The Film
We all have our favorite Disney flicks. However, there is something truly special about Beauty and the Beast. Along with The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast rekindled that old Disney magic after a bit of a drought in the '80s. It's also the first animated film to ever get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
Thankfully, 19 years later, Beauty and the Beast still holds up. It's hard not to, since it manages to wrap up messages of good triumphing evil and beauty being more than skin deep into one fantastic musical. It can also still bring more than one tear to your eyes.
Based on the classic tale, the story is extremely familiar. Belle has book smarts, but she's still a Disney princess, which means she's a beauty as well. However, it goes beyond the relationship between her and the Beast and introduces us to a world of whimsical characters, including a talking clock, candelabra and teapot.
Beauty and the Beast is emotional and magical and just plain fun. It's also one that you're probably going to want to revisit -- whether you have little ones or not.
The Picture
Disney delivers the magic on this 1.78:1 transfer of Beauty and the Beast. The opening drawings are beautiful, with eye-popping colors and vivid details. From there, every scene has something to keep your eyes glued to the screen. From Gaston's hairy chest to the gorgeous golds in the climactic dance scene, this movie is more than just a feast for the eyes and ears (see below); it's like the Thanksgiving of Disney flicks.
The Sound
The true beast here is this DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track, which is the perfect match to its perfect image. All of the film's musical numbers sound wonderful, but the dialogue sings just as nicely. That dialogue is bold, but not too loud, and intertwines with the music really well. In between, ambient noises never get lost, and there are plenty of those. Farm animals, doors creaking, footsteps, echos, knocking, and clanging from the Beast's infamous housemates; every sound stands out, without ever overpowering.
The Extras
Disney really opened up the vault for this Diamond release. To start, there are a total of three versions of Beauty and the Beast included on the Blu-ray disc. That includes the theatrical release, an extended release, and the theatrical version of the movie with picture-in-picture storyboards. The latter is an interesting mesh of the movie with some of the film's original, unfinished artwork.
Aside from the three versions of the film, there's also an audio commentary with producer Don Hahn and directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, as well as a Sing Along Track, in case you want to do more than hum a few bars of the film's many musical tracks.
A quick note about the disc's menu: Both Blu-ray discs list all of the extras available, even when they are not available on that actual disc. A bit of fine print will let you know which extras need you to flip-flop discs. Perhaps Disney wants to make sure you pop in that second disc. It's not the end of the world, but certainly worth mentioning so as to avoid any confusion.
One other nitpick is in the deleted scenes. This edition offers deleted scenes previously featured on the Classic edition, as well as two new bits. Each of those two newbies has its own intro, which is fine and dandy. However, the disc doesn't feature a "Play All" option, which means that even after the intro, you are taken back to the disc's main menu.
There are two interesting games, "Bonjour - Who Is This?" and "Enchanted Musical Challenge." The latter is a bit difficult to navigate, inviting participants to answer trivia questions in an effort to find characters from the movie. "Bonjour" is even more difficult, seeing as it requires the use of a home phone or cell phone to play. This is slightly lame, as rates and charges do apply and seem completely unnecessary.
However, there are still plenty of other extras to keep you busy, most notably "Beyond Beauty," a feature-length documentary. Normally, we'd pooh-pooh docs that are longer than the actual movie, but this one's interactive menu makes it more bearable, as well as intriguing.
Final Thoughts
After 19 years, Beauty and the Beast hasn't lost one piece of pixie dust; it's still as magical as ever. Also, this Diamond edition is the exact reason we go clamoring whenever Disney decides to open up the vault. A timeless tale combined with a stellar Blu-ray presentation and tons of extras make it a true treasure that wouldn't just be our guest, but an actual genuine showpiece.
Product Details
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