Cartoon Corner- Beauty and the Beast

Originally posted at the DL September 2015

It's that time again.



LET'S SING!!

Belle- God, this is one of the most singable songs ever.  AND IT'S NOT THE MOST SINGABLE IN THIS MOVIE.  Okay maybe that's nostalgia, but I'm doubtful.  It has a very common folk vibe (duh, it's the villagers), and there's a lot of subjects in there since they're basically establishing the entire premise in these, what, five minutes?  Something like.  But of the Renaissance films, this one is probably the most overtly Broadway and I think that's another big part of it.  Clearly I need to study musical structure.

Belle (Reprise)- Man I remember this being so much longer.  Also so very close to being literally the I Want song (in that I had to go look up the proper title of it and almost right I Want as the title of this segment).  Is what it is, moving on.

Gaston- NO OOOOOOONNNEEE inspires like Gaston, gets the audience to sing along like Gaston.  So technically the bits before and after Maurice comes into the bar are marked as two songs, but yeah, we'll talk both here.  Anyway, Gaston's one of the funnest Disney villains and that's almost entirely this song and how efficient it is.  We know exactly the sort of scum he is and why he's that way.

Be Our Guest- Y'know, this is the most famous song from the film (for example, on this bluray it's the song that's used on the menu), but in a lot of ways it's probably the least relevant.  The plot just sorta stops to have some fun.  Which isn't a bad thing, but by comparison it's sorta odd.  It's mostly down to having such a cool visual style (come to think of it, Little Mermaid lacked any of the acid trip visuals so sheer novelty is probably a factor here) and being the only time Lumiere gets a chance to show off, which considering half the cast is basically veterans of Legitimate Theater, of course you give everyone a showcase.

Something There- So I remember thinking, as a kid, that this montage took place over, like, a couple months.  Y'know, most of the winter.  But no!  This is obviously about THREE DAYS.  So close to not having obvious love at first sight romance Disney.  So close.    Anyway as with most of the songs major plot advances are told in song (because this is probably the most musical Disney Musical) so I dunno, just don't get super huge vibes off a lot of them for whatever reason.

Beauty and the Beast- This is such a strange movie.  It doesn't usually do spectacle.  It's shooting for being simultaneously intimate (as fits a story that's romance at the core) and... grand.  Large spaces with lots of detail.  We're the only people in the whole world, and the world bends to keep it true.
Come to think of it I don't think any other Disney film does that.  Wonder if that's why it remains, in terms of decorative hardware, the most accomplished Disney film.  (Yes, I'd put a Best Film nomination over a Best Animated win.)

Mob Song- Y'know, I should go and rewatch the Sleepy Hollow half of its movie.  It just occurred to me that there seems to be huge amounts of visual reference between it and the mob here.  Hell, Gaston definitely looks more than a little bit like Brom Bones, so further similarities shouldn't be surprising at all.  Anyway this song plays a lot differently from most of them.  Most of them are expository, while this is very definitely narrative.  Really effective too, I keep saying "This is the catchiest song!" forgetting the next song will be even catchier!  KILL THE BEAST.  KILL THE BEAST.  Y'know.

I dunno what it is, but the color pallet of this movie seems amazingly vivid.  I dunno if it's because the backgrounds are more muted (and for a lot of the movie take place at night or are basically gothic architecture) or if Disney muted their pallet as time went on or what.  I should probably watch forward and see if there's a noticeable shift but I only have about half those movies.

What really works about the movie is its sheer simplicity.  Not too much really happens, and they put real effort into getting you up to speed quickly and just letting you drink in the visuals and music.  I suppose a Tale as Old as Time probably should be that way.

Rating- 8/10.