Before we get into this review, yes this film fits my theme. It has a character who is locked in a castle and unable to leave. If that doesn't fit a theme of self isolation I don't know what does. The truth is I was bored of films about death and the end of the world, 'Beauty and the Beast' (1991) was a much needed change of pace. I'm not sure how much of a surprise it will be for people who know me, but I love this film. I think it is pretty much perfect from top to bottom, and is right up there with my favourite Disney movies (I'm hesitant to say it's my number one while 'Mulan' (2004) still exists.) The film follows Belle (Paige O'Hara) who lives with her father, Maurice (Rex Everhart), in a small French village. Her and her father are both seen as odd by the rest of the villagers, but this doesn't stop Gaston (Richard White), the slimy and egotistical heartthrob of the village, from pursuing her hand in marriage. After her father locked in the dungeon of a castle, Belle swaps her life for his and so finds herself in the company of the Beast (Robby Benson), a former Prince who is cursed to remain a Beast if he does not love another and be loved in return by his twenty first year. Will the two learn to love each other before it is to late, or will Gaston get his way and marry Belle himself?
Lets start this review off by talking about just how beautiful this film is. It is an absolute treat for the eyes. The animation is stunning. The use of light and shadows throughout the film is exquisite and allows for some fantastic visuals throughout the film. In the earlier moments of the film shadows are used brilliantly to create tension, as well as providing some brilliant visual moments, with there being much more emphasis on light as the Beast's nature changes. Two sequences that stand out for their visual brilliance are the famous ballroom scene, and the final scene where Beast and Gaston do battle. Both scenes couldn't be more different in how they look but both have superb sense of scale and the animation helps to boost the emotion of both scenes. Speaking of emotion, the amount of emotion that the animators manage to create through the facial movements of the characters is fantastic. There is no need for exposition or characters explaining how they feel,it is all shown through the animation. The character design in the film are also all brilliant. This point mostly goes for Beast and Gaston who have such fantastic and memorable designs which fit their characters brilliantly. And I would be remiss to not mention the music in the film, which is also superb. Every single song manages to build character or add to the narrative while also being brilliant pieces of music. Everyone knows the titular song and 'Be Our Guest' but 'Gaston', 'The Mob Song', 'Belle', etc, are all incredible songs in their own right.
There is nothing negative I can say against the acting in the film. The casting choices are all perfect. Not one characters voice sounds out of place and the voice actors all do an incredible job at creating fully fleshed out characters. Paige O'Hara is brilliant as Belle, managing to portray a confidence and bravery whilst also showing how scared the character is at times. Angela Lansbury is fantastic as the motherly Mrs Potts, Jerry Orbach is great as the charismatic, french candlestick, Lumiere and David Ogden Stiers is superb as the nervous and proud Cogsworth, All three have great chemistry and were all able to create three iconic characters within the film. My two stand out performances come from Robby Benson as Beast and Richard White as Gaston. The character of Beats requires a performance with so much range and Benson knocks it out the park, managing to portray rage, sadness, guilt, happiness, hate, nervousness and love all in one performance. My favourite performance however is White's. His performance as Gaston is unbelievable entertaining, managing to be sinister and aggressive when needs be, but also really managing to emote a stupidity and pure confidence that is so much fun to watch. Gaston is my favourite character in any Disney film and White's performance is a big reason as to why.
'Beauty and the Beast' was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars and you can absolutely see why. The film is absolutely stunning and has a sense of scale and gravitas that is not seen in many live action films. The acting is fantastic across the board and the music is some of the best that Disney have ever produced. It is a near perfect film and one that I think everyone should seek out to watch at some point in their life. One issue I do have with the film is the fact that it's existence birthed the horrible 2017 remake. If you want to see how I felt about that film I have a review of it on this site. Spoilers, it's not good.