Such a Belle after All These Years

Rating: 10/10 (14 January 2012)

You know, two of the best aspects of Disney's version of Beauty & the Beast, seemed small and insignificant to most, but have stuck with me since I saw this in 1991. #1 They freely admit that this is a "tale as old as time" – they're not hiding that fact and #2 they're also completely up front with stating "she's the one" to break the curse, i.e. they don't make us wait until the end (LIKE MOVIES DO ALL THE TIME) to reveal what we've known from minute one. I respect that.
Those are just two things of, I dunno, 50 great things about this near-masterpiece of filmmaking. A beautiful score, fantastic and timeless songs, gorgeous cinematography, hilarious dialogue and "sidekicks" and secondary characters, a story very moving, strong leads, adventure, suspense, love, funthis movie is all of those plus so much more.
Watching it (for the 20th+ time but) now in the usual-Disney "We Want Even More of Your Dollars" way, the re-release, of course in 3D, it still held up for me. My friend and I in the theatre were rocking back and forth with the wonderful musical segments while mouthing the words – trying desperately, albeit probably failing, not to disturb other movie-goers.
I will say this, despite my 10/10 Star ratingthe movie did look 21 years old, unfortunately. Some of the background characters did not move while the foreground was in motion. This was, sadly, unintentionally humorous. That said, I am a huge supporter of hand-drawn animation, or, movies people put their heart, soul, sweat & tears in VS clicking the mouse. This was old-school animation and I am fine with that. I just think this was better served, in 2012, at home to appreciate.
Sure, I love re-watching classics or even movies I just like a lot, on the silver screen, but this wasn't one of those. Anyone that knows me knows I do like 3D, but I have NOT seen a single Disney 3D movie that impressed me. Especially converted ones. The ONLY good 3D imagery here was the rain & snow, and I said the same thing about The Nightmare Before Christmas's re-release in 3D. Sad, there were a lot more 3D to choose from, but I ONLY liked the rain & snow which, to me, was the only 3D that had depth.
So I will NOT recommend this to be seen in theatres. I will NOT go see another Disney Classic on the big screen converted to 3D and I am no longer upset I missed The Lion King's same 3D re-issue last year. I will, however see Finding Nemo's 3D re-release later this year for several reasons: I DO NOT consider that Disney, it's my favorite Pixar film – though I haven't seen it since the original release in 2003 and the less than 2 minute preview before Beauty & the Beast looked far better in 3D than ALL of Beauty & the Beast. (On a side note, it's absolutely easier to convert that – it was 100% digital and computerized.)
Stick with this classic on BluRay. I just hope they put that fantastically hilarious Tangled Ever After short (shown before this movie in the theatre.) It was a lot of fun and had us cracking up.
For the movie itself: 10/10 Stars. For the 3D conversion: 2/10 Stars.