but arrogant hunter, hopes to marry Belle for no other reason than to be able to say that he has married the most beautiful woman in the village; it is a matter of ego more than feeling, because he admits to no real feeling for anyone other than himself. Maurice heads out for a fair but goes astray from the path and ends up at a castle. The castle turns out to be enchanted, and the ornaments at the castle turn out to be lifelike beings who welcome him. Cogsworth, the pompous clock, Lumière, the romantic candlelabra, Mrs. Potts, the motherly teapot, and Chip, the boyish teacup, all welcome him. All is well until the master, the surly, growling Beast, enters the room, shouting that Maurice is not welcome and takes him prisoner. At a later time in the film, when Belle comes looking for her father, Belle begs the Beast to let her take her father's place, so she becomes the Beast's prisoner. The clash of the high-spirited Belle and the ill-tempered Beast is inevitable, for when the Beast loses his temper with Belle and frightens her, she tries to flee him. Wolves try to attack her, and the Beast comes to her rescue. Somehow the incident draws them together, and the resistance slowly causes the two to start to relate to one another. Before long, the two have become very close. The Beast allows Belle to look into his enchanted mirror, and she sees her father is quite ill. When the Beast sees how distressed Belle is, he releases her. When Belle goes back to her father, she realizes that her feelings for the Beast have changed. As she and Maurice discover, Gaston, in an attempt to intimidate Belle into marrying him, have plotted to put Maurice into an insane asylum. When Gaston discovers that Belle has developed affections for the Beast, he leads the townspeople on a lynch to destroy the Beast. As the lynch mob approaches the castle, all the objects in the castle prepare for the onslaught. Furniture, kitchen utensils, decorations, virtually every object in the castle, turn on the townspeople, and defeat them in the battle. They rejoice in their victory in the end. The only persons left in the battle are Gaston and the Beast. The Beast is so depressed because he has lost Belle that he does not resist and lets Gaston assault him. Suddenly Belle appears, and the Beast rises up against Gaston, throwing him from the castle roof. The Beast is in Belle's arms, dying, as Belle tells him that she loves him. Suddenly, in those last moments, the last petal of the rose falls and the spell is broken. The Beast is transformed into a man. The objects again become human, and the movie ends happily. Somehow at all the right moments in the film, the songs come in to give the story a push forward. Whether it is the opening song that introduces Belle and explains why she can never be content with the life in her little viilage, the song of the conceited Gaston that tells why he can think of nobody in the world except himself, the song that signals the turning point in the relationship between Belle and the Beast, or the title song itself, the music graces the film in the most miraculous way. The film went on to become a Broadway hit as well, and one of the songs from the Broadway play, "Human Again," that was not in the original movie was added in later versions. Too often when the words "entertainment for the whole family" are used, the words mean "boring and awful." Many adults also think of animated films as too juvenile to be good. Such prejudices should be cast aside when viewing this film; it is pure pleasure from start to finish. Review: Great movie - Great movie, looks better in blu-ray
| Contributor | Alec Murphy, Alvin Epstein, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Michael Pierce, Brian Cummings, David Ogden Stiers, Gary Trousdale, Hal Smith, Jerry Orbach, Jesse Corti, Jo Anne Worley, Kath Soucie, Kimmy Robertson, Kirk Wise, Linda Woolverton, Mary Kay Bergman, Paige O'Hara, Rex Everhart, Richard White, Robby Benson, Tony Jay Contributor Alec Murphy, Alvin Epstein, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Michael Pierce, Brian Cummings, David Ogden Stiers, Gary Trousdale, Hal Smith, Jerry Orbach, Jesse Corti, Jo Anne Worley, Kath Soucie, Kimmy Robertson, Kirk Wise, Linda Woolverton, Mary Kay Bergman, Paige O'Hara, Rex Everhart, Richard White, Robby Benson, Tony Jay See more |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 15,890 Reviews |
| Format | NTSC, Subtitled |
| Genre | Animation |
| Initial release date | 1991-11-22 |
| Language | English, French, Spanish |
B**M
Incredibly Beautiful Film. Not to Be Missed
Everyone has that special movie about which it is impossible to be objective. This is that movie for me. I saw it first when my son was seven and he brought it home when a schoolmate loaned it to him. It instantly became a favorite in our house. My son, my daughter, and I have a special bond that this film signifies to this day. From the moment Belle sings, "I want much more than this provincial life," you know you are going to have an experience that goes beyond the ordinary, and you get one that goes beyond your wildest dreams. This film goes into superlatives that leave you breathless. It is hard to list all the summa cum laudes in this film. Disney broke new ground in this film by using a UNIX workstation for the ballroom scene that enabled a three-dimensional representation of the dance sequence, showing Belle and the Beast dancing through the ballroom under the chandelier. The movie features the voices of Paige O'Hara (Belle), Robby Benson (Beast), Jerry Orbach (Lumière), David Ogden Stiers), Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), Chip (Bradley Pierce), and Wardrobe (Joanne Worley). Alan Menken's musical score is outstanding; the title song won the 1991 Best Song Oscar. The combination of a winning score, superb animation, and an unusually magical depth that the cast manages to create -- the viewer will be too spellbound while watching it to be able to say what it is that captivates so totally -- makes this film one that is not to be missed by young and old alike. The story is a traditional tale of a prince turned into a beast by a spell cast by an enchantress. The spell can be broken only if, by the end of his 21st birthday, he falls in love with someone who will also love him. An enchanted rose blooms as a symbol of the spell, and the last petal will fall at the end of the spell. The beauty is a beautiful woman, Belle, in a small French village, who is very intelligent and reads voraciously. She spends much of her time dreaming of living in the worlds she reads about in the books, any place other than the provincial village life she knows. She lives with her father, Maurice, a rather eccentric inventor, and both of them seem to be regarded as odd and unconventional types by the village residents. Gaston, a handsome but arrogant hunter, hopes to marry Belle for no other reason than to be able to say that he has married the most beautiful woman in the village; it is a matter of ego more than feeling, because he admits to no real feeling for anyone other than himself. Maurice heads out for a fair but goes astray from the path and ends up at a castle. The castle turns out to be enchanted, and the ornaments at the castle turn out to be lifelike beings who welcome him. Cogsworth, the pompous clock, Lumière, the romantic candlelabra, Mrs. Potts, the motherly teapot, and Chip, the boyish teacup, all welcome him. All is well until the master, the surly, growling Beast, enters the room, shouting that Maurice is not welcome and takes him prisoner. At a later time in the film, when Belle comes looking for her father, Belle begs the Beast to let her take her father's place, so she becomes the Beast's prisoner. The clash of the high-spirited Belle and the ill-tempered Beast is inevitable, for when the Beast loses his temper with Belle and frightens her, she tries to flee him. Wolves try to attack her, and the Beast comes to her rescue. Somehow the incident draws them together, and the resistance slowly causes the two to start to relate to one another. Before long, the two have become very close. The Beast allows Belle to look into his enchanted mirror, and she sees her father is quite ill. When the Beast sees how distressed Belle is, he releases her. When Belle goes back to her father, she realizes that her feelings for the Beast have changed. As she and Maurice discover, Gaston, in an attempt to intimidate Belle into marrying him, have plotted to put Maurice into an insane asylum. When Gaston discovers that Belle has developed affections for the Beast, he leads the townspeople on a lynch to destroy the Beast. As the lynch mob approaches the castle, all the objects in the castle prepare for the onslaught. Furniture, kitchen utensils, decorations, virtually every object in the castle, turn on the townspeople, and defeat them in the battle. They rejoice in their victory in the end. The only persons left in the battle are Gaston and the Beast. The Beast is so depressed because he has lost Belle that he does not resist and lets Gaston assault him. Suddenly Belle appears, and the Beast rises up against Gaston, throwing him from the castle roof. The Beast is in Belle's arms, dying, as Belle tells him that she loves him. Suddenly, in those last moments, the last petal of the rose falls and the spell is broken. The Beast is transformed into a man. The objects again become human, and the movie ends happily. Somehow at all the right moments in the film, the songs come in to give the story a push forward. Whether it is the opening song that introduces Belle and explains why she can never be content with the life in her little viilage, the song of the conceited Gaston that tells why he can think of nobody in the world except himself, the song that signals the turning point in the relationship between Belle and the Beast, or the title song itself, the music graces the film in the most miraculous way. The film went on to become a Broadway hit as well, and one of the songs from the Broadway play, "Human Again," that was not in the original movie was added in later versions. Too often when the words "entertainment for the whole family" are used, the words mean "boring and awful." Many adults also think of animated films as too juvenile to be good. Such prejudices should be cast aside when viewing this film; it is pure pleasure from start to finish.
S**M
Great movie
Great movie, looks better in blu-ray
F**O
The Pinnacle of Classic Animation Arrives on Blu-Ray
Everyone has a favorite Disney film. You know, the one you saw at one point in your life and stuck with you forever. Not to mention that there so many classics to choose from. For me that film is Beauty and the Beast. I start with that because if while reading this, I wax poetic about how this is the best of the Disney films and a work of genius while the reader is thinking "Well, its not Fantasia (or insert your favorite here) but its not bad." Please understand that the film is very close to my heart so it is hard for me to be objective. The first and only hand animated film to be nominated for a best picture Academy Award, Beauty and the Beast is a major departure from the classic Disney formula, at least where the Disney Princesses are concerned. Belle is not your run of the mill damsel in distress, waiting to be saved by Prince Charming. While the setting of the film seems from a long time ago, this is a firmly modern main character, especially for a woman. Everything is turned on its head. Belle reads and thinks (a bad thing according to the villain in the film) and in her notion of marriage the relationship should be emotionally and intellectually stimulating. Not to mention equality. Not 20 minutes into the film our heroine makes a very hard act of self sacrifice to save her father (as opposed to fathers helping their daughters in other films, if they are there at all) and not long after that gets in trouble for her curiosity rather than her beauty (which is usually what gets princesses into trouble). Her relationship with the Beast doesn't exactly "click" from the get go. They argue and fight (some of the best moments in the film)and while Beast does save her life at one point. It is Belle who saves him in the end, again turning a stereotype on its head. Of course, you can't get away with all these changes in tradition without something "Disney" to anchor the film and all this drama. The Fantasy element is very much present. Every secondary character that lives in the Beast's castle is some sort of stationary object. And you can't talk about a film like this and not mention the score and music that goes with it. The songs are all memorable in the best Disney tradition but the score, in my opinion, is one of the best ever by Disney. It perfectly complements the darkness of film. (Who would ever think you could use darkness and Disney in the same anything.) Disney has so far done an outstanding job releasing its back catalog into Blu-Ray. The transfers so far have been pretty much perfect and this film is no exception. The colors look amazing and the detail is so remarkable that if you look closely you can see the pencil strokes in the drawn characters beneath the ink. It is that good. The only thing missing from this release is a digital copy. I'm having a hard time understanding the logic behind Disney's combo packs. Some include the digital copy, some don't. A little bit of consistency (preferably in the "included digital copy" department) would be greatly appreciated. In closing, this is a must have release if you are a fan of Disney films. It is an incredible film. The transfer is awesome. The bonus features are plentiful. Despite lacking the digital copy, I highly recommend this release.
S**H
Just buy it already! It's a beautiful movie for any age.
It has been so much fun experiencing these with my four year old son. I saw this in the theater. I bought it, and it's definitely paid for itself, I've watched it over a half dozen times over two days with him. You can't go wrong with this classic. I made the mistake of renting Aladdin. We are on our third rental, I'm going to buy it as well. These movies are magical. The animation is beautiful. Movies just don't get better, no matter your age.
M**S
My Favorite Disney Classic
Belle is bored with life in her village. Her only escape is her books, and she longs to have an adventure of her own. When her father heads out to a fair, he gets lots, and Belle finds him in an enchanted castle. The objects are thrilled, because if she and their master, the Beast, fall in love, they will all be freed from the enchantment. But will Belle be able to see past the outward appearance? And what about the handsome bore back home who wants to marry Belle? I feel in love with this movie the first time I saw it, and that love has only grown over the years. The story is the right mix of fun and uncertainty. Gaston was a wonderful addition to the mix because his story was the part I was most uncertain about the first time around. The artwork on the film catches your eye from the first shot of the castle, and doesn't let go. Beside the incredible background shots are wonderful drawings of the characters. I especially love the boyish excitement they manage to give the Beast in several scenes. Finally, there's the music. Every song adds to the story and is memorable in its own right. This DVD is perfect for any fan of this movie. Disc 1 includes three versions of the film. The first is the "in progress" version shown to the New York film festival 6 weeks before the premier of the movie in 1991. While it's fun to have, I won't be watching it regularly. The second version is the original release. And finally comes the special edition, with the added scene and "Human Again." Ironically, this is probably my least favorite of the songs added to the Broadway version, but it does advance the story. And, there's always the option of watching the original version. Obviously, the version that you are supposed to watch is the special edition, as the audio commentary and sing along bonus features only work with this option. All three come in Dolby 5.1 sound, which sounds great. The second disc features hours of bonus material. Most of it focuses on the making of this movie. Everything is covered, from original idea through characters and the Broadway version and special edition. Galleries show character designs over the course of the project. Also featured is the original treatments for "Human Again" and "Be Our Guest." Celebrity voices give background on the original story and Disney versions of classic tales. And there's a fun documentary as the stars of "Even Stevens" take a backstage look at all the work that goes into making a feature animated film. This is the first annimated film to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. Watching the film, the reason is clear. This is something the entire family can enjoy. Don't miss your opportunity to catch this classic film.
D**Y
An amazing Disney movie for all ages
It came on time, nothing was damaged, and the disc played perfectly! The movie itself is perfect for all ages and has beautiful animation, songs, and voice acting. I would 100% recommend watching this with your kids or even by yourself!
S**E
The 3d Viewer: Beauty and the Beast
I just finished Beauty and the Beast in 3D and it brought me back to my childhood. As far as the 3d conversion process I think overall they did a good job. Originally the movie was hand drawn and some Computer Animation. Some of the 3D look was represented in appearance by that different animation style and took a little away from crisp completely computer animated 3D we have become use to. There was some ghosting involved from what I could tell but most of the time it was not that distracting. Even with a good amount of the background looking reminiscent of old school Disney animation I grew up fondly enjoying, it was made to look like it was in 3d but sometimes I do not always think it worked out spotless. Do not let some those negatives sway you too much, they did have fantastic backgrounds that added depth to what was one 2D, and made the castle look much bigger then I remember it was. As she walked through the streets in the beginning of the movie the rooftops were given dimension making the town seem a little more real. What were once just beautiful backdrops of the castle the added dimension brought out the size and scope of west-wing, library, and the great hall making them feel bigger, and a more warming or dreary place. What can be said for the Ballroom but wow. it was a masterpiece then, and it was equally as stunning now. Being how the Beauty and the Beast waltz scene was fully done in computer animation int he past, it really was able to shine with the added 3d process added. Overall I enjoyed the movie in 3d and brought a new depth to an already beautiful story. If this was going to be one of the harder 3D conversions Disney was doing, I can not wait to see Aladdin, or Little Mermaid. Finding Nemo will be amazing, along with monster's inc. Looking forward to them. Score wise has to be a high 3 to a low 4 due to the limitations it was under because of the old animation styling, but it still came out pretty well. (though Little Mermaid will be along the same limitations B&B was under due to most of it was not computer animated either, but still looking forward to seeing Mermaid as well)
J**N
A Disney Classic That's Still A Joy to Watch
After twenty-years, this timeless Disney classic is still a beautiful film to watch and the special features on the two-disc DVD set make it even better. Just like Bambi, I really enjoy watching the behind the scenes documentaries and learning about the creative process that goes on with the masters of Walt Disney magic: from the collaboration of a gifted writer and team of animators, to the award winning voice talents of legendary actors like Angela Lansbury, along with the innocent and soothing voices of Paige O'Hara who plays Belle and Robby Benson, best known for his voice over work on the animated TV series The Legend of Prince Valiant whom of course lends his talents to the heart and soul of the Beast. One of my favorite behind the scenes segments on the DVD was "Composing a Classic" which involves a meeting with the film's composer Alan Menken taking a memorable look back at the process of creating a fitting musical score for the film while working alongside executive producer, the late Howard Ashman, whom was intensely involved in monitoring songs among other aspects of the project. Sadly, Howard Ashman passed away just shy of the film's groundbreaking release, Beauty and the Beast would forever be remembered as his last film. The special edition DVD also has an alternate beginning that was originally scrapped early during pre production. Looking at it now in comparison to the finished product, I can see why the folks at Disney decided to go against the writer's original film plot and redo everything from scratch. All kidding aside, it was the best decision they could have made at that time. Watching the movie on DVD with digitally re-mastered picture and sound adds to the magical experience. I can remember seeing it for the first time with my twin brother and my Dad in the theatre when I was a kid. Even now after so many years, it's still an absolute joy to watch. Beauty and the Beast is a wonderful story that people of all ages will enjoy. The film brings to light an important message about love and acceptance. There are those few moments in life where people have to realize that it's okay to let someone into your heart even if they're completely different from the rest of us.
