Narrator: Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind. But then, one winter’s night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away. But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman’s ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart. And as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on the castle and all who lived there. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his 21st year. If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?
IMDb Top 250 (247)
Bell lives in a small French town and she considered strange because she is a girl who likes to read and isn’t overly excited by the affections of the town’s hunk, the self-important Gaston. Her father is affectionately known as the town lunatic but he is actually just an experimental scientist. Bell sends him off to the science fair but he gets lost on the way and goes into the Beast’s castle. The Beast finds him and locks him up. Bell’s horse returns to her house and she knows something is wrong. Bell goes to the castle and exchanges her freedom for her father’s. The servants in the castle, who was also turned into inanimate objects by the curse convinces the Beast to give Bell better treatment because she may be the one to break their curse and restore them to all their humanly glory. Their relationship starts rocky but after Bell runs away and the Beast saves her from wolves they start getting to know each other. Everything goes great until Bell sees her ill father searching for her in the woods. Beast shows that he learnt to be self-sacrificing and sends her after her father. She takes her father home and Gaston and the asylum’s manager arrives wanting to take her father to the asylum. They lock bell and her father up to go hunt the beast, but Chip, Mrs Pot’s son, saves them by freeing them with Bell’s father’s scientific invention. They rush to the castle and find Gaston ready to kill the Beast but the Beast sees Bell and starts fighting back. He nearly kills Gaston but takes pity and releases him, only to have Gaston stab him in the side. He lies dying and Bell tells him that she loves him and it is luckily in time and he turns into the handsome prince he was before the curse. The entire castle returns to their normal states and Bell and the Prince get married.
IMDb Rating: 8/10
My rating: 8.5/10
I love the classic Disney movies. They are all so beautifully made and the music score fits perfectly with every story. I love the old time romance in all of them and the illusion that a perfect prince exists. Beauty and the Beast is my favourite of them all because Bell has a lot more to offer than the other heroines – she is strong and intelligent and doesn’t swoon to Gaston or the Beast – she is making her own destiny and saves the Prince at the end through her bravery and love.
Beauty and the Beastis better written than most movies today. It has a solid start – telling us who the beast is, introduces the heroine and villain and make sure you know who is who.
It is also a movie I watch at least three times a year and can say without shame that I always sing along.
Good stuff!
Life of this city girl 