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Alex Davidson marvels at the first animated film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar before tapping his foot along to the score full of great numbers such as 'Be Our Guest'.

Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar (only Up has since earned the same honour), and looking back on it nearly twenty years after its release it is not hard to see why.

Disney enjoyed a renaissance at the end of the 1980s, both in quality and commercial success, starting with The Little Mermaid, which broke box office records and gave the studio their best reviews in decades. Beauty and the Beast is even better, particularly from a technical standpoint - the crew used computer animation for the first time in the famous ballroom scene, where the couple’s waltz is transformed into a magical spectacle through the pioneering technology.

The Oscar-winning music boasts some great numbers, such as the exhilarating 'Be Our Guest' and the famous title song. The film pays homage from Cocteau’s La belle et la bête (1946), borrowing imagery from the earlier masterpiece, adding a haunting poetry to the picture. Although suitable for young children, the scarier moments of the film hark back to Disney’s golden years, with sinister scenes worthy of Snow White and Pinocchio. A masterpiece.

 

Alex Davidson on 27th September 2010
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