BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: DIAMOND EDITION

...a charmingly wrought, beautifully animated modern classic.

For some reason, I was profoundly opposed to ever seeing Beauty and the Beast when it was first released in theaters.  I was just beginning to morph into a cynical teenager, and the combination of Angela Lansbury’s singing teapot and Celine Dion’s sappy duet with Peabo Bryson left me scoffing and rolling my eyes.  Nearly twenty years later, I began to reevaluate my feelings.  The fairy tale itself had started to strike me as smokin’ hot, and it really made no sense that I’d never given the movie a chance.  Indeed, I was completely wrong about Beauty and the Beast, a charmingly wrought, beautifully animated modern classic.

Though Disney princesses constantly find themselves the subject of feminist scrutiny, our heroine Belle (voiced by Paige O’Hara) is a gorgeous but sensible young woman deemed eccentric by the entire town due to her love of books.  No one can figure out why she spends so much time reading and thinking, least of all the town hunk, Gaston, who has made up his mind to marry Belle.  Nevermind that Belle has no interest in him whatsoever.  She would far rather keep her father company and help with his inventions than take up with a boorish brute.  Her life is complicated, however, when her father stumbles upon a beast’s castle while lost in the woods.  The Beast (voiced by Robby Benson) plans to hold Belle’s father prisoner forever and ever, but when Belle finally finds her father and hears his cough-cough, she is panic-stricken.  After hysterically announcing that he could die (apparently having a slim grasp on what it might take to kill a person), she offers to take his place.  And The Beast accepts, and suddenly it seems as though she’ll be spending the rest of her life with a boorish brute after all.

Oh, but The Beast is not a boorish brute!  He was once a heartless, spoiled, superficial prince who spurned a tricky witch and wound up cursed.  The only way to escape perpetual beastdom is to experience true love before the last petal falls on an enchanted rose kept under a little bell jar.  His bad attitude presumably stems from years of seclusion and frustration, but with the help of his household staff (transformed into household objects), he checks his anger and reaches out to Belle.  Lacking both looks and personality, he realizes he’s going to have to connect with Belle on her terms and woos her with her own personal library. Even a five year old can see that that is VERY romantic.

Before Belle and The Beast can live happily ever after, she must return home to nurse her father, who again is suffering from that little cough-cough “and might die!”  There she spills the beans about The Beast’s whereabouts, and the townsfolk (led by that disgusting Gaston) descend upon his castle to take him out.  Thankfully, The Beast’s faithful servants and Belle herself come to his aid, thwarting disaster and breaking the curse.

Though the theatrical version of the movie moves a bit too swiftly to generate a serious emotional reaction, its linear storytelling makes it one of Disney’s best animated films.  Besides, who can resist a giant clawed finger gently reaching out to touch a wisp of a petite, doe-eyed girl’s hair?  It’s hard to imagine The Beast undergoing such a quick and complete inner transformation (are we sure Belle didn’t wind up with an abusive husband after all?), but the film’s intended message is clear: only when we love and respect others for who they are can we truly be worthy of love ourselves. 

Notes on the Blu-Ray + DVD Combo Diamond Edition

True to its name, the Diamond Edition pulls out all the stops, including no less than three versions of Beauty and the Beast (a special extended edition, the original theatrical version, and the original storyboard version) and options for audio commentary or a sing-along mode.  A bevy of extra features offers something for the entire family.  Go behind the scenes to learn about the making of Beauty and the Beast and the scoring of the film, see deleted and alternate scenes and songs, and learn about the production’s journey to Broadway.  Music videos and games round out the fun.  A standard DVD copy Beauty and the Beast also accompanies the Blu-Ray disc, which also includes all three versions of the film, audio commentary, and sing-along mode.