Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at Beauty & The Beast

You know, it’s funny. There was a time in my life where I had the same level of revulsion at the idea of watching Disney’s Beauty & The Beast as I did for the Little Mermaid. While I stand by every negative thing I said about The Little Mermaid, this movie I feel I may have misjudged. Not long ago, I watched the live action remake of Beauty & The Beast with my girlfriend on her birthday. It was the first time I watched anything Beauty & The Beast related in over twenty years. Much to my surprise, I actually found myself enjoying the film prompting me to wonder if perhaps the original is better than I’ve made it out to be all these years. After all, it was the first animated film in history to be nominated for an academy award for best picture. Despite my misgivings with the Oscars as a system of measuring the quality of a film, that nomination still has to mean something. Well, I have indeed re-watched Beauty & The Beast and, while I’m not someone who enjoys admitting when he’s wrong, I found this Disney Classic to be a fun, heartwarming and breathtakingly animated film that I greatly enjoyed viewing with adult eyes. So, what are we looking at here? Well, adapted from an old Chinese legend (Yes, Beauty & The Beast is actually a Chinese story. I have no idea where France enters the picture but what are going to do) Beauty & The Beast tells the story of a cold-hearted prince who grew up spoiled, selfish and unkind in a lavish castle in France. One night, an old beggar woman arrived at the castle door and offered the prince a rose in exchange for shelter. Repulsed by the old woman’s appearance, the cruel prince turned the old woman away. This turned out to be a really bad idea as the old woman was actually a powerful enchantress in disguise. As punishment for his cruelty and selfishness, the enchantress transformed the prince into a terrifying beast placed curse on the entire castle and all who lived there. Ashamed of his appearance, the Beast concealed himself from the world. However, the enchantress did leave one way for the spell to be broken. If the Beast could find true love before the last petal of an enchanted rose fell then the curse would be lifted. Years later, we meet Belle, a young girl from a village not far from the castle who, despite being very beautiful and well-read, is generally considered an oddball by the townspeople. Belle is happy in her village despite constantly being objectified by Gaston, the local muscle-bound sexist jackass. However, Belle still longs for more than this provincial life she leads. When Belle’s father takes a wrong turn in the woods and ends up a prisoner in the Beast’s castle, Belle gets more than she bargained for when she agrees to take her father’s place and live out her days as a captive of the Beast. Despite the Beast’s gruff and rude demeanor and Belle’s unhappiness over the whole situation, the two eventually grow to care for one another. It’s easily one of Disney most beloved films, and today we’re gonna take a closer look so let’s get started with Beauty & The Beast.

Main Character:

This is definitely one of those films where we have two main characters to discuss. After all, the film is called Beauty and The Beast. We may as well start with Belle since “Beauty” comes first in the title. To be honest, out of all the Disney Princesses we’ve covered so far, Belle is the only one with a personality that I can get behind, or any sort of personality to speak of really. As I said above, Belle is a bit an oddball amongst the people of her village, something visually demonstrated by the fact that she’s the only one in the entire village who wears blue. She’s imaginative, curious, loves reading and is apparently the only woman in the entire village immune to Gaston’s alleged charm. What I appreciate about this is that Belle doesn’t really seem interested in fitting in. Sure, she does wish that people would be more accepting of her but fitting in and being accepted are two very different things. Belle is also exceptionally brave and cares deeply for those she loves, shown by her willingness to sacrifice her own freedom for her father. I really appreciate that Belle doesn’t just fall in love with the Beast when they first met, in fact, they actually can’t stand each other at first. It would be an awfully short movie if Belle did fall for the Beast right away but this just means that the two have to take time, let’s call it at least a month, to grow to like each other. For Belle’s part, while she may not be happy about being a prisoner and initially treats the Beast with hostility, once the Beast saves her life her feelings about him begin to soften. Once they get to know each other a bit, Belle actually starts to see a bit of herself in the Beast. Just as Belle’s village won’t accept Belle, the world will never accept Beast and it’s this mutual sense of loneliness that draws them closer together.

Speaking of old tall dark and fuzzy, let’s talk about the Beast himself who, despite starting out as a jerk, is actually a pretty interesting character. Something I’ve never really understood is why the Beast is considered ugly. He’s certainly frightening, but he just looks like a big grizzly bear with horns. I'm not sure what’s especially hideous about that unless you really don’t like bears. His more brutish and hostile nature can easily be forgiven when you consider that he probably hasn’t seen another human being in at least a decade. Something I noticed during this viewing that I found fascinating is the fact that early on, the beast tends to mostly walk around on all fours but the more time he spends with Belle, the more he walks around like a human being. It’s subtle, but you can see how Beast has clearly gotten used to being an animal over time and it’s his time with Belle that helps him remember how to be human again. I honestly believe that Beast always had the capacity for kindness and compassion, he just lived in an environment that didn’t allow those traits to flourish. One of my favorite moments with Beast is towards the end when he sets Belle free. The whole point of the curse was for the prince to learn how to love. Well, this when Beast finally realizes what that truly means. He can give her all the beautiful ball gowns and fancy libraries he wants but in this moment, Beast finally understands that he cannot claim to truly love Belle if he’s holding her against her will. It destroys him to do it because he doesn’t want to lose her, and he knows that he’d also be giving up his last chance to be human again but that doesn’t matter anymore. He cannot claim to care for Belle if he keeps her prisoner. This is not a relationship born of the unrealistic love at first sight nonsense that has plagued so many romances in previous films we’ve covered. This is a relationship that feels earned, not bad for a movie that I used to hate.

Villain:

Even back when I hated this movie, the one thing I consistently enjoyed from the age of three to the age of thirty-one was the film’s villain, Gaston, who is the perfect combination of vile and hilarious. As I said in my Top 20 Disney Villains article that you’re probably all sick of hearing me talk about, if toxic masculinity were a religion, Gaston here would be it's messiah. He’s every pretty boy douchebag who ever clumsily tried to pick up a married woman at a bar, but on steroids. Yeah, four dozen eggs my ass, that boy is on the juice. The word of the day is entitlement. Gaston feels entitled to everything because he’s the biggest and the strongest and he’s probably not accustomed to being told no. Gaston’s interest in Belle has nothing to do with genuine love or affection, it has everything to do with the fact that he feels entitled to Belle because she’s the prettiest and therefore the best. He even goes so far as to set up a wedding without even proposing first because the idea that someone wouldn't want him for a husband doesn't even register in his mind. Because he’s so used to getting everything he wants, when Belle does reject his advances, instead of taking the hint, Gaston only becomes angry and goes to borderline disturbing lengths in order to get Belle to agree to marry him, including arranging to have her father committed to an insane asylum if she doesn’t say yes. By the way, the head of the insane asylum is voiced by Tony Jay. Imagine, Tony Jay playing a corrupt Frenchman in a position of power. Then, once he learns of the Beast, he rallies the crowd into an angry mob to kill the monster, not because he genuinely believes he’s a threat to the village but because he’s a threat to his chances with Belle. Still, as bad as he is, Gaston still manages to get a few laughs if just because of how over the top he is. He’s like Zapp Brannigan from Futurama before Zapp Brannigan was a thing. Despite being such a loathsome individual, he's so over-the-top in how vile he is you can't help but laugh. What I find especially interesting about Gaston are the many ways he parallels and contrasts the Beast. You get a sense that had the prince not been transformed he likely would have ended up very much like Gaston. The key difference between the two is that Beast is willing to put forth the effort to change and better himself, even if he’s not always great at it. Gaston believes he’s God’s gift to women and sees no reason to change. Over time, patience and kindness help the Beast rediscover his humanity while anger and jealousy turn Gaston into a mad animal. Even at the end, he refuses to accept that Belle would ever want anyone other than him. I’d say this makes him the most delusional of all the Disney villains but… we still have Frollo coming up. Still, to paraphrase the song, no one makes a great villain like Gaston.

Side Characters:

Before we talk about the denizens of Beast’s castle we seriously need to need to talk about how disproportionately this curse affected everybody. You mean to tell me the dickhead prince gets turned into a fuzzy Incredible Hulk and everyone else got transformed into kitchenware? That hardly seems fair. Sure, the Beast is a terrifying monster but at least he got super strength out of the deal and… y’know… GOT TO KEEP HIS HANDS!

I found I really enjoyed Lumiere the candlestick. His seemingly endless optimism and enthusiasm for his job was really infectious. Did you know that that’s Jerry Orbach doing the voice? I didn’t. This was a full year before he’d go on to achieve worldwide fame as Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order. Isn’t that cool.

A great comic foil for Lumiere is Cogsworth, the clock. I love how he and Lumiere play off one another. In contrast to Lumiere’s boundless enthusiasm, Cogsworth tends to be a more stuffy and cautious. It actually reminds me a little of the Bernard/Bianca dynamic while still feeling like its own thing. By the way, for those of you who are playing the Disney Renaissance drinking game, I feel compelled to inform you that Cogsworth, who ended up being voiced by the incredibly talented David Ogden Stiers, is yet another character who was almost played by Sir Patrick Stewart. Take a shot!

Mrs. Potts, played by the eternally awesome Angela Lansbury, is a very sweet character and her son chip is absolutely adorable. I appreciate she’s kind and hospitable without being over the top about it like Lumiere.

Songs:

Oh man, this movie may have one of the most consistently awesome soundtracks of any film we’ve covered so far. I honestly can’t think of a single dud in the bunch. The songs of this film are the masterstroke of legendary composer Howard Ashman and each one is a household tune in its own right. I’ll do my best to do all of these classics justice without going on too long.

Belle, the opening number is surprisingly catchy and serves as a great introduction to Belle’s oddball nature. As fun as the song is, I do find it strange that these people are singing about how weird Belle is to them while she’s clearly in earshot. Like seriously, she’s right there ya jerks.

Be our guest is an absolute blast, both visually and melodically. You can cell Lumiere has been waiting years to do this and is overjoyed to finally have the opportunity. This number also inspired one of my favorite songs from The Simpsons, See My Vest, featured in an episode ironically inspired by 101 Dalmations.

Gaston might very well be the funniest song in this or any Disney film. It’s so full of ridiculous over-the-top machismo that you can’t help but love it. It’s such a fun song that you almost forget what a bastard Gaston is, at least for a short while.

Something There has a nice melody and also serves as a decent montage for Belle and Beast growing closer. It’s actually really cute seeing them have fun together.

The Mob Song is enjoyably intense and nicely shows Gaston’s transition from entitled jackass to full on monster. A great song to kick off this movie’s rather exciting climax.

And finally, there’s the big one, Tale as Old as Time. It is simply one of the most beautiful love songs Disney has ever composed. If you’ll recall my Gargoyles retrospective, I said that that I the scene that paid homage to Tale as Old as Time in that show had more of an emotional impact for me and I stand by what I said, but the way I see it, that scene never would have happened if it weren’t for this one. The visuals, the melody and the beautiful singing voice of Angela Lansbury all come together for what is a truly unforgettable number.

Memorable Scenes:

This may sound unusual, but my favorite scene is the one where Beast gives Belle his library. It’s one of the first things he does for her that seems purely out of the goodness of his own heart which in and of itself is pretty cool, but it goes much deeper than that. In the intro I mentioned my girlfriend’s birthday. Well, in the weeks leading up to it, my mother insisted that I get her flowers or jewelry. Those are perfectly fine thing things to give someone but in my mind, such gifts lack a personal touch. I could literally give anyone flowers or jewelry, but what I ended up giving her was something that I knew that only she specifically would appreciate. Likewise, what Beast has done here is give Belle a gift that he knows she specifically will appreciate. He’s spent enough time with her at this point to realize that she likes books, so he gives her every book she could ever want. I actually find that really sweet.

Story:

Before we get into what I think the true theme of this film is, I feel that there’s a burning question that needs to be addressed. Does Belle have Stockholm Syndrome? My answer… possibly. While I would like to believe that Belle’s feelings for the Beast are genuine, I would be foolish to ignore that possibility. However, a definitive answer to this question is best left to those more learned in these matters than myself.

That out of the way, I think the reason I hated this film for so many years is because I missed the point. I believed that this film was trying to say that a woman should stay with an abusive partner because they can change over time. All these years, I believed that this film was not only bad, but dangerous because of that mentality. However, while that is certainly one interpretation of the film, I no longer believe that this is what the filmmakers were trying to say. It’s worth noting that while certainly not especially nice at first, Beast is never outright abusive towards Belle or any of the servants. That’s more something a Gaston might do and Belle rejects his advances with zero hesitation. What I’ve come to realize is that I’ve been looking at this whole from the wrong perspective. The message of the move is not for Belle, it’s for Beast. What is that message? Nobody is perfect, but what’s truly important is putting forth the effort to be better. That’s what sets someone like Beast apart from someone like Gaston, that willingness to accept one’s shortcomings and improve upon them. It could be something simple like learning how to use a spoon, or something more serious like learning to control one’s violent temper. If one puts in that effort, good things will come to you, but first, one needs to recognize that the effort is warranted by accepting their shortcomings. Beast was willing to put in the effort, Gaston was not and we all saw how things turned out.

The Dark Disney Factor:

I mean, the very idea of the cursed castle is pretty dark. A man is forced to live out his life as a monster and his friends and servants are likewise forced to endure an agonizing existence as inanimate objects. Even if the prince had it coming, that is still pretty messed up. More than that, there are one or two scenes that are pretty scary for young children. The mansion itself seems to give off this creepy haunted house vibe even during some of the more lighthearted moments. I think one of my favorite scenes in the film is when we first see the Beast. Things seem calm as the servants put Maurice at ease, but then the master shows up and the mood changes. In crawls the beast on all fours like an animal, cloaked completely in shadow. It’s a really great introduction to the character and I absolutely loved it.

Final Thoughts: I may not like it, but I'm a big enough man to admit that I've been wrong. This is an absolutely phenomenal work of animation and storytelling and more than worthy of the praise it has received over the years. Is it perfect, no, but it puts forth the effort be great just as I put forth the effort to see past my initial bias. Maybe the film has rubbed off on me, who knows. What I do know is that I'm very excited for next time because we're covering one of my absolute favorites and one of the first films I remember seeing in theaters. Join me next time as Deep Dive Disney continues its journey through the Disney Renaissance with Aladdin.