Yes, this movie has excellent art and animation (certainly a contender for the best-looking 2D movie), some of the best songs in a Disney musical (and that's high praise considering their excellent repertoire), and the voice acting leaves nothing to be desired.
Most of the supporting characters have charming personalities.
The battle scene is thrilling despite the fact that it's basically a horror B-movie setup (a bunch of furniture in a castle attacking peasants). The development of the romance between Belle and "the Best" is also tastefully done.
In short, the film is a great achievement in cinema from a technical standpoint, but it's all mixed up in terms of the messages it sends:
1. It's about how people should look past shallow considerations when falling in love (particularly appearance). Belle falls in love with the Beast despite the fact that he's... well, a beast, so it's not shallow at all, right?
Wrong. Not only does he end up turning into a handsome man, but he appears to be fabulously wealthy and has a bunch of magical devices at his disposal. This completely unwinds any supposed moral high ground.
2. And what does Belle fall in love with anyway? She's shown to love books but the Beast doesn't seem to even know how to read. She implies she wants to see the wide world but by all appearanes the Best is a local boy who's tied to the castle. She doesn't like Gaston presumably because he's arrogant and aggressive but...
3. The Beast is extremely abusive, jailing a lost old man, kidnapping Belle, terrorizing her on screen throughout the beginning of the movie, and treating his servants as slaves. Not only that, but he got into the predicament he did for being shallow, entitled, and cruel.
Side Note: the servants apparently LOVE to serve. It's not just a job for them but their passion. I find it strange.
Disney's playing with fire here. The Beast is shown to be pretty rotten and now suddenly he meets Belle and becomes a nice guy why?
I'm surprised this story keeps getting retold and has survived so long unmodified. Morally, it's a dangerous mess. Logically, the plot doesn't add up.
Honourable Mentions: Shrek (2001). I'm sure the movie has its flaws, but it's basically the Beauty and the Beast story with most of the inappropriate hypocritical bits fixed.
Most of the supporting characters have charming personalities.
The battle scene is thrilling despite the fact that it's basically a horror B-movie setup (a bunch of furniture in a castle attacking peasants). The development of the romance between Belle and "the Best" is also tastefully done.
In short, the film is a great achievement in cinema from a technical standpoint, but it's all mixed up in terms of the messages it sends:
1. It's about how people should look past shallow considerations when falling in love (particularly appearance). Belle falls in love with the Beast despite the fact that he's... well, a beast, so it's not shallow at all, right?
Wrong. Not only does he end up turning into a handsome man, but he appears to be fabulously wealthy and has a bunch of magical devices at his disposal. This completely unwinds any supposed moral high ground.
2. And what does Belle fall in love with anyway? She's shown to love books but the Beast doesn't seem to even know how to read. She implies she wants to see the wide world but by all appearanes the Best is a local boy who's tied to the castle. She doesn't like Gaston presumably because he's arrogant and aggressive but...
3. The Beast is extremely abusive, jailing a lost old man, kidnapping Belle, terrorizing her on screen throughout the beginning of the movie, and treating his servants as slaves. Not only that, but he got into the predicament he did for being shallow, entitled, and cruel.
Side Note: the servants apparently LOVE to serve. It's not just a job for them but their passion. I find it strange.
Disney's playing with fire here. The Beast is shown to be pretty rotten and now suddenly he meets Belle and becomes a nice guy why?
I'm surprised this story keeps getting retold and has survived so long unmodified. Morally, it's a dangerous mess. Logically, the plot doesn't add up.
Honourable Mentions: Shrek (2001). I'm sure the movie has its flaws, but it's basically the Beauty and the Beast story with most of the inappropriate hypocritical bits fixed.