Review of Beauty and the Beast (1991) by Duncan P — 23 Mar 2016

It's very much a typical Disney romantic schlock film, how good or bad that is depends mostly on whether that does anything for you. Personally, while I appreciated the darker elements, I felt they were just not dark enough to carry the premise, since the plot was already a bit thin on the ground. Oddly, for a Disney at least, the musical numbers here mostly sound like they come straight off a stage musical... but this has the downside that, since all of them involve a large chorus, they kinda sound all the same, because it's hard to actually write distinctive, instantly-recognizable music in such arrangements. Also, the villain Gaston is barely there, and barely does anything nor advances the story, so he feels forced in just for the sake of adding conflict where it wasn't really needed. It's pretty damn well animated though, especially for the era, so I'll give it that much... but otherwise, highly, highly overrated.

Ultimately, watch it if you're an animation nerd, or a huge Disney fan, just to see what all the fuss is about (and be disappointed when it doesn't pay out) but personally? I'm just going to sit here and wonder why the hell this was even considered for Best Picture, let alone being the only animated film to be shoved in there for more than a decade (and the weakest of the three films to have such an honour, which is saying a lot because the others were already pretty weak).