Beauty and the Beast

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Movie Details

• Genre: Animation, Family
• Release Date: 2012-01-13 Nationwide
• Running Time: 84 min.
• Director: Gary Trousdale
• Cast: Paige O'Hara, Richard White, Robby Benson, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers
• Producer: Don Hahn
• Writer: Roger Allers, Linda Woolverton
• Distributor: Buena Vista
• Official Site: Beauty and the Beast Official Site

Of all the sexually charged European fairy tales out there, this has got to be one of the weirdest: Chick meets monster; monster holds chick captive (as gently as possible); chick falls for monster; monster turns into handsome prince. The overt message is that girls who choose kindness over cuteness will be rewarded. But the subtext, which is nicely highlighted in this 1946 film by Jean Cocteau, is very different: Dangerous, passionate, animalistic outcasts are where it's at, baby. Cocteau's movie is dreamy and inventive, full of charmingly old-fashioned special effects. And the director appears to have originated the enchanted-furniture conceit that Disney used to such great effect in its antifeminist cartoon update: The entry hall is lined with wall sconces that look and move like men's arms, statues smile, and magic hands serve meals. As Belle, Josette Day is both angelic and spicy (a neat trick!), and while the basic plot is still problematic, the film gently probes its dark heart without insulting the heroine. In Cocteau's hands, Beauty and the Beast is about the grandiose danger of passion for both males and females--and the subtle turnabout of power that can shake a man to his roots. Funny that such an old movie would be so much more "modern" than its remake. (Kate Sullivan)