Tale as old as my life
If you have not seen the original Beauty and the Beast movie – yes, the old one – I would highly recommend it. This 1991 classic was my favorite Disney movie growing up. I loved reading and the color yellow, so naturally Belle was my six-year-old self’s perfect Disney princess. I would jump at the wolves in the woods and sing along to “Be Our Guest” at the top of my lungs. I loved it. The storyline differs from the classic ‘damsel in distress who needs a prince’s saving’ and is about a headstrong and independent girl who looks through people’s appearances to who they are inside.
So now that you’ve watched the old version, I highly recommend you go and see the new Beauty and the Beast.
*Warning: spoilers ahead
The new Beauty and the Beast was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Perfectly cast, each actor brought his or her own personal twist to the role, while still staying true to the original Disney persona. The songs were near identical to the original, which I appreciated, because it brought me back to singing those exact songs around my living room as a child, and I was singing along silently in my chair at the theater. The beast himself was so impressively done digitally that it honestly felt like a talking beast jumping from tower to tower of a snowy castle was normal.
While much of the movie was the same, I appreciated the artistic license that the new film took to make it its own. The makeup and fanfare at the ball in the opening scene, as well as the subtle allusions to topical issues in today’s political climate gives this movie “a faithful yet fresh retelling that honors its beloved source material,” as perfectly written by Rotten Tomatoes. I truly appreciated this aspect of it.
To get to grow up with Beauty and the Beast and watch the remake just weeks before my childhood is officially over makes me a very lucky girl. Thank you, Bill Condon, for directing the perfect remake of my favorite movie; you killed it.
Photo credit: Google images
