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davidahallnum5
Feb 410 min read

Beauty and the Beast (1991) 3D Blu-ray Review

MOVIE REVIEW

Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 Disney animated feature based on the original fairy tale. The film opens up with a narrator explaining the story of a young, arrogant prince who upon turning away an old lady seeking shelter, gets cursed to become a beast until he learns to love. The movie itself, though, centers around a young woman named Belle who lives in a modest village and dreams of adventure. She soon finds it, but not in the way she expected. You see, on the way to a fair, Belle's father, Maurice, gets lost in the dark woods and seeks shelter at a mysterious castle. There, he ends up getting made a prisoner at the hands of the aforementioned ferocious beast. When Belle goes after her father and finds him in the castle dungeon, she gets him free by making an offer to the beast to trade places with her father, to which the beast agrees. So now, Belle is stuck in the castle with a ruthless creature, to which the castle staff who are all furniture, try to help make not as terrible. But more importantly, can Belle, though her natural kindness and empathy, teach the beast a thing or two about the importance of learning to love someone before it's too late?

There's an abundance of fairy tale movies out there, that's for sure. But one thing that I've noticed is that with many of them, you can pretty easily tell what time period they were made in. And I don't mean animation-wise, I mean story-wise and style-wise. Most fairy tale features are based on what we know about those old fantasy storybooks we all grew up reading. But oftentimes, they use them as a springboard for bringing forth new ideas and storylines that's something reminiscent of times the movie was made in. This isn't inherently a bad thing. In fact, these changes can sometimes be somewhat insightful. However, as good as the movies might end up being, it seems like most of the new ideas they bring forward to the world of the film end up more often than not, reminding me an awful lot of my own world. Take for example the subversion of the a-woman-needs-a-man trope in Frozen or the subversion of pretty much everything from the Shrek franchise. Do they create enjoyable, unique movies for what they're trying to be? Definitely. But it also makes it, as some would say, the product of an era. There's a difference between these types of films and the fairy tales we read as children. Looking back on those old stories, despite being written hundreds of years ago, there was something about reading them that made them feel timeless. I remember back when I would get transported to an entirely different world with unique, but relatable characters who encounter themes and learn lessons that still resonate with audiences today.

And that's probably the reason I consider Beauty and the Beast to be one of Disney's greatest animated masterpieces. On top of having some top-notch animation, pitch perfect pacing, expert storytelling, and lovable characters, it truly does feel like it's in a timeless world of its own. The setting is full of fairy tale atmosphere and the environments are grand. Once again, props to the animation department. There are some talented voice actors involved that steal the show, but never is anyone drawn to the film because of anyone's actual name unlike Aladdin. There is certainly some comedy, as with the case of most films in the Disney renaissance, but they stem from the well-established and easily likable characters. Never does it feel forced or rely on pop culture references like in some scenes of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The songs are catchy and memorable, and that's putting it lightly; they're actually some of the most iconic songs in Disney's history. The dialogue is witty and clever. And although Disney does adds its own stylistic spin to the original fairy tale, as they do with all their films, they still treat the core message of how one's example of selflessness can ultimately inspire someone to change for the better with the utmost respect. It comes through excellently through the storytelling which is lean and fast when it can be, but also slow and nuanced when it needs to be. But the important thing is that there's nothing here that treats the original tale, or fairy tales in general, with an ounce of cynicism. The filmmakers here try to remain as true to the essence of that storybook we all read as kids as they could. And I'd say they more than succeeded.

And that's probably what makes Beauty and the Beast stick out from the crowd in terms of most fairy tale features: its dedication to its inherent wholesomeness. Belle is certainly a motivated and unique person in her own right. But she's also just straight up an understanding and loving character who even in the midst of the beast menacing demeanor, never loses her inherent kindness. And soon enough, her selfless personality manages to inspire goodness out of even one of the least understanding and caring of characters. Part of this film's excellence is in how it gets that message across in a way that's character driven and engaging instead of cheap and corny, and told in a true fairy tale fashion. But besides that, that kind of pure, unadulterated kindness in a character is honestly pretty hard to come by in most movies nowadays, let alone extolled rather than put down as being just naive. In an age where Hollywood is concerned with making female protagonists that girls can look up, it seems that they've forgotten that what truly makes an inspiring example to others isn't who you inherently are on the outside, but who you're willing to be on the inside. And right now, when people just seem to getting heated up with everyone else by the day, I think that kind of selfless message is something we can all take away. Whereas most fairy tale movies seem to be all about adding something new to the stories of old to adapt to modern times, Beauty and the Beast is the rare gem that goes to show that sometimes, the best values can be found from respecting the stories of old rather than rewriting them. And in turn, it becomes one of the most unique and well-crafted films in Disney's catalogue. Beauty and the Beast can have its gray stuff and eat it too.


OVERALL MOVIE RATING: 5/5


3D REVIEW

Being how I've done reviews of the 3D conversions on the 2D animated films The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, I suppose it's only fair I cover the remaining feature Beauty and the Beast. This film came out in between The Lion King 3D and The Little Mermaid 3D. It, along with plenty of other 3D conversions from Disney, banked off the success of The Lion King 3D. But it was this movie's underperformance at the box office that led to The Little Mermaid 3D's run being restricted to one theater for about a week and allegedly led to the cancellation of Aladdin's 3D conversion. As sad as the results were, however, was the box office underperformance somewhat deserved? Personally, I don't think so. In fact, I say the conversion team has gotten better about converting 2D-animation into 3D since The Lion King. There are still quite a few distractions I can see many viewers having an issue with. I mean, we haven't quite gotten to the brilliance of The Little Mermaid's 3D conversion yet. But that aside, I still find much to appreciate with the 3D conversion we did get. So let's dive right into it.

Let's get those problems out the way first, though. First, there are some moments where characters or pieces of the environment, such as the hills in the opening shot, appear flat. The cardboard cut out look here is maybe a little more acceptable than when its in something like Clash of the Titans mainly because of the 2D animated source material. But is still looks off enough that it's certainly a distraction. Also, while this is the second 2D animated classic from Disney to get a 3D conversion, it is the first to involve humans. So while the characters in this film certainly have some volume and solidity to them, they still come off in many plenty of shots as, well, not exactly warped, but somewhat unnatural, as if the characters' features aren't exactly in the right place. It's an issue that comes up pretty much throughout the movie, so I'd recommend not to dwell on people's faces too often.

So, yeah. These couple, but pretty frequent issues will most likely turn people off to this 3D presentation, and that's understandable. But if you're willing to look past them, though, there's actually a lot to enjoy here about Beauty and the Beast in 3D, probably not as much as The Little Mermaid, but certainly more than The Lion King. I see the strong depth has made a return (thankfully, not as strong as Spy Kids 3-D). And while it doesn't exactly have long, sweeping vistas, the added dimension brings a lot of little details into a new light you just can't get with 2D. And the culmination of all these little details ends up making for a subtle, but no less stunning and immersive 3D experience.

I think it'd be fair to first talk about the beast's castle, which provides some of most grand usage of 3D throughout the movie. The depth in the exterior shots help to establish how large the castle is, along with providing us a couple good moments involving a gate. And inside, that sense of largeness is not lost. The hallways, the staircases, the dining room, the library, and especially the ballroom all feel like deep environments you could walk right into. And the characters that inhabit them, I'm of course speaking about the furniture and the common items, are always moving about, dancing, forming rows, fighting, all forming some mesmerizing 3D composition. The song and dance number "Be Our Guest" is a perfect example of this. It's lively and inviting enough in 2D. But in 3D, you really are their guest. The 3D can also make things somewhat claustrophobic, too, such as in the beast's dungeon. But other times, the depth can offer some dizzying, but also well choreographed 3D views such as in the climax on the rooftop with rain, rows of statues, and a great fall to the river below.

Outside the castle perimeters, the 3D doesn't get any less impressive. Belle's town still looks about as big you'd expect for a small town. The Gaston musical number is quite fun with characters being thrown around and neat camera motions. In the forest, we see the distance in between the limbs on the dead trees. And at night, the stars in the sky look very far away. There's a fun shot where Belle looks through a peep hole that has a bit of a fish-eyed lens and she sees Gaston looking straight into it. But even on the more subtle side, the 3D offers up plenty of interesting shots that involve reflections, a magic mirror, windows, balconies, beams of light and magic, and even some zooming in/zooming out shots of glass pane windows.

You won't be wrong for assuming that a 2D animated film from 1991 probably wasn't preparing itself for some intriguing pop out moments. But that being said, there are still quite a few that deserve a good mention. The best ones I can think of are in the musical numbers, specifically Be Our Guest and Gaston. In the former, random items from the candlestick to swinging chandeliers to jugs to a plate being shot in midair via a punch fountain to a row of feather dusters are all making their way at you. And in the latter, Gaston shows off his hair in your face, punches a chess board in your direction, and even a group of men swing LeFou just inches in front of you. In the climax, the pop outs get more intense, as with a bow and arrow, Gaston's hand when proclaiming Belle to be his, a tree falling down, fire getting thrown at you, a battering ram, and the beast fighting against him. In a couple of scattered moments, a pack of wolves charge at you. There's plenty of other pop outs, but they're often on the more subtle side of things, involving things like rain, snow, characters, and pieces of the environment.

In the first half of the film, I was considering giving Beauty and the Beast a flawed, but still watch-worthy "good" rating due to the aforementioned issues above. But I don't know. Eventually, I found the 3D to just be too captivating and surprisingly dynamic for me not to recommend. Just like with Jurassic Park and Jaws, the third dimension adds so many little things to the picture that you simply won't get in 2D. Once again, it's not The Little Mermaid great. But in its own right, the 3D experience is subtle yet highly effective and deserves a lot more credit than people give it. Granted, it's understandable if you can't quite get past the occasional cardboard cut out look or the strange spacing of the characters. But if you're willing to give Beauty and the Beast in 3D a shot, you'l probably still walk out pleasantly surprised. This is definitely on the lower side as far as the "great" rating goes, but it's a "great" rating none the less. I highly recommend it.


3D RATING: GREAT


OTHER SOURCES THAT REVIEW THIS MOVIE'S 3D





FINAL THOUGHTS


Beauty and the Beast, the original 1991 version that is, is a classic in every sense of the word. It has pretty much everything going for it, the animation is on point, the music is catchy, the story itself is told in the best way possibly, the characters are all highly likable, and the themes of kindness, love, and redemption still resonate with audiences today. This, about like The Lion King, is just one of those perfect movies. I personally wouldn't change a thing about it. It truly captures not just the essence of the original story, but also the true feeling of being in a fairy tale that so many Hollywood movies miss nowadays, and sometimes trade in favor of a modern viewpoint. Beauty and the Beast not only transcends animation, but also film itself. So much so, in fact, that it was straight up nominated for Best Picture in 1992, being one of only three animated films to ever do so. While it lost to Silence of the Lambs, there's no denying the fact it was considered for Best Picture really shows it's something special. It's been over 30 years since it came out and it hasn't aged at all. And my guess is as time progresses, just like the fairy tale itself, Beauty and the Beast will continue to be beloved by people of all ages. If you haven't checked it out yet, waste no time and be Disney's guest. As for whether or not you should spring for the 3D version, I think it comes down to whether or not you can withstand the errors that come with it. While they're not as distracting as the ones in The Lion King 3D, they're still a little bit annoying and for most people, might be a make or break deal. But like I said before, in spite of that, the 3D experience overall is still very impressive, and quite surprising in the visual details it brings to the table. A lot like Hugo or Frankenweenie, it takes something that shouldn't seem like a great fit for 3D and makes it into an unforgettable time. If you've grown up on this movie, or are a 3D fan in general, I strongly suggest you pick up this 3D Blu-ray. It gives this old film a brand new look that more often than not, works out for the better.


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