One of the best Disney movies in my opinion

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2008)

The story goes something like this: A prince is cruel, and rejects an old woman's rose in return for shelter. She's really an enchantress. She turns him into a beast, and placed a magic spell on everything and everyone in the castle. He then secludes himself in his home, with a magic mirror as the only view to outside the castle. The rose will bloom until he turns 21--pretty young for a prince, eh? He needed a girl to fall in love with, and get her to love him back, then it would be all good. And if not, he's doomed to stay as a beast forever and ever. The narration--by David Ogden Stiers, who plays Cogsworth--was great, and really like "...for who could ever learn to love a beast?" The next scene, we meet a young girl named Belle, a very beautiful but very odd girl, because she always likes to read, and is somewhat of an outcast, like her father, Maurice. The song 'Belle', which is a great song, really shows how much she's different from everyone else, and that she wants more out of life than just her small, poor French town. And really, don't we all want more out of life? A man, Gaston, the town 'hunk', wants to woo Belle, while his oddball sidekick, Lefou, doesn't think that she's the best of the best, as opposed to Gaston. Belle knows that he's handsome, but 'rude and conceited' as well, and not for her. As she gets home to help Maurice, who's working on what could possibly the weirdest machine made to chop wood. At least it works, and he takes it to the fair.
He and his horse Philippe trot off to the fair, but they get lost. Men and their direction skills. That last statement was just a stereotypical thing, because we see it happen often. So they take the dark, gloomy road that Maurice wants to go, rather than the safe, light road that Philippe wants to take. Maurice should've listened to the horse. But of course, then there would be no story. Maurice then realizes that it's not right, and as usual, blames Philippe for it, because no one wants to take the blame for something that they did wrong. They get chased by a pack of wolves, Philippe gets away, and Maurice ends up in the castle where the Beast lives, but he doesn't know that. When he gets in, we get introduced to Cogsworth and Lumiere, the clock and candelabra, who are pretty much opposites, and Lumiere's welcome eventually wins over Cogsworth's attitude to get Maurice out. Lumiere makes him comfortable and Mrs. Potts and Chip, a teapot and teacup, serve him tea, and then the scary part comes. Enter the Beast. Maurice gets taken to a prison.
The next day, Gaston tries to get Belle to marry him, but our heroine knows better, and works a way to get him out, and she finds Philippe, who amazingly tells Belle in some form or way that Maurice is gone. They try to find him, and immediately Philippe wants to leave, but Belle keeps him steady. She goes inside the castle to find him. As she searches, the servants in the castle see her, thinking that she's the one who can break the spell. Lumiere and Cogsworth try to remain inconspicuous, and Belle finds her father, and the Beast finds them. Belle then makes the sacrifice of her life: she takes her father's place, and promises to stay forever, after seeing the Beast. She feels terrible and without a goodbye, Maurice is taken back to the village. Belle is told that she can go anywhere in the castle except the west wing, because it's forbidden. She is told that she must join the Beast for dinner that night. She then finds out that everything is enchanted,
and she is stunned. She decides she's not going to go to dinner. After finding out she's not coming down, the feud between the two of them grows. When Belle comes down to eat, Lumiere starts to sing 'Be Our Guest', and it is entertaining! After the number, Belle is taken by Lumiere and Cogsworth for a tour and Belle stumbles upon the stairs that lead to the west wing. She tricks them into taking themselves to the library, and ventures into the forbidden zone. She sees some peculiar things, but she then sees the most intriguing object of all: the rose. She wants to touch it, but is caught by the Beast, who scares her away from the castle. The Beast saves her from death by wolves.
The Beast and Belle dance with Mrs. Potts singing 'Beauty and the Beast', and it makes their bond so much better. Belle realizes that her father is sick, and the Beast releases her, because he loves her.
The town find out about the Beast, and try to kill him. The servants fight back, in a hilarious battle, while Gaston goes in for the Beast. The Beast and Gaston fight each other, and Belle returns for the Beast, but right as they reach for each other, Gaston stabs the Beast, but then karma gets back at him and he falls to his doom. Belle tries to keep the Beast with her, but it seems too late. She whispers to him, "I love you," right before the last pedal falls. The spell is broken, just in time. Sparks fall from the sky, and the Beast resumes his original form, and they kiss. The castle returns to normal, and it's all good.
Deserved the Best Picture nomination and it is one of the best Disney movies in my mind.