Director: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
Year Released: 1991
Rating: 2.0
Disneyfied musical based on the famous fairy tale, with fuzzy Beast confined to his own enchanted castle filled with talking tea cups and a candlestick that looks, talks and sings like Maurice Chevalier, waiting for some gorgeous dame to lock up and fall in love with. As with Bambi, Dumbo and The Little Mermaid, this does absolutely nothing for me - I'm not impressed with the animation, find the villain too bland and familiar and can't convince myself that I actually care about the two main characters (though I will admit the songs are a delight, including the ubiquitous "Be Our Guest"). All this disinterest while watching caused my mind to drift, leading me to the perhaps insane conclusion that if you really think about it, this has a wee bit in common with Almodóvar's 1990 film Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down! - and its similar theme of a female afflicted with the Stockholm Syndrome - only without the bondage or little toy scuba man exploring the good parts of Victoria Abril.
