Beauty And The Beast Review

• 9th Nov 2010

Disney may be making a go at returning to its roots, but a revisit to the classic Beauty and the Beast really confirms that they don’t make ‘em like they used to. The premise of the story – beautiful girl meets gruesome but fuzzy on the inside beast – overly tried and tested though it may be, is the original and the best. Set against the absolutely stunningly animated 18th Century provincial France, the story floats beautifully off the screen, and with the re-mastered picture quality of the deluxe edition it is an absolute joy to watch.

This version also comes with more extras than ever before, and includes something for all the family. The cutsie trivia quizzes and sing-alongs are a nice feature for the kiddies (or the young at heart), but it’s the documentaries which really make it a bit special, particularly Composing a Classic which gives a good measure of the monumental effort, patience and talent which went into creating the songs which we all naturally assumed came from a pinch of fairy dust and some wishful thinking.

The ‘making of’ feature, entitled Beyond Beauty is enlightening but not altogether memorable, and doesn’t really contain anything a quick wiki-search wouldn’t churn out, although it’s nice to hear it from the horse’s mouth. It is tempting to forget that Disney is a studio and a business like any other and as such is plagued by constant bureaucratic downfalls and departmental fall-outs. Beauty and the Beast seems to have been harder hit by such issues than most other contemporary films, not to mention constant re-writes which saw a twee little love tale evolve and emerge as the gothic, passionate tale which I for one take completely for granted.

More than anything, it is the music of the film which has earned it its place in history as the first animated film to be nominated for three best music Oscars, winning the award for its title song, Beauty and the Beast. With the talent of Alan Menken at the helm it wouldn’t have been difficult to predict the film’s musical success and the Composing a Classic feature gives a highly interesting insight into Menken’s song-writing technique. Menken goes into great depth about the painstaking trial and error which went into writing Be Our Guest amidst the rollercoaster ride of moving production to a New York hotel to pander to the ailing producer, Howard Ashman, who would tragically pass away before the film was ever released.

Menken also makes a guest appearance in the commentary which again, although not the most revelation-rich commentary around, does provide some lovely bits of trivia knowledge as well as including an interesting insight into the length of Gaston’s chin.

The diamond edition is a pretty little set, and a must for any die-hard Disney disciples out there, but for the most part, consider it fair to say that the standard special edition will suffice as the quality of the film is the same on both versions. For those who opt for the deluxe set, get out the Disney Trivial Pursuit and prepare yourself for many a content victory sip…

Dani Singer