Solid movie, decent plot, but maybe a bit on the overrated side

Rating: 6/10 (24 March 2017)

"Beauty and the Beast" is an American animated movie from 1991, so this one had its 25th anniversary last year. One of the main reasons why it is still known today is because it was the first animated movie that managed to get in for Best Picture at the Oscars. This is still something that does not happen too frequently today and now we have usually many more than five nominees. Of course, it also won Best Score and Song and really dominated the latter category that year. It is a relatively short film, easily stays under 90 minutes without credits, which makes it especially surprising not that there are two directors, but that there are no less than seven(!) screenplay writers. But it is not a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. The story may not be that great, but it's okay as the script did not get an Oscar nominations. It is a bit predictable eventually, but the dialogues and solid love to detail make it a good plot overall nonetheless. The actors working in here are all relatively unknown, at least there are no huge stars in here. To me the most known name is also a personal favorite, namely Jerry Orbach (L&O), who sadly died on my 20th birthday.
The voice cast is nonetheless maybe the main reason why this film became such a classic to many. I would say it makes an even bigger impact than the music. The inclusion of the Beast's servants is also a nice one as it does offer some solid comedic value despite the terrible fates of these characters as they are pretty much still loyal to their master. There is one scene in particular when we hear one character say something like the Beast isn't that bad after all and this also makes clear that he is far from the main antagonist, although this already became kinda obvious early on with the introduction by the narrator that he was just a vain fool back in his human days, but not necessary evil. Maybe the enchantress' spell was also a bit too much to be honest. Quite an interesting character actually, I wonder what happened to her in the many years since she met the Beast. Now about Belle, she did not come off as as magical and desirable as I remembered her, but she was still pretty adorable. Also the layers added about her weird personality for example were pretty solid and turned her into more than the usual Disney princess. Actually, she wasn't a princess at all by any means. One of my favorites still and that yellow dress is just magic. Sadly, the music did not do as much for me as I hoped it would. The ballroom scene I also somehow thought would be better looking at how many people really love it. It's not that it was bad by any means, but just not as good as I hoped it would be. As for the songs: Some were okay, some were pretty forgettable. I liked the very first song a lot. I think it was "Belle" and it was a nice introduction to the central human character. I think I'd have preferred this one winning the Oscar instead of the actual winner. The third nominated song was relatively forgettable and there were at least two better songs in here than "Be Our Guest", such as the villains' song about Gaston. I found his little aide kinda funny also with the subtly joking criticism he brings up when talking to Gaston. As a whole, the good definitely outweighs the bad here, but to me this is not a classic as to some others. I still prefer the likes of Ariel/Arielle ("Little Mermaid") for example. I still think this one here is on par with most of the better animated films from today, which is of course quite a decent achievement seeing how this is over a quarter of a century old.