Beauty and the Beast (1991) Review

Beauty and the Beast


Release Date: 11th June 1992 - Australia


Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures (presents)
Silver Screen Partners IV
Walt Disney Feature Animation
(Uncredited)

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia


Genre: Animation/Family/

Fantasy

Rating: G

Runtime: 84 minutes
                 91 minutes
                 (Special Edition)


Budget: $25,000,000

Box Office Gross: $424,967,620 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Belle is a girl who often deals with the unwanted affections of the vain and boorish Gaston and yearns to live outside her small provincial French town. The Beast, however, is a prince cursed by a spell placed by the Enchantress. And he must learn to love another and earn their love in return.

When Belle's inventor father, Maurice, trespasses into the Beast's castle after taking

a wrong turn, Belle offers to

take her place instead as his

prisoner.

Cast
Paige O'Hara - Belle
Robby Benson - The Beast
Richard White - Gaston
Jerry Orbach - Lumiere
David Ogden Stiers - Cogsworth/Narrator
Angela Lansbury - Mrs. Potts
Bradley Pierce - Chip
Rex Everhart - Maurice
Jesse Corti - Lefou
Hal Smith - Philippe
Tony Jay - Monsieur D'Arque

Jo Anne Worley - Wardrobe

Alec Murphy - Baker

Brian Cummings - Stove

Alvin Epstein - Bookseller

Kimmy Robertson - Featherduster

Mary Kay Bergman - Bimbette

Kath Soucie - Bimbette

Frank Welker - Footstool

Crew
Directors - Gary Trousdale
and Kirk Wise
Based on the Original Story - Jeanne-Marie

Leprince de Beaumont (Uncredited)

Story - Brenda Chapman, Burny Mattinson,

Brian Pimental, Joe Ranft, Kevin Harkey,

Bruce Woodside and Robert Lence
Story/Story Artist - Tom Ellery
Story/Visual Development Artists - Kelly Asbury

and Chris Sanders
Animation Screenplay - Linda Woolverton

Associate Producer - Sarah McArthur
Producer - Don Hahn

Executive Producer/Songs/Songs Producer -

Howard Ashman
Executive Producer - John Lasseter (3D Version)

Art Director - Brian McEntee
Art Director (Special Edition)/Artistic Supervisor:

Layout - Ed Ghertner

Visual Development Artists - Michael Cedeno,

Joe Grant, Jean Gillmore, Kevin Lima,

David Molina, Sue C. Nichols and

Terry Shakespeare

Production Consultants: Visual Development -

Hans Bacher and Mel Shaw

Artistic Supervisor: Story - Roger Allers

Artistic Supervisor: Layout, Florida Unit - Robert Walker

Artistic Supervisor: Background - Lisa Keene
Artistic Supervisor: Background, Florida Unit - Ric Sluiter

Production Supervisor/Administrator -

Dorothy McKim

Production Managers - Baker Bloodworth and

Cathy McGowan Leahy

Assistant Production Manager - Theresa Bentz

Supervising Animator: "Beast" - Glen Keane
Supervising Animator: "Belle" - James Baxter
Supervising Animator: "Belle", Florida -

Mark Henn

Supervising Animator: "Gaston" - Andreas Deja

Supervising Animator: "Maurice" - Ruben A. Aquino
Supervising Animator: "Philippe" - Russ Edmonds
Supervising Animator: "Cogsworth" - Will Finn
Supervising Animator: "Mrs. Potts" and "Chip" -

David Pruiksma
Supervising Animator: "Lumiere" - Nik Ranieri
Supervising Animator: "Lefou" - Chris Wahl

Artistic Supervisor: Clean-Up/Supervising

Character Lead: "Objects", "Townspeople" and

Others - Vera Pacheco

Artistic Supervisor: Visual Effects - Randy Fullmer

Artistic Supervisor: Visual Effects, Florida Unit - Barry Cook

Artistic Supervisor: Computer Graphics Images - Jim Hillin

Editors - John Carnochan,

Ellen Kenesha (Special Edition)

and Bill Wilner (Uncredited)

Associate Editor - Gregory Perler

Sound Effects - Mark A. Mangini and

David E. Stone

Special Sound Effects - John Pospisil

Sound Editors - Julia Evershade,

Michael J. Benavente, Jessica Gallavan,

John H. Arrufat and Ron Bartlett

Special Vocal Effects - Frank Welker

Re-Recording Mixers - David J. Hudson,

Mel Metcalfe and Terry Porter

Foley Artists - Vanessa Theme Ament,

John Roesch and Catherine Rowe

Songs/Original Score/Songs Producer/

Arranger - Alan Menken

Vocal Arrangements and Music

Conductor - David Friedman


Awards

1992 Academy Awards
Best Music, Original Song "Beauty and the

Beast" - Alan Menken and Howard Ashman

(Posthumously) (Won)
Best Music, Original Score - Alan Menken (Won)
-----------------------------
Best Picture - Don Hahn (Nominated)
Best Sound - Terry Porter, Mel Metcalfe,

David J. Hudson and Doc Kane (Nominated)
Best Music, Original Song "Belle" - Alan Menken
and Howard Ashman (Posthumously) (Nominated)
Best Music, Original Song "Be Our Guest" -
Alan Menken and Howard Ashman

(Posthumously) (Nominated)


Review
Hello, cinemagoers. We'll look back at one of Disney's finest achievements to date. It's not Snow White or Pinocchio, but it's a terrific animated musical film from the studio's renaissance of 1989 to 1999 that I didn't get to see but have seen clips of it until now. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was a magical animated movie that enchants viewers with its romantic love story, characters and musical numbers. The first (and only 2D) film of its genre nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award before two modern classics from Pixar, Up and Toy Story 3, would later earn the same recognition it has. And because the film is iconic, it's worthy of that distinction.

I'm surprised that BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was widely acclaimed by many critics, including Siskel and Ebert, to be the best produced by the studio. For a 2D animated feature, this film did more than enough to please the expectations of children who love watching Disney.

Three songs were uniquely wonderful, including the titular theme song, "Gaston", and "Be Our Guest". Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman's contribution to songwriting was passionate, beautiful and outstandingly terrific. The CGI and hand-drawn animation have been integrated into this film and helped make two musical moments worthy of appraisal.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST remains as timeless as ever. However, I prefer The Lion King, which is less of a fairy tale and was the movie that should have been the second Best Picture nominee for a classic animated 2D film. While it may not be my favourite, it's a great movie that audiences of all ages can enjoy.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

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