Aug. 03, 2002 - 3:16 am

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Beauty and the Beast (1991)

ok, so i'm sure we've all seen Beauty and the Beast. well, all except my friend Colin who has decided never to watch anything remotely termed as being a "musical." this film is number 231 on the IMDb's top 250 today and was the first animated film to ever be nominated for Best Picture. obviously this was not my first time to see this film. just doing the Best Picture Nominees list put me in the mood to see it again.

do i even need a plot summary on this one? i think not. basically this is the classic French fairy tale of an enchanted beast who lives in his castle with all of his servants who are also enchanted. everyone has been changed from human form because the beast had no love in his heart. the spell is that if he does not find love by his 21st birthday he will remain a beast forever. this is the story of how the spell was broken when he fell in love with a book-loving girl named Belle.

this really is a wonderful film. i really like the first three films that Disney did in their new style, starting with The Little Mermaid (1989) and ending with Aladdin (1992). i can't really comment on any of the later ones. i stopped seeing them i think after Pocahontas (1995). the music in Beauty and the Beast is amazing and i guess that's why it won Best Song and Best Music Oscars for that year. beating out even the great John Williams for Hook (1991). i really wish this film were longer. i guess whenever you make a film for kids though, you have to remember their shorter attention span.

i had forgotten about the cgied ballroom scene that they did in this film. it's pretty amazing that they made it look that good over 11 years ago. wow, i was only 11 when this film came out. and it seems like it was just a few years ago. my how the time goes by.