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It's Friday night and the guys are all over. You've got a beer in each hand and a bowl of chips resting on your stomach when someone yells, "Hey, pop that tape into the VCR!" As far as I can see, this is the only occasion where Beauty and the Beast would be an inappropriate film to see. With your kids, with your parents, or with Cindy Crawford, this movie is a gem. The message is standard Disney fare--it's what's on the inside of a person that counts--but this particular picture goes beyond that moral with a strangely compelling story that so perfectly captures the characters at times you forget you are watching animated actors at work. Belle and the beast are solid in their own right, but are greatly benefited by the comic and, at times, fatherly, presences of Lumiere, the candlestick, Cogsworth, the clock, and the other inhabitants of the enchanted castle. The movie begins with the story of a spoiled prince and his decision not to let an old and haggard woman spend the night in one of his palaces' forty-five guest rooms. As he denies her request, the enchantress turns into a hot, young blonde capable of working at Hooters and casts a spell on the castle, changing everyone into furniture, appliances, or Tupperware. The spell will be broken if, and only if, the prince can learn to love by his twenty-first birthday. Otherwise he's doomed to life as a creature that looks like a mutant Chewbacca. Sure you can guess what happens, I hope, but it is still pleasant to watch and smile. Although I normally have a rule about musicals involving a ten foot pole, I genuinely enjoyed watching Beauty and the Beast. The songs don't seem forced in any way, and I never found myself asking 'why aren't they just saying this?' The lyrics are clever and funny and the tunes unfortunately catchy; try explaining to your friend Mike the next day why you're humming Be Our Guest. If you've become disenchanted with the Disney animation division after such recent movies as Hercules, Pocohantas, or The Hunchback of Notre Dame, who just might have helped its football team last year had he tried out, don't cast your disapproval back to this movie. Beauty and the Beast is called an instant classic for good reason.
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