If you’re worried your little girl has been watching too many fairy tales in which the leading lady is a damsel in distress waiting to be rescued, then Beauty and the Beast is the film for you – the closest thing to a feminist movie that Disney animators have made. It’s terrific, too – a luscious film (now even yummier in 3D) packed with beautiful computer-generated backdrops – as modern heroine Belle (O’Hara) strides purposefully through her French village wishing there was more adventure in her life.
And of course there soon is, when her father is captured by the Beast (Benson) and Belle volunteers to take dad’s place, imprisoned in the shaggy-haired, gruff Beast’s castle with only a talking teapot (Mrs Potts, voiced by Angela Lansbury), candelabra, clock and cute little teacup (Chip) for company. That is, unless she can melt the heart of her grumpy host…
Brimming over with fun tunes (‘Be Our Guest’, ‘Gaston’) and with a delightful love story at its heart, this is much more than a kids’ animated movie, it’s a classic for everyone. A straight-to-video sequel, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, was made in 1997 with many of the original vocal cast returning.
Is Beauty And The Beast (1991) suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
None, really, although very young viewers may find the Beast scary to begin with.
If you like this, why not try: Tangled, The Princess And The Frog, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Enchanted,