"The Perfect Animated Movie"

Rating: 10/10 (13 April 2003)

In the opening of Beauty and The Beast, we find out more about the characters in the first five minutes, then many movies tell us in half an hour. Taking a risk, and opening an animated film with a long musical number was a risky move, but as it turns out, a perfectly wonderful idea. From the opening to the end, we are totally captivated by this wonderful achievement in music and animation as we have never been before.
Unlike many animated Disney movies where a song may be thrown in here and there, and do little to move the story along, each song here is directly related to the story line, moves the movie along, and leaves us anticipating the next big number. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman deserve every bit of the praise they received for this film, and then some.
All the characters in this film are so well animated and voiced, you never once think about the fact that you are watching an animated movie, as is often the case. From the town that Belle lives in, to the Beast castle, the backgrounds are beautifully rendered in detail, and vibrant alive colors. In 1991, this was a ground breaking, animated film, and over ten years later, as much as I enjoy many of the new computer animated movies such as Shrek and Toy Story, none has come close to the accomplishments of Beauty and the Beast, which mixes romance, music, comedy and drama, in a perfect blend that may never be seen again.