Wow. Just...wow. I haven't seen animation this crisp, clear and beautiful since Pinocchio, and this even outdoes that one at times. They knew they were making something special here, and they put every ounce of care into it that they possibly could. While The Little Mermaid may outrank it on the list of my personal favorites, as a cinema enthusiast I have to concede that this is the superior film.
For one thing, the source material just lends itself so well to good storytelling. And all the analysis - the juxtaposition of Gaston and the Beast, their physical characteristics contrasted with their inner personalities - has been done before, so I'm not really going to go into it again save to say I thought it was awesome and really well done. One thing I will touch on: a lot of people are quick to shout "Stockholm Syndrome", but I disagree for several reasons - the first of which being she wasn't there long enough for it to fully set in before their attitudes started to change. The second is that they didn't start getting along until after she tried to escape, and then later actually stood up to him. Finally, if Stockholm syndrome is triggered by perceived kindness on the part of a jailer or captor, then she should have fallen in love with Lumiere or one of the servants. They were the ones being nice to her from the start, despite her status as a prisoner. No, I think this film portrays exactly what it sets out to: two strong-willed people learning to deal with each other in less-than-ideal circumstances, then later developing actual feelings for each other. And the best part is, it happens over an indeterminate amount of time. Depending on how one wants to interpret things, it happened over the course of a few days, or the course of a season. It is never explicitly said either way, and that not only leaves it open to interpretation but grants a little more credibility, even if it's illusory.
I will say that if there is anything this film is lacking, it's subtlety. The obvious contrasts between Beast and Gaston are so obvious a child could spot them. And I guess that's sort of the point, given that it's targeted at "all ages". To be honest the lack of subtlety didn't even really bother me; they made their message loud and clear without hitting you over the head with it, and they were subtle about their lack of subtlety...if that makes any sense. At one time, Gaston identifies Belle as the "most beautiful girl in the village", and then declares, "and that makes her the best". Folks who aren't thinking too hard about it will still get the message that Gaston doesn't understand things like inner beauty, but there's a whole other layer there for those of us who want to delve deeper. Gaston is so fixated upon appearances because he truly, honestly believe they equate to one's value. He is such an egomaniac that he cannot even conceive the idea of Belle wanting to choose another over him, even after he kills that other person with his own hands. What's more, the rest of the town buys into this too. I did get one chuckle at one song lyric during the storming the castle scene that might have been hitting us over the head a little too hard:
"We don't like what we don't understand, in fact it scares us...".As the Robot Devil said, "Your lyrics lack subtlety! You can't have your characters just announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!" Aside from that one instance though, the overt nature of the message, combined with its multiple levels of interpretation, really worked for me in this film.
The music is great too, but what really got me with that was not the songs themselves, but the entire musical numbers. The choreography and animation was simply spectacular, especially for the big number. You all know the one. Of all Disney's films, this is the only one save perhaps Pinocchio that I would have no hesitation in describing as a masterpiece.
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