The Reel Rejects - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991) IS GORGEOUS!! MOVIE REVIEW!!

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Starting point is 00:01:29 beauty and the beast that's right big thanks to the folks over at Prepper who have just been turned back into human form

Starting point is 00:01:36 from the you know mice and mouse pads and hard drives that they became while we were under the curse

Starting point is 00:01:46 okay wait page O'Hara James wait wait but okay so I love this they do the voice they do the characters and the credits

Starting point is 00:01:53 in these older movies like you know one by one so that you can see like the whole crew who built the character and I think that's really cool. I love that.

Starting point is 00:02:01 I never noticed that before. Yeah, it's definitely something I wish I recognized more of these names. And I feel like this might have been from the time we're like, oh, Angela Lansberry. I definitely know that name. And Bradley Pearson, what's up, dude? Hell yeah. Yeah, that's one thing I've noticed from watching some of these older animated movies is, yeah, they would do it like this. And, yeah, it just really cues you into the artistry and how many different people pull these things together.

Starting point is 00:02:23 But anyway, Prepper, speaking of people who pull these things together, thank you all for assembling these highlights. It is especially difficult on movies with heavy musical component. So we appreciate you mightily. Also, if you would like to leave us some stars, if you happen to be listening on the apples or the Spotify's or any place that podcasts are found, we would very much appreciate you. Aron! Janelda!

Starting point is 00:02:48 How do you feel? What do you thoughts? I feel good, delightful. I was a little tired going into this, but now I feel energized by Disney Love. and I really liked it I really enjoyed it You're a Disney adult now I'm a Disney adult a Disney dude

Starting point is 00:03:04 Ladies and Jents Big D Big D Anyway I really had a lot of fun With this movie It's beautiful to look at The singing was amazing

Starting point is 00:03:16 They had catchy songs That epitomize the tone And the character motivations And the feelings But also the plot And they have these motifs of reprisals that really worked well and I

Starting point is 00:03:30 thought the pacing was also really strong. Animation was great and yeah you were able to really believe that these two were falling in love in such a short period of time. The power of a montage, the power of well-designed characters

Starting point is 00:03:47 and beautiful animation and I think that I now am enlightened and I understand why this is a classic. Hondo P. Hondo P. You know awesome ma'am lafou he deserves better the foo justice for la foo he deserves better than looking boots and getting beat up for it that's right Pixar Pixar there's a Pixar credit in here I wonder if this is like the early stages of their maybe is that how Pixar became or they like doing CG embellishments on stuff and then eventually got the tech and you know opportunity to make like a full feature that way I'm gonna say yes that's probably what happens great I mean any animation

Starting point is 00:04:26 experts, aficionados out there, let us know. They're born from this movie. But yeah, I liked it a lot. Oh, Celine Dion.

Starting point is 00:04:35 I would be curious to watch the 2017 remake to see how much they change, how much they add, how much to stay the same. Is it feel like a one-to-one? I'd be curious. How's the singing compare? It's definitely better.

Starting point is 00:04:49 For sure. You know, and that's not going to be controversial for anybody. But yeah, that's me in a little nutshell. How much you, John? How are you feeling? What's you thinking? To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid, her voice, and a beast's soul, we will be forever grateful. Howard Ashman. Oh, snap. R.P. Yeah, no, I agree, 100%. Like, again, this is, I haven't, most of the Disney animated classics I have not seen since I was a child.

Starting point is 00:05:16 So this was a true joy to go back and revisit, and it really does remind you. Every time I peer in on one of these movies, I'm like, oh, yeah. Yeah, we haven't had something like this in a little while. This hits different and you really feel why this is often referred to as like one of the, if not the golden age of Disney animation. Because, yeah, this was so beautiful and so artful. And, and, you know, yes, we live in the post, post-modern, post-iron, post-ironic times where, you know, it's a well-trodden joke of like, oh, beauty and the beast is just a story about Stockholm syndrome and stuff like that. You know. Eustiality.

Starting point is 00:05:54 That, yeah, yeah, those things. but uh uh and i'm sure i don't you know i've only i think we watched the the reboot when it came out i would be fascinated to revisit it you know based off of this because again you know all i kind of recall from that experience is the the broad strokes the main stuff but uh yeah like this was really beautiful and yeah for what it is for you know who it's for which is you know kind of everybody but it's got to be kid accessible it's like i can imagine a version of this story that is a bit longer that takes a little more time for the drama for the transition but again for what this is and how it is articulating itself uh yeah this was

Starting point is 00:06:31 really beautiful and tight and well-paced and yeah you get in in an efficient manner you understand how this turn can take place and thematically i think it works nicely that yeah you know you have a a lovely mirror in like gaston this guy who appears like the perfect suitor and who is well accepted by all and yet is like totally pushing himself on this person and totally will not take the hint and like then you cut over to the beast who obviously on the surface appears monstrous but that's really because he is desperate and he's you know lived with the consequence of his vanity his his his shallowness and vanity for so long and you get why he's playing the role of the scary monster because that's kind of all that is left for him right now uh and

Starting point is 00:07:22 at the same time you do kind of get why and how the softening begins and how they would eventually I think it's that you know it's like it's it's well articulated in how you know the beast from their very first altercation like does reason with her she's like fine take me instead I will swap in for my father and he's like you know what sure and from there like the the arc starts and you know we immediately start to see him soften up and I thought like the nuance of the voice performance was really nice across the board from all the actors, but especially the Beast

Starting point is 00:07:58 and just, God, the quality of the voice is both in speaking and in singing, just like, you know, I am generally, and less, it's less of a conversation when it comes to these kinds of movies because I feel like, especially in an animated setting, you want, like, the

Starting point is 00:08:14 top, top notch of voice actors, especially if they're going to be singing. Whereas, you know, in a live action setting, I'm a little more flexible about those things but you know like this as a musical theater fan too you know part of the tradition of that is you get like the highest caliber vocal talent and that's absolutely on display here combined with yeah songs that are just so rich and so catchy and so timeless and like every one of them is like really it's weird there aren't like a million songs but the songs that they

Starting point is 00:08:46 do have they reprise in interesting ways uh that complement each other and each particular song just yeah is really distinct and really lively and really compliments the story and the animation and yeah just like so many gorgeous details and so many great flourishes like this really does feel

Starting point is 00:09:07 transportive and like these camera choices they're making and at the beginning of the movie I was sitting here going like do we put on the wrong movie this is like so crisp and so clear did they like go back and touch some of this up which they could have I don't know but like I'm going to just imagine that because again this is being presented streaming in 4k whatever you know like it looks incredible and like i would adore the opportunity to see this on like a 35 millimeter print somewhere because yeah like

Starting point is 00:09:34 this this tradition just doesn't happen this way anymore and it seemed like early on they were doing things where maybe you're pushing a camera through you know like kind of like a pop-up book or something where you'll have like a layer here of a couple things and then they'll move past And like some of that stuff, some of those parallaxes and perspectives and things you can animate traditionally just in one image at a time frame by frame. But it seemed like some of that stuff really was like camera being pushed in through multiple layers of animated elements and stuff like that. And there are other moments where you're like, okay, maybe there's some early CG worked in here, especially when you have the ball scene and it's, or her and the beast dancing, that scene where, you know, it's like so sweeping. and so cinematic. And animation, you know, generally,

Starting point is 00:10:23 it's like the people who scale this mountain and especially in the era where it was hand-drawn, you know, you have to kind of prove yourself as being someone with an intense degree of imagination and visual flourish and flare and flavor. And this had all that stuff. Like, this was so rich. And so, like, it filled me with joy because I love art.

Starting point is 00:10:45 And this was, like, all of the arts that I love smashed into each other. It's paintings. its drawings it's music it's you know cinema and all that stuff and on top of that yeah like it's very touching and it's very romantic and the whole supporting cast is lovely you know uh bell is a really nice protagonist to follow it's it's simple you know we're not diving too deep on anything but like her her love for her father um the contrast between everybody else in town and them and then finally yeah this like little haven that comes out of this nightmare and slowly becomes a dream is like super nice.

Starting point is 00:11:20 Like then that mirror too, like the flowers wilting and yet everything is sort of blooming and blossoming spiritually and romantically and just like, how lovely? Like how wonderful. That is a really good contrast. Yeah, I also liked that. Funny enough, the person who was seeking her out the most

Starting point is 00:11:39 was the one who the beast would, in another life, Gaston could have been the beast. Yeah. Yeah, you're like, where's that, where is that? They both had blue lies. Yeah, like get her over here to curse Gaston and maybe he'll learn to be a better guy. Yeah, maybe.

Starting point is 00:11:58 Maybe he'll learn not to be. I mean, everybody in town kind of sucked, honestly. Everyone in town was not very friendly. Everyone in town kind of sucked. Everybody just kissed up to Gaston, which made him even felt like he was even greater. Even more insufferable. Changing rules on the town, you know. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:12:16 That doesn't happen in my life. but um yeah it was good when i do i do kind of get nostalgic for the days where it's like yeah it's it's i love a cool you know uh high concept setting but especially in these older movies because they are borrowing from the folklore of various cultures you will just be in like the french countryside you know back in whatever you know century this was and uh yeah i don't know there's just something yeah there's something really tangible and lovely even though it's, you know, obviously a flight of fancy and, you know, quite tender.

Starting point is 00:12:51 Yeah. Visual art. But, uh, yeah. Any other thoughts before we dive into some trivia? No, I thought it was wonderful. It was delightful. And I'm, I'm happy that I've now experienced this as an adult and I get to the nostalgia or why people would, uh, also, I'll say, I like the messaging of just, you know,

Starting point is 00:13:11 it's about what's underneath the skin. Yeah. You know, it's about the heart. It's about being kind. You don't even be the most handsome person or the most popular. You just got to be sweet, kind. Consider it. Yeah, and you've got to be willing to look beneath the surface.

Starting point is 00:13:28 Exactly. And sometimes that means seeing the beauty in someone who doesn't appear physically beautiful. But sometimes that also means seeing the inner beauty in someone who appears monstrous. And I think that is the thing. It's like, you know, I don't remember really. And I'm curious now in light of this to see how the, you know, live action adaptation reframes itself in certain respects because, you know, every one of these Disney live action reimaginings has come with an update in terms of how it fits into the social

Starting point is 00:13:57 conversation. So I can almost imagine a version where, I don't know, like Bell already has like a pretty solid amount of agency, it seems like, and she's, you know, precocious and, you know, she's a reader and she's adventurous and all that stuff. So I'm curious to see how the new movie probably the newer movie probably spends a lot more time you know really finessing how she could be open to loving this guy who clearly at the outset is not what you would think is like that run toward that green flags you know springs here baseball's in full swing and if you're looking to make watching games even more exciting check out prize picks our go-to in the daily fantasy sports category the reason this household is so in a prize picks is because it's super

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Starting point is 00:15:38 Yeah, I could definitely see the ways they can add more nuance and expand their relationship. Yeah. I think that's really cool. I'm hoping that is what the new version does to validate its existence. Yeah. But even here, you know, it's like you get the tragedy of this guy. You're like, ah, you're not a, you're not truly beastly. This is all bluster because you are in despair.

Starting point is 00:15:59 You're hurting and in despair and you've lived with the consequences for perhaps maybe long enough. Who know? But anyway, a little bit of triv. All songs were the last complete works for a movie by Academy Award winner Howard Ashman. Ashman died eight months prior to the release of the movie and the movie was dedicated to Ashman at the end of the final credits. You can read the dedication, which we did.

Starting point is 00:16:21 Yeah. Dame Angela Linsbury thought that another character would be better suited to sing the ballad, Beauty, and the Beast. Director's Gary Trusdale and Kirk Wise asked her to make at least one recording to have for a backup.

Starting point is 00:16:35 That one recording ended up in the movie. Wow. Not bad. You're wrong, Angela. the voice of a generation Angela you're going to go you're going to go Lansbury

Starting point is 00:16:48 for this Cranesberry because it's dinner she wrote anyways Glenn Keen the supervising animator on the beast created his own hybrid beast by combining the name the main of a lion

Starting point is 00:16:59 the beard and head structure of a buffalo the tusks and nose bridge of a wild boar the heavily muscled a muscleed brow of a gorilla

Starting point is 00:17:08 the legs and tail of a wolf and the big bulky body of a bear somebody had fun writing this one he also has blue eyes the one physical feature that does not change whether he is a beast or a human that's a good one i like that

Starting point is 00:17:22 and just the attention to anatomy between animal and man as he transforms back like you know the way his the feet and all anyway the majority is really cool the majority of the sculpture seeing the castle are earlier different earlier versions of the beast that is very cool

Starting point is 00:17:40 so they just took all their concept art and then made it all the stuff that's funny Rupert Everett I know that name auditioned oh no for Gaston but was told the directors

Starting point is 00:17:53 by the directors he didn't sound arrogant enough he later voiced Prince Charming and Shrek 2 that's very fun that is very fun indeed I haven't Shrek 2 I feel like people love Shrek 2

Starting point is 00:18:05 feel like some people would say it is the best Shrek and yet I have almost no recollection of it. Paige O'Hara sobbed real tears while recording Bell's Morning of the Beast.

Starting point is 00:18:18 Her, did I say sobbed real tears? Well, I did now. Her performance was so intense that directors Gary Trudedale and Kirk Wise asked her if she was okay upon which

Starting point is 00:18:26 O'Hara immediately dropped out of character and said, acting. Killing the game. We love to hear it. When Gaston is falling at the end,

Starting point is 00:18:36 there was a close-up of his eyes for two frames, a tiny skull-flash in each of his eyes. For the VHS and Laserdisc release, these frames were altered to remove the skulls from his eyes. However, no such alteration

Starting point is 00:18:48 was made for the DVD nor Blu-ray release. While Disney Pictures claims that the skulls determined Gaston's fate as fans were unsure whether he died or not at the end, we're going to have to go back and see if they did flash this version.

Starting point is 00:19:00 I did not see that. The curse of the beast on the beast requires him to be worthy of pure love without any emphasis on exterior beauty. In essence,

Starting point is 00:19:10 the rose is the one living gatekeeper of his curse. When Bell accidentally comes across the torn portrait of Prince Adam, beast in his human form, I was going to make an Adam and Powell's joke, but, you know, nothing came to mind. She tries to put it together to be able to figure out the face painted, but is distracted by the suddenly brighter light of the rose, which is to make sure she doesn't figure out the beast's true identity

Starting point is 00:19:35 and thus realize he is a hunk and then skip to the part where she wants to be with him because it won't be authentic. No. An original... That's right. Alphonte. An original draft of Gaston's demise

Starting point is 00:19:50 was supposed to be that the wolves would kill him after surviving the fall from the beast castle with a broken leg. This outcome was later used in the Lion King. Wowie.

Starting point is 00:20:00 I was going to say, I was getting some Lion King vibes that I thought it was going to come down to like him on the ledge and them looking at each other and blah, blah. Glenn Keen was most excited about the transformation sequence and said it would be

Starting point is 00:20:11 the highlight of his career in animation. He purposely asked that it be the last thing animated of the Beast in order to save the dessert for the last. The schedule said he would only have two weeks to complete the animation. He went to producer Don Hahn and asked that it be changed because he was not

Starting point is 00:20:27 going to be able to get to the, not going to be able to get the emotion across that was needed on such a tight agenda. Han told him to forget about the schedule and take as long as he needed and it's good thing he did. Originally, the piece was supposed to be

Starting point is 00:20:42 stabbed by Gaston twice, once in the leg and once in the side, followed by Gaston, deliberately pushing himself off the tower and laughing maniacally while falling. Filmmakers changed it, because that sounds crazy. It's just his side to avoid the already dramatic scene, becoming too disturbing

Starting point is 00:20:58 for children, but Gaston's edited self-dispatch, will say, is a probable explanation for his choosing such a dangerous position to kill the beast, despite knowing that he would never win Bell's heart. I mean, yeah, at that point, he's got nothing else to live for.

Starting point is 00:21:14 The character Gaston was originally not in the fairy tale, The Beauty and the Beast. Rather, he was inspired by the antagonist of Beauty and the Beast 1946. Avanon also was in love with Bell and tried Avanon to kill the Beast upon learning that she loved him, losing his life in the process.

Starting point is 00:21:31 Reportedly, a direct-to-video sequel to the Disney movie was to feature a villain named Adivant Gaston's revenge-seeking younger brother But the project was scrapped in favor of Beauty and the Beast The Enchanted Christmas It becomes a beast again And the Enchanted Christmas? Maybe, maybe he's a little bit of a Grinch

Starting point is 00:21:49 And then they turn him into a Grinch And you've got to learn to love him Even though he hates the holidays Green Beast. Green Beans Alan Mankin and Cocoa's two different musical scores For the Beast's death scene The original, which is part of the transformation piece On the original Motion Picture soundtrack

Starting point is 00:22:04 was considered too happy for the feeling needed. So Mankan changed it to the version we now heard in the movie. When Chip turns back into a human form at the end, his form looks just like Christopher Rubin. Because they have the same hairstyle, shirt, shorts, and shoes. I didn't put that together. Me, I should have because I was a big Winnie the Pooh guy growing up. I still got to see Blood and Honey Part 2 Pooniverse coming our way.

Starting point is 00:22:31 When Bell first becomes a beast prisoner, he warns her never to go in the west wing. Belmont goes in the west wing once, but three times in the entire movie. First time in the beginning after Beard Guest, the second time is when Bell sees her father or wishes to see him. The third time is when the Beast was dying in Bell's arms.

Starting point is 00:22:49 This is kind of trivia. That's just a fact, though. During the villagers' attack on the Beast Castle, when the furniture fights back, a dresser wielding what appears to be a baseball bat can be seen behind a pillar just after Ms. Paz pours hot water upon a group of attackers.

Starting point is 00:23:02 I am curious about this. that. I am curious about the rules. Not that it's tenant, you know, you just go with it, you just feel it, but also, yeah, who decides if you get to have a mouth and eyes or not? Many scenes were

Starting point is 00:23:17 storyboarded, but never animated. Those include a scene where Gaston visits. The asylum is seen where beast is seen dragging a carcass of an animal he killed. Both were considered too gruesome for the movie and the ideas were dropped. However, an animal skeleton can be seen, though just barely, since it heavily is in shadow.

Starting point is 00:23:33 the corner of the West Wing, leaving a subtle implication of just how far his transformation had affected him. Wow. Oh man, when Paige O'Hara was auditioning a bit of her hair flew in her face and she tucked it back. The animator liked it so much they put it

Starting point is 00:23:49 in the movie. I do I do like that and apparently flowers, chocolates, and promises you don't intend to keep was an ad-lib line by David Ogden Steers. Good man. All right. I guess they tried to adapt this early, and had little success with that.

Starting point is 00:24:05 And then once The Little Mermaid came out, they got it back again. Hey, the smoke screen. It's promising to be done after this one. The smoke scene during the transformation at the end is actually real smoke, not animated. It was originally used in the Black Cauldron, 1985, which is a Disney movie.

Starting point is 00:24:22 Ha, ha, ha, ha. I've never seen it. That's cool. And apparently songs take up 25 minutes in the movie, and there's only five minutes with no musical score at all. Well, gang, we did it

Starting point is 00:24:33 we got beautiful we got beastly and then we found true love what did you think of the movie is this one of your favorite Disney classics of all time should we check out the Disney

Starting point is 00:24:43 live action reboot should we watch more of these classic Disney joints when the Odyssey comes out good time to check out Hercules maybe anyhow leave us your thoughts and we'll catch you on the next one

Starting point is 00:24:54 be well people and stay beautiful Oh. Ah.

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The Reel Rejects - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991) IS GORGEOUS!! MOVIE REVIEW!!

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