Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Follow the adventures of Belle, a bright young woman who finds herself in the castle of a prince who's been turned into a mysterious beast. With the help of the castle's enchanted staff, Belle soon learns the most important lesson of all -- that true beauty comes from within.
Beauty and the Beast (1991) is a landmark of Disney animation. The voice performances — particularly Paige O'Hara and Jerry Orbach — are exceptional, earning a well-above-average Acting score. The cinematography and animation are genuinely stunning, with the ballroom sequence representing a watershed moment in blending hand-drawn and CGI animation. The plot follows the classic fairy tale faithfully and competently but doesn't subvert or dramatically expand the source material, landing above average but not exceptional. Novelty is strong for its era — it elevated the animated musical form significantly — but the story itself is a well-known fairy tale retelling without radical reinvention. The ending resolves satisfyingly but conventionally, with the curse broken and romance fulfilled in a manner telegraphed from early on.