Beauty and the Beast

Hey,

On 17 March, I watched the latest Beauty and the Beast film. Sorry for the delay with this post. Warning! This post will include spoilers for Beauty and the Beast movies.

However, before I talk about my film analysis I will first share some information about the Beauty and the Beast story.

La Bella et Bete also known as Beauty and the Beast, is a traditional fairytale written by the French novelist Gabriella - Suzanne Barbot de villeneuve and published in 1740. It was published in the book 'The Young American and Marine Tales'. The story was however rewritten by Jeanne - Marie Leprince de Beaumont and published in 1956. It was also rewritten by Andrew Bug and published in the 'Blue Fairy' book of his fairy book series in 1889. This is the version that is most commonly retold.

Both the cartoon film and the latest film was produced by Disney. The Disney animation film of Beauty and the Beast was released in 1991 and based on the Jeanne - Marie Leprince de Beaumont version. The film released in 2017 was directed by Bill Condon.

DO NOT READ past this point if you have not yet watch the latest 'Beauty and the Beast' film as there will be spoilers in this post.

In the original story of Beauty and the Beast, a father picks a Rose for his daughter, Beauty which is the reason for why the Beast keeps him locked away in the castle. This is represented in the latest film as Belle asks her father, Maurice for a rose but when he gets lost he finds the castle and spends the night. However, on the way-out Maurice remembers that he needs to get a rose for a Belle and by picking one ends up locked away by the Beast. This film was clearly influenced by both the original story of 'Beauty and the Beast' and the Disney animation film, as after picking the rose he doesn't make a deal to return but is locked away with Philip, their horse returning to Belle which happens in the animated version (minus the rose).

At the beginning of the movie, the story of what happened to the Prince in the past is told using an over voice, however unlike the animated version there is a scene of them all dancing until the poor woman who later turned into the enchantress asks for shelter. Later on, in this film, Maurice takes a wrong turn that leads to the castle but what differs from the animated version is that on this journey he is attacked by wolves.

There are many things the director has kept the same but adapted in his image, such as chips trick with the tea and the mirror, where Belle sees her father.

Anyhow, the directors have added scenes to create their own image of Beauty and the Beast which is amazing. One of the scenes was when Gaston, Lefou and Maurice went in search of the Beast in order to find Belle, but when the castle was nowhere to be seen Gaston and Lefou tied Maurice to the tree and left him there for the wolves to find. In this film, Maurice and Belle actually talk about Belle's mother and what happened to her which links to later on in the story where Belle travels with the Beasts to her old home in Paris, through the use of a magical book. I think it is ironic how they chose for Belle to have been born in Paris which is fought of as the most romantic city, for her to later revisit with her love, the Beast.

I feel that the outfits of this movie are adaptions from the Disney animated film. I like this as they have been able to create a new image while staying true to the original Disney characters. The first outfit we see Belle in is her blue and white dress, but in this film the outfit looks more tattered which demonstrates that she comes from a poor family. Gaston's outfit makes him look more like someone coming back from the war instead of a hunter, still this works well with the time period that Beauty and the Beast is setting, which is 1700s.

The outfits for the scene of the dance to the song 'Beauty and the Beast' stayed true to the traditional version, which for those of you who live under a rock is a beautiful yellow ball gown for Belle and a dark blue suit for the Beast. At the end of the movie when everyone reunites and is dancing, a new outfit for the main characters was created. Belle wore a white dress with orange flowers which could suggest that in the future they will get married and live happily ever after as a bride wears white and orange is a colour of rebirth that connotes a new life for the Beast and Belle. The Beast wore a light blue suit which could connote that he has made it out of the darkness and is now in a happier place with Belle.

In this film, you can find the original Beauty and the Beast songs that are: Belle, Gaston, Be Our Guest, Something There, The Mob and Beauty and the Beast. However, the song's 'Gaston' and 'The Mob' have been adapted by some words being added in which creates humour and in my opinion, it also gives character to Lefou. I am glad that they didn't add to the song 'Beauty and the Beast' as I would have liked it to be kept to the traditional way of how it is meant to be viewed. The director created this traditional and iconic scene beautifully and was portrayed well.

In this film, 3 new songs were added which I'm going to write about. These 3 songs were composed by Alan Menken and the lyrics were written by Tim Rice.


The first song is 'Days in the Sun' which started by the Beast as a young boy singing to his dying mother and later the whole castle joins in although separately. This song is about being together and looking back on life as a human but not losing hope.

The next song is 'How Does a Moment Last Forever' which is about Belle's life growing up in Paris and revisiting it to find out what happened to her mother as it was the one story her father couldn't tell Belle. This song is about looking back at your childhood and knowing where you come from.

My favourite new song is 'Evermore' which is about how the Beast felt once he had set Belle free who then left to save her father. This song is about letting someone into your heart and how they will never leave and therefore always be there.

The film contains many bright and light colours which creates beautiful scenes. An example of this is the scene before the song 'Belle' which is of a sunrise that connotes the fairytale genre. The sequence that was performed while the song 'Be Our Guest' played used loads of different colours while the flying crockery travels around the room. Rainbow coloured lighting surrounds the room in a disco effect led by lumiere who conducts the dishes. The flying Plumette and her friends clean the room turning it from darkness to light as love blossoms between Bell and the Beast which connotes happier times ahead. This is a great as well as beautiful use of media. Another clever use of media is when Belle's hair moved due to the effect of the wind as they were higher up in the castle.

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Hope you enjoyed the post

Thanks for reading

Amy x