Perfection is an impossible task to achieve in film making. No matter who says what or when, there is no perfect film, animated or otherwise , that has ever been made. This includes Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Gone With The Wind, The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight, and Ben-Hur. It includes Up, How to Train Your Dragon, Forrest Gump, Schindler's List, and Titanic. That being said, if there ever was a film made that could possibly reach the "nearly perfect" list, it would be Beauty and the Beast. Why? Do you have to ask? The film is cinematic brilliance. Every frame is virtually flawless, every line brilliant, every note fantastic, and every character wonderful.Plot: Once upon a time, a selfish prince turned away a hideous old woman for offering a single rose in return for shelter during a storm. The old woman revealed herself to be an enchantress, who cursed the prince and turned him into a hideous beast, and transformed his servants into household objects. The rose, which was enchanted, would bloom until his 21st birthday. If he could learn to love and earn love back, he could return to being human.
In a nearby village, several years later, a beautiful woman named Belle is viewed with loving curiosity by her village, as she only reads her books and doesn't spend time fawning over men. Her main male suitor in the village, Gaston, plans to make sure that he and Belle will marry because she is the most beautiful woman in town and he's the most handsome man in town. But Belle constantly turns him down, which sews seeds of hatred into the hunter's heart.
Belle's father goes out of town and discovers the Beast's Castle and is taken prisoner when the Beast claims he is trespassing. Belle follows him and offers to exchange her life for his, which he agrees to. Although the Beast now has a chance at love, he does virtually everything wrong and constantly loses his temper with her, resulting in some intense friction. And yet, through a series of unexpected events, the two do start to take interest in one another and the Beast falls in love with her. Belle also sees the goodness in his heart and also grows to care for him. When Belle discovers that her father is sick, the Beast, finally understanding what love is, frees her and allows her to go off and take care of him, willing to surrender his one chance at freedom for her happiness.
Gaston has turned the entire village against Belle's father, who tells everyone about the Beast and his castle, and tries to have him committed to an asylum, ultimately trying to woo Belle to marry him for his freedom. But when the brutish man discovers that the Beast actually exists and that Belle has feelings for him, he leads an angry mob to the Beast's castle to kill him. It is now up to Belle and her father to save the Beast, and for the Beast to save himself from his monstrous form before it's too late.
What's Bad?: If there is any flaw in the film, it is very minor. My personal issue would be with the final design the animators had for the Beast. It isn't terrible, but when you consider how great both Eric and Aladdin look in their movies, it kind of bugs you.
What's Good?: There is not a single moment of this movie that seems irritating, cutesy, or any of the other things that made films like The Aristocats or Robin Hood a drag to sit through. Beauty and the Beast is paced almost perfectly. Beast and Belle don't instantly fall in love, and they are not in love strictly for their appearances. While I don't like shoehorning in new animated scenes or deleted scenes into movies in general, the scene between the "Human Again" musical number added in for the special edition was really genuine. It's just Belle and Beast working out the issue that the Beast can't read. It would seem so trivial, but at the same time, it's them building their chemistry.
The rest of the characters, both good and evil, are just fantastic. The servants in the castle are fleshed out so well, that we all hope that their dreams to be human again come true. The characters of Lumiere and Cogsworth are almost as fleshed out as Beast and Belle. Gaston is more realistic of a villain than Disney had done before. Where Disney was good at creating magically powerful witches and demons, Gaston is the local hero and most beloved person in the village. Belle is the only person who can see through his facade, and it's his passionate love for himself and desires for Belle that ultimately reverse the roles of both man and Beast.
The songs and music are perfection. Howard Ashman wrote all of the songs for this movie with composer Alan Menken, before his tragic death eight months before the film's release in 1991. Every single song and musical note played in this film is perfection. From "Belle" to "Be Our Guest" the songs in this film are classics.
The animation is also perfect. What especially makes the animation perfect is the fact that a third of the film's allotted production schedule had to be thrown out due to incompetence and a lack of warmth in the movie. From the design of the castle during it's cursed days, to the romantic and dazzlingly technological wonder of the ballroom dance scene, the animation is some of the best ever in the studios long history.
Overall: If there ever was a film to come the closest to flawless, it would probably be this one. The film is the only hand-drawn animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and one of two (The Lion King) to win the Golden Globe for Best Picture in the Musical/ Comedy category. If you are one of the six people out there who hasn't seen this masterpiece, you don't know what you're missing. This film is practical perfection in every way.
Report Card
Hero: A+
Heroine: A+
Villain: A
Side Characters: A+
Songs: A+
Musical Score: A
Animation: A+
Special Effects: A
Themes: A+
Story: A+
Final Grade: A+
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