The Beauty and the Beast

Unlike Cinderella and Ariel, Belle is a far more progressive character. First off, Belle is an avid reader, which is quite surprising because of how few Disney princesses display signs of academic intelligence. Belle also has real hopes and aspirations aside from finding a man and marrying him happily ever after. One of my favorite parts is that Belle’s father actually supports her endeavors to read and learn. There are still many fathers in the world today who don’t think women need to go to college or get as good of an education as men. Belle combats those beliefs. She also, unlike so many other Disney princesses, sees through people’s appearances. Gaston is strong, handsome, and available, but Belle recognizes that he is not a good person and doesn’t have a good personality.

To address the most obvious concern with this movie – yeah that’s totally bestiality. I’m kind of shocked that as a kid I wasn’t at all concerned that this woman is falling in love with a gigantic beast. Watching the movie now its pretty weird watching the intimate scenes. It kinda gives me the heebie jeebies.

There are a few stereotypes that I definitely missed as a kid because when I saw a talking candlestick or a talking clock I didn’t look much farther into it. First, Lumiere, the candlestick has a thick French accent and fills the role as well. He is a romantic who loves cooking and dating, which tends to be a typical Frenchman. Cogsworth the clock is portrayed as a strict rule follower. This kind of makes me think of those British people that stand motionless outside Buckingham Palace in the red uniforms. I’ve always wanted to go mess with one of them (I digress).

As a big fan of action movies, I love the Gaston versus Beast final fight scene. The Beast shows off how much he really cares for Belle, calling out her name multiple times throughout the fight. He starts off dejected and then rallies to defeat that sun of a gun Gaston. After he beats him and is up on the rooftop with Belle I actually felt so content and happy for them.

Another recurring theme I’ve seen in Disney movies is the villain’s final blow in the climax. After Simba defeated Scar, he acted cocky like he had already won and then Scar pounced and almost came back and beat Simba. The same thing happens in the final fight scene of The Beauty and the Beast. Beast thought he had already won and he climbs up to Belle, paying no attention to the still alive Gaston behind him. Gaston sneaks up and stabs him in his side almost making the Beast nearly fall off the roof. Of course, there is a happy ending so Gaston falls off and Beast doesn’t, but damn that was a little close for comfort.