Beauty and the Beast

Release Date: November 22, 1991

Watch Date: December 30, 2023

“Join brave, independent Belle on the adventure of a lifetime as she sets out to rescue her father—and discovers the enchanted castle of a mysterious beast. Enjoy this timeless tale overflowing with unforgettable characters and music you’ll never forget, universally acclaimed as one of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ finest features.”

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    There’s something sweet, about this movie.

    I don’t know why. Does every couple cling to a Disney couple? Because we do. And maybe that’s lame. I don’t care, but I would like to know.

    There’s no real reason that we have clung to them. We can relate, sort of, to both of the main characters. I mean, there’s traits of ourselves that we can see in Belle and the Beast. Positive traits. Negative ones. But I don’t know if that’s why.

    I do know that we’ve never watched this movie together. I mean, yes, we watched the live action movie once – but that’s kind of not the same thing. Not at all, really. I have sung ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to our daughter when she is really struggling to go to sleep for nearly three years, and he’s cried every time. But we’ve never actually sat down and watched this film. I couldn’t tell you why.

    But we had a night to ourselves last night, which is extremely rare, and we were playing salon – because why not paint your husbands nails a glittery blue? (Our kids have recently become obsessed with nail polish so we’ve acquired a bit of a collection) And anyways, we thought, let’s put on ‘Beauty and the Beast’ a movie Bob has been mentioning that he wanted to watch since we started this marathon. And we barely watched any Christmas movies this month because life was hectic and got in the way. So why not?

    This movie is critically acclaimed, and one of Disney’s most beloved feature films, for a reason. It’s sweet. The music is beautiful. The characters are memorable, funny, and well fleshed out. The villain is wonderful and the villain song is funny, and memorable. Calculating how many eggs Gaston must eat daily, and how that must affect the economy of the small provincial town that he’s from has become a past time of many Disney fanatics.

    I honestly don’t have too much to criticize about it – not that I’m looking too hard. The passage of time has always seemed a little odd. Is she there for an entire winter? Is she there for a weak? Is it the magic of the enchantment that makes it rainy and winter at the castle, but then, it effects the town too. It was 10 years that they’ve been waiting to have a guest, so therefore 10 years that the Beast and his castle was enchanted. But no one from the local town remembers their former ruler. No nobles are wondering what happened to their buddy. But the enchantment ends on his 21st birthday. So was he cursed to being kind of a dick at age 11? Because lots of us were kind of dicks at 11. Or was time paused, so ten years moved on but his birthday didn’t happen? Does time move slower or faster for the residents of the castle?

    So that’s my one complaint. And they explain it a little better in the live action movie, but that’s not as good as this one and doesn’t solve the passage of time problem in this one. Apparently I do have a little bit to criticize about.

    It was a fun night, it was a fun watch. It was romantic, it was sweet, and it was a great way to spend an almost New Year’s Eve.

    If you haven’t watched this movie, especially if you have a significant other and haven’t watched this film with them, I cannot recommend it enough.