Belle & Bete
As my hiatus comes to a happy end, I will start off with something positive and finally publish this piece from my drafts.
Despite my bias due to my beloved nickname, I think
Beauty and the Beast (
La Belle et la Bête
, in original French version) is the best and the most meaningful animated romantic movie. The plot is beautiful, there are several overt moral messages, and the love experienced by Belle and the Beast is sincere.
When compared to other Disney princesses and princes, Belle's love story is much more about how her relationship with the Beast develops than her falling in love on first kiss/sight/touch. Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, and Aurora for example, see their princes for a few seconds and then they get married. Snow White and Aurora marry the Princes who awaken them from their sleeps with kisses, and mind me, these girls are teenagers.
While analyzing Beauty and the Beast, my admiration for scriptwriters and animation directors grew immensely. The musical pieces, the puns, the sophisticated vocabulary in spite of being directed at a younger audience are all enjoyable and they flow together very well.
The story itself is very unique, thanks to Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont. She wrote the original fairy tale and I am forever grateful for her. To start off the story:
"In the prologue, told through stained glass windows, an old beggar woman arrives at the castle of a French prince. The woman asks for shelter from the cold, and in return, offers the young prince a rose. Repulsed by her appearance, the prince turns her away. The beggar warns him not to judge by appearances, but the Prince ignores her and shuts the door on her. The woman then throws off her disguise, revealing that she is a beautiful enchantress. The Prince tries to apologize, but she has already seen the lack of kindness in his heart. She conjures a powerful curse, transforming him into a hideous beast, his servants into anthropomorphic household items, and the entire castle and all its surroundings into a dark, forbidding place, so that he will learn not to judge by appearances. The curse can only be broken if the Beast learns to love another and receives the other's love in return before the last petal of the enchantress's rose withers and falls; if not, he will be doomed to remain a beast forever. As the years pass, the Beast sits in his castle wallowing in despair, convinced that no one could ever love him."
Continued Synopsis from IMDB (unless you don't know the plot line)
After Beast takes Belle as his prisoner, they gradually overcome their initial reactions toward each other. Belle stops being scared and horrified by his manners, anger, and appearance, and Beast softens his attitude and becomes more hopeful each day. They learn to treat each other befittingly and see each other beyond their looks. I think it's especially a big step for Belle because she falls in love with (a)/the Beast. However, equally admirable is the Beast's success in overcoming his vanity and madness.
I know some people might argue about Shrek and Fiona being similar since Fiona was a princess and she fell in love with an ogre. But, we need to realize two things: one, Fiona had the ability to be an ogre and therefore she wasn't completely estranged with Shrek; and two, she knew that she could live happily after if Shrek loved her and broke the spell. Belle on the other hand, didn't know if Beast would be a Prince with her love although she saw his painting, because she didn't know about the spell. Her love was genuine and without planned future benefits.
In the end of the movie, Beast learns real love because he puts Belle's happiness before his personal interests and risks her not coming back -- but Belle does come back and declares her love for him while he lies dying from a wound he receives from Gaston. At this point, the spell is broken and the Beast transforms back into the prince he used to be and they have their deserved happy ending.
Lots of tea cups,
~Belle
PS: I am working on a detailed synopsis/critique of the cartoon Powerpuff Girls, which Netflix recently put up. It's one of the cartoons I grew up with and rewatching it now, I see a lot of things I obviously couldn't have realized or understood as a kid. Hopefully that'll be enjoyable once I am done with it.
PPS: What do you guys think about animated movies in general? Which ones are your favorites? Share with me your ideas, give me feedback, spill it all out. Anonymous commenting is open, and if you are having problems you can message me from my tumblr.