They say that it is a tale as old as time! Beauty and the Beast is one of the premier classic Disney movies and a huge hit for them and one of the many great movies from the late 80s to mid-90s. As someone that is a big Disney guy and goes to Disneyland Paris, I can tell you that even 30 years later, Belle is still one of the most popular Disney Princesses.
How to Download Beauty and the Beast (1991)
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like this film, check out also its live-action adaptation from 2017.
The Movie Review
What we have here is a reimagining of the classic Beauty and the Beast story and these days when you think of this classic tale, it is Disney’s version I would wager that comes into mind. The French setting is fantastic and the picturesque village where Belle lives is lovely.
We get a great intro here. It starts by telling us the story of how the Prince turned into the Beast. One thing I have to say and my wife gets mad at me for this, but I actually think the Prince had a reason to be mad! This old beggar woman shows up at his castle and from the way the movie describes it, he is the one that answers the door to her!
Why in this huge castle and with all these servants is the Prince answering the door? No wonder he was grouchy and mean all the time, he was doing the jobs his servants were supposed to do! I feel that the live action remake of Beauty and the Beast did a much better job of making us see the Prince be mean before he was transformed.
Anyway, enough of my rant. We see the lovely Belle, a bookwork walking through the village and we find out that the village lothario, Gaston is going to make her his wife. Gaston is a fantastic villain and he is impossible not to like, even though you know that he is a bad guy, his back and forth with his friend/lackey LeFou.
Belle’s father is an inventor and is referred to as crazy old Maurice and Gaston wants to use him as a way to make Belle marry him. Before this can happen, Maurice is out on his horse, ends up lost in the wood, and is taken prisoner by The Beast! The Beast locks him up and it is pretty chilling stuff.
Look, you know the story of Beauty and the Beast! Belle sets out to find her dad, she offers to take his place as the Beast’s prisoner and that is where our love story starts. We get to see the Beast soften up to her and she starts to realize that there is more to him than the grouchy jerk she first met.
This is very important as for the Beast and the other people in the castle to return to human he must experience true love. To be honest, it is pretty corny and cliché, but Beauty and the Beast pulls it off better than most other movies that try and tell a love story like is being told here.
At the time Beauty and the Beast was released, a big deal was made about the blending of traditional animation and computer-generated animation and it still looks good today. It has a timeless style to it and it also features some of the most popular songs of any Disney movie. There is a good reason as to why Beauty and the Beast is still regarded by many as their favorite Disney movie of all time.
