When I was four years old I'd probably already been to the old Cinemark I II III theater many times. My father took me on this particular trip. It was a Disney movie. I don't remember if I saw any trailers or commercials or even know what was happening.
Then the lights dimmed and I saw this:
The golden light slanted across the screen as piano tinkled in the background. I sat still, in shock. I had a singe thought:
'This is beautiful.'
It's my earliest memory of understanding beauty. Not cuteness, not something merely pleasing to the eye; what I saw was beautiful. What I heard was beautiful. And both those things worked together to produce something even better than the sum of its parts.
Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie. It goes beyond the basic visual beauty, of course; a bookish brunette on the outs from her peers? That was much of my childhood. I still own my VHS copy (along with the special edition DVD and Blu Ray; what can I say, they all have different special features). I'm participating in my second run of the musical at my local theater. I know the lines, I know the words, I even know the dances (despite my general malaise towards choreography).
And now we have the live action remake.
I've spoken out against remakes and reboots. Disney seems determined to make live action alternate universes for their properties, and my whinging won't stop them. But I'm actually for this version. Great care seems to be in place with the casting. Alan Menken returned to do new musical numbers. There is great respect for the original, not just the desire for a quick buck (I hope).
I cried when I saw Belle touch the bell jar in the teaser. I admit it. I'm tearing up just thinking of the music. This movie has impacted me in so many ways. And yes, I'm excited for the remake. There are things that bother me (why is Babette named Plumette? Why is she a bird? Why does Lumiere-McGregor look like that?) but I'm still very excited. Many of my fellow cast mates are dubious about Emma Watson as Belle, but I've enjoyed her as Hermione, and see nothing thus far that's bothered me about her Belle.
The Beast looks and sounds great. I've never liked the Beast on the Broadway soundtrack (sorry Javert!). The deep resonance of Robby Benson (HA) has been my standard, and Dan Stevens is doing a fine job with it. A far cry from 'That Guy who did pretty well in Night at the Museum 3'.
We won't be getting the Broadway songs, but Menken has penned new numbers that I'm sure will be perfect. He's Alan Freaking Menken for God's sake.
Gushing aside (and I could go on about my pleasure over Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Josh Gad as LeFou, etc), I'm overall excited for the new take on the tale as old as time.
The world could use a story of daring sword fights, magic spells, and princes in disguise right about now. We need something to take us away from all this, if only for a little while. Let us forget who we...WHAT we have to face as a nation. For those few hours let us peer into the world of the Beast, and understand that those different from us are still human. We can't let what we don't understand scare us.
We need to remember that Beauty is found within.
Then the lights dimmed and I saw this:
The golden light slanted across the screen as piano tinkled in the background. I sat still, in shock. I had a singe thought:
'This is beautiful.'
It's my earliest memory of understanding beauty. Not cuteness, not something merely pleasing to the eye; what I saw was beautiful. What I heard was beautiful. And both those things worked together to produce something even better than the sum of its parts.
Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie. It goes beyond the basic visual beauty, of course; a bookish brunette on the outs from her peers? That was much of my childhood. I still own my VHS copy (along with the special edition DVD and Blu Ray; what can I say, they all have different special features). I'm participating in my second run of the musical at my local theater. I know the lines, I know the words, I even know the dances (despite my general malaise towards choreography).
And now we have the live action remake.
I've spoken out against remakes and reboots. Disney seems determined to make live action alternate universes for their properties, and my whinging won't stop them. But I'm actually for this version. Great care seems to be in place with the casting. Alan Menken returned to do new musical numbers. There is great respect for the original, not just the desire for a quick buck (I hope).
I cried when I saw Belle touch the bell jar in the teaser. I admit it. I'm tearing up just thinking of the music. This movie has impacted me in so many ways. And yes, I'm excited for the remake. There are things that bother me (why is Babette named Plumette? Why is she a bird? Why does Lumiere-McGregor look like that?) but I'm still very excited. Many of my fellow cast mates are dubious about Emma Watson as Belle, but I've enjoyed her as Hermione, and see nothing thus far that's bothered me about her Belle.
The Beast looks and sounds great. I've never liked the Beast on the Broadway soundtrack (sorry Javert!). The deep resonance of Robby Benson (HA) has been my standard, and Dan Stevens is doing a fine job with it. A far cry from 'That Guy who did pretty well in Night at the Museum 3'.
We won't be getting the Broadway songs, but Menken has penned new numbers that I'm sure will be perfect. He's Alan Freaking Menken for God's sake.
Gushing aside (and I could go on about my pleasure over Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Josh Gad as LeFou, etc), I'm overall excited for the new take on the tale as old as time.
The world could use a story of daring sword fights, magic spells, and princes in disguise right about now. We need something to take us away from all this, if only for a little while. Let us forget who we...WHAT we have to face as a nation. For those few hours let us peer into the world of the Beast, and understand that those different from us are still human. We can't let what we don't understand scare us.
We need to remember that Beauty is found within.
