Subject: REVIEW: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

From: [email-masked] (the Rev. Mom)
Date: 19 Nov 91 18:47:17 GMT

[Followups directed to rec.arts.movies.  -Moderator]

			  BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
		       A film review by Kathy Li
			Copyright 1991 Kathy Li

     All the reviews are true.  It's *won*derful.  Rush to see it on the
22nd, it is *more* than worth the $7.50 I paid to see it at the El
Capitan in LA.  It deserves to be nominated for Best Picture.

     The animation is amazing.  Pixar's done a marvelous job of
background generations, giving us scenes that are a perfect marriage of
generated and hand-drawn animation.  It blends beautifully.  The
ballroom is breathtaking, the chandelier is wonderful, and if someone
hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known about Maurice's carriage.

     The score's got everything from beautiful soaring ballads to
get-'em-on-their-feet showstoppers.

     It's poignant, touching, charming, exhilarating, and all that good
stuff.  Prepare for tears, choking up, belly laughs--it's not often you
get touched like this by a movie.  THE LITTLE MERMAID was just the warm
up.  :-)  BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is chock full of Moments.

     And, of course, the characters are *great*!  Robby Benson was the
perfect choice for the Beast's voice--he manages to convey both the
ferocity of a wild beast with immense power (combine a bear-sized
wolverine with a panther, and you get the movement and build) and the
utter vulnerability of a man discovering love for the first time.  And
yes, his voice is deep, and yes he sings.  Paige O'Hara's voice for
Belle, while similar to Jodie Benson's in range, conveys a very
different character, more worldly, confident and mature.  The opening
scene draws her character for you, so I won't ruin it with long
descriptive sentences.

     I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone (and I especially want to
warn anyone with the Disney Channel that "The Making of" special has
lots of spoiler scenes), so I'm not going to mention fave lines (other
than the one in my .sig I can't resist) or moments, but I did want to
say there's one piece of trivia that should delight fans of the TV
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (you remember Linda Hamilton?  :-)--look at the
castlist to see who plays the asylum keeper.

     Even the credits are wonderful; someone finally did things right,
and listed the credits by character, naming the voice actor, animating
director and animators for each main character as a group.  And
especially throat-lump-inducing was the final dedication:

     To our friend, Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice
     and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful.
     
     Howard Ashman
     1950-1991

     Go see it.  After you've seen it; we'll talk.

--Kathy Li aka the Rev. Mom
-- 
[email-masked]
ucsd.edu!celit!kathy