Modern classics: Beauty and the Beast 20 years on

The success currently being enjoyed by the re-release of Disney’s The Lion King in 3D is a reminder that in the decades since the studio’s inception in 1923, it has been unsurpassed in its supremacy in the creation of animated films.

It was the first ever animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar- Paula Fleri-Soler

It still continues to dominate, not only thanks to recent successes like Tangled, but also via Pixar Studios which the ‘Mouse’ acquired a few years ago.

However, there was a time, brief though it may have been, when Disney struggled to obtain the successes it had been used to from its early beginnings in the 1920s.

In the early 1980s a string of lesser hits signalled a rare blip in what had been then an unstoppable force, but in 1989 The Little Mermaid heralded the period known as the ‘Disney revival’.

Two years later, in November 1991, Beauty and the Beast was released and went on to become one of the studio’s biggest critical and commercial successes.

The film’s formula was based on many of Disney’s successes of old – a beloved traditional fairytale told in bright and vibrant colours with a toe-tapping soundtrack to boot.

Yet, thanks to the screenplay by Linda Woolverton and the steady direction of Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, Beauty and the Beast signalled a shift in tone for the studio, taking it away from its old-fashioned storytelling and adding a modern sensibility.

This was thanks in no small part to the fully-fleshed out characters – human or otherwise – at the heart of the story, as characterised by the independent, feisty heroine Belle, and the monstrous but gentle, heroic but flawed beast. Moreover, the film was not afraid to feature quite a few dark and scary moments.

The story of course centres round a callous and spoiled prince who is transformed into a beast when he refuses to help an old woman in need. The only way to break the spell is to find true love, which he does when he meets young Belle who he imprisons in his castle.

Woolverton’s screenplay presents Belle as a modern, bookish and forward-looking woman who feels trapped within the confines of her remote village and longs for adventure and excitement.

The Beast is an angry young man frustrated by his inability to communicate with the young woman who can be his salvation; Gaston a self-important and bullying misogynist and the ensemble cast of the Beast’s staff are characters loyal to a fault to their master, despite their fate stuck as household items.

It is characterisation brought to life by the minutely detailed animation of the characters’ moves and expressions – watch out for Belle rolling her eyes at Gaston’s boorish behaviour; the anxiety in her eyes when she learns her father’s fate at the hands of the beast, or the Beast’s moods defined by his body language – whether he is throwing a monstrous temper tantrum or sulking in a childish strop – leading to characters that are astonishingly real.

As for the songs by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman (who sadly died a few months before the film was released), well, they are some of the best ever produced for a Disney musical, and prove as tuneful and popular as ever 20 years down the line.

They are not only great tunes in and of themselves: each and every one serves to propel the plot and introduce the characters – from the opening Belle (Bonjour), which squarely places us in trademark Disney territory while also showing us that Belle is a woman to be reckoned with.

Similarly Gaston is enough to establish the type of jerk that he is, while the big favourites remain of course Be Our Guest – an elaborate song-and-dance number performed by crockery and cutlery which would have made the famous film director and choreographer Busby Berkeley proud – and of course the title track (the film version sung by Angela Lansbury, not the painfully poppy Celine Dion version) remains swooningly romantic.

Beauty and the Beast is at times cutesy but never schmaltzy; very funny and at times rather scary and it struck a chord with audiences of all ages and critics across the board, making many top 10 lists at the end of the year.

It grossed $377 million at the international box office, was nominated and won a slew of awards and was the first ever animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.

It is reported that Beauty and the Beast will also be re-released in 3D format... an excellent opportunity for a new generation of fans to enjoy this beloved tale as old as time in all its big-screen glory.