Story of love comes to life

Disney takes the classic 1991 animation of Beauty and the Beast and turns it into a live action tale as old as time. The movie includes all the iconic scenes from the original, with the classic characters we know and love. The film, directed by Bill Condon, brings back the original enchanting songs, but also new tunes that are sure to amaze the audience.

The movie begins like the original, with the story of how the prince (Dan Stevens) turns into a beast. The adventurous town girl Belle (Emma Watson) finds the Beast after trying to save her father (Kevin Kline) from his dungeon. Belle then stays in the castle, and changes the Beast’s cold heart by teaching him to learn to love.

We all know this fairy tale that Disney portrayed so well, but putting it in live action makes it much more real. There definitely was some animation with the Beast and the talking objects, but they made the characters look very put together and classic.

Before the movie even came out, there were a lot of teaser trailers, clips, and songs put online to promote the new look of the film. The classic “Beauty and the Beast” song was redone by artists Ariana Grande and John Legend, and put up before the movie came out. It received very negative feedback, because it sounded too pop culture. That being said, some of the movie was spoiled because of all the scenes and songs placed on the internet.

But the movie still surprised me, with new songs as amazing as the old ones. The music by Alan Menken sounded magical, bringing back the original songs and turning them into enchanting melodies that warmed the hearts of the entire audience. Evermore, a new song sung by the Beast, explains how distraught he is when Belle leaves to see her father. He realizes the spell may never be broken, and this tune adds more depth to the character of the Beast.

Some of the songs from the 1991 version also played out extremely well, like Gaston. The song includes the arrogant character Gaston (Luke Evans) and his sidekick LeFou (Josh Gad), singing how no one can do anything like Gaston can. They changed up the lyrics from the song a bit, but it fit well with the scene and characters.

The character that stuck out the most was obviously Emma Watson, who portrayed Belle. Her face and demeanor completely fit the adventurous character in the film. But in the beginning of the movie, her performance seemed a bit dull, like she wasn’t giving her all into the role. But gradually, her commitment to the character began to reveal itself.

Both new and old characters popped up on screen, and some of them were given more context than in the original. Both Belle and the Beast’s mother’s are not seen throughout the 1991 version, but in the 2017 version they elaborate more on their backstories. They were given some background and it really gave the film more excitement and intrigue.

One of the most magical and iconic parts of the film was the classic ballroom scene. The Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran created the yellow dress we see Belle wear in the film, with gold around the skirt and a new take on the top. The dance between Belle and the Beast almost caused me to shed tears. Even though the Beast was animated, they danced with grace, and made the scene enchanting to watch.

This whole movie was amazing solely because the renovated scenes, characters and songs were so iconic. I remember watching Beauty and the Beast when I was a kid, and seeing it come to life in a live action movie was so nostalgic and sentimental. 

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @schultz_kamryn and via email: Kamryn Schultz

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