By KAYLA ROYSTER
Staff Writer
We all know of at least one Disney tale. Be that you’ve heard it, seen it, or read one yourself, these fairy tales have been around for as long as I can remember. The romantic tale of “Beauty and the Beast” is actually quite simple.
A selfish prince gets cursed for being cold-hearted and turns into a beast, becoming as ugly on the outside as he is within. The only way to break this curse? Have someone see past his horrid exterior and fall in love with the person inside.
As someone so Disney obsessed that they have their very own Disney-inspired tattoo, I could not wait for this movie. On Thursday, March 16, I saw the first release of the movie at the Atlas Theatre and I enjoyed it so much I saw it again on Friday.
Granted, being a Disney lover, one may assume that I automatically have high hopes for the movie and that even if it didn’t meet my expectations, I would love it regardless. That’s not the case with me; because I’m such a die-hard fan, I wanted the movie to be as accurate as possible. Which for me, meant that Emma Watson was not the perfect choice for Belle.
In the story of “Beauty and the Beast,” Belle was a simple girl who was basically a wallflower. Watson is anything but that, she’s known worldwide. Though I must say she made an amazing Belle, I felt that the movie would’ve been a lot more accurate had they discovered their own star.
Continuing the topic of Watson, the movie begins with her singing. Did anyone know she could even sing? She certainly isn’t tone-deaf, but unlike other Disney movies, there is no singer that takes over Belle’s singing parts. The voice acting is 100 percent Watson’s. She has a kind and simple voice, nothing too amazing.
At the start of the movie, my family and I were confused since it was nothing special. By the end of the movie, we had all accepted it and actually preferred her voice because after all, Belle was not a singer. In a sense, she was just like me. A dreamer with her head in books that she used to travel and a woman who wanted romance and adventure of her own.
One of the things that I was the most worried about when hearing this movie was happening was the accurate representation of the part that magic played. The movie played out the fairytale perfectly, even when adding new ideas.
One of the most beautiful scenes was the dining scene in which the song “Be Our Guest” is presented. The amount of detail that went into the colors and the characters was beyond amazing. There’s so much going on at once, you question how they were capable of doing it all. It’s as if the exact vision of the fairy tale you heard as a child had come to life. Only this time, it was not a cartoon on a VHS tape. It felt real.
The Beast himself was a perfect mixture of both attractive and scary. They didn’t create him to look overly horrid and hairy, but the parts in which he needed to be mean and spiteful he did amazingly. Same goes for the scenes in which he played loving and affectionate. The appearance they created matched just who he was; easily angered yet kind. I even found myself more in love with the Beast form than the human prince.
As I mentioned earlier, there were some new additions to this movie that were not in past movies or past readings of this fairy tale. For instance, there was no hag called Agatha in the former stories, and if there was one mentioned, this hag was definitely not the enchantress hidden in disguise.
Belle’s father certainly was never punched in the face and tied to a tree either. Not to mention, did any of us even know that Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth had significant others?
Some of the hardest movies to create are those that must represent long-loved stories. There are high expectations and it’s easy to fail by creating a simple misrepresentation of just about anything.
Even with the added ideas, unique casting, and in my opinion, beyond amazing graphics, I believe this movie did an wonderful job. It’s something for Disney to be proud of and I feel like will be around for years to come. I cannot wait to get it on DVD and watch it again.
A great addition to this movie as well are the jokes, ones that are subtle yet still funny. Such as Belle’s papa saying that apparently the penalty for picking a rose is to remain a prisoner forever, which is ironic. As well as the fact that at the end of the movie, Belle jokes with the prince about growing a beard and in return the (human) prince growls at her.
I advise everyone who wants to re-live their childhood to watch this movie. As well as someone such as myself who just wants to feel as if that magical romance might exist, if only for two hours. After all, this is a Disney movie and it’s never too late to believe in magic.
