A superfan looks at the beauty of both ‘Beauty and the Beast’ films
Some things from 1991 now seem weird
To say I’m a Beauty and the Beast fan doesn’t paint the full picture.
Of course, I had the movie on VHS, like every other ’ 90s kid. But owning the tape wasn’t enough: I wanted to watch the movie in my bed, in the car and in the bathroom. In a time before DVD players and streaming sites, my father made my wish come true by recording the output of the VCR on the input of a clunky videocamera, meaning he effectively turned the tiny viewfinder into a portable BATB screen.
So I’ve watched Belle fall for a hairy rich guy hundreds of times, and — regardless of screen size — seeing the Disney classic has always been a gleeful experience.
But what’s the story like in liveaction form, more than 25 years later? Five reactions I had after watching the remake (in theaters Friday) as an adult: BELLE USED TO BE MORE FUN. The Paige O’Hara-voiced Belle was always my favorite Disney princess, probably because I thought I was a bit like her: a book lover, close with her father, lover of animals, unconcerned about those who find her “peculiar.” And, she slid on library ladders, jumped rope while reading, threw a giant snowball in Beast’s face and sarcastically told Gaston, “I don’t deserve you.”
Emma Watson’s Belle doesn’t have that same energy. Yes, she teaches a child to read and invents a rudimentary washing machine, but she’s not a joyful, plucky heroine. Instead, she has pretty basic tastes in literature and is more self-conscious than her predecessor, telling Beast the townspeople call her a “funny girl” and don’t mean it in a nice way. THE BEAST/BELLE ROMANCE IS MORE LOGICAL BUT KIND OF CREEPY. In the animated version, it didn’t take a lot for Beast to win over Belle. Yes, he rescued her from wolves, but other than that, the duo didn’t do much more than share a dining table and feed birds in the snow. In this new movie, the book lovers talk about Shakespeare, go on a magical trip through time and actually flirt. They seem to have more reasons to get together this time around.
However, a romance with a live-action Beast is much harder to accept than with a cartoon one. I found myself wondering some- thing I hadn’t before: How does Belle know this furry creature is human rather than a talking animal? There’s no telling what could exist in an enchanted castle! THEY PULLED OFF THE ‘BE OUR GUEST’ SCENE. The animated Lumière-led musical number is one of Disney’s best of all time, with synchronized spoons, dancing dishes and coor- dinated candlesticks. The new version isn’t better, but it’s more than respectable.
It reminded me about two things that are also true in the original, but weren’t so obvious to me before: Belle barely eats more than a sampling of “the gray stuff.” And Lumière (then Jerry Orbach, now Ewan McGregor) is apparently the only French-sounding guy in France. SO MANY PLOT HOLES WERE FILLED IN. Sure, I can believe that an enchantress cursed a prince to live as a beast with a castle of servants turned into household objects. Fine. But why didn’t the servants have friends or family who might wonder what happened to them? And why is the sentient kitchenware so loyal to an angry prince? The new movie explains that the servants’ loved ones had their memories erased, and the servants have reasons for feeling sympathy for Beast.
Also, the new movie gets a more-plausible third act. Instead of a trapped Belle and Maurice being saved by the teacup Chip, who sneaks into Belle’s bag and knows how to operate a woodchopping invention that he’s never seen, Belle and Maurice wind up figuring out an escape route themselves. THE HUMAN BEAST ISN’T MAGICAL, BUT HIS SONG IS. Of the three new Beauty and the
Beast songs, Beast’s powerful ballad Evermore is easily the best — and, certainly, one of Beast’s best live-action moments. In fact, it’s much better than his underwhelming changing-into-a-human scene, mostly because Stevens is too puny for the part.
While the animated prince is a towering man with broad shoulders and thick arms, Stevens just looks like the slender man from
Downton Abbey. I almost wanted him to turn back.