Review of Beauty and the Beast (1991) by Trevor R — 04 Apr 2014

"Beauty and the Beast" has lovely art direction and a great supporting cast, including classic turns by Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury. It's also got some of the best music of any animated Disney film, particularly the beautiful title song.

Unfortunately, Belle herself is a bit of a bore (and the villagers singing about how "strange" she is has me thoroughly unconvinced), and she's caught up in a a really weird story about an abusive relationship that sends all kinds of wrong messages.

The Beast's tragic backstory also makes no sense. The animation is mostly great, although it's not nearly as polished or smooth as "Aladdin" would be a year later.