BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991) - ♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Written by - Linda Woolverton, Roger Allers, Brenda Chapman, Burny Mattinson, Brian Pimental, Joe Ranft, Kelly Asbury, Chris Sanders, Kevin Harkey, Bruce Woodside, Tom Ellery, Robert Lence (based on the story by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont)

Starring - Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Angela Lansbury

"In 1991, Walt Disney was at its peak, which reached near perfection with a return to the classicist adaptation of fairytales. Beauty and the Beast is Based on the famous French traditional fairytale by the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, this is the story of a young girl named Belle who offers to trade herself in as the prisoner of a horrible creature living in an enchanted castle. There, she lives in luxury in a house surrounded by friendly animated objects, unaware of the fact that this monster is actually an enchanted prince. 

The animation is superb, and this is evident in the meticulousness of the gothic architecture of the castle, and the expressiveness of the animated objects that populate the house. 

The screenplay itself is superb, and excellently balances all its important thematic and atmospheric aspects that span from the happy and humorous ones to the much darker fantasy horror ones by way of an honest romantic storyline, with a careful development that makes it much more credible than countless other live action counterparts. In fact, the balance of its family friendly elements with the more mature ones allows Beauty and the Beast to exist on parallel levels, enjoyable for both a young audience and a mature one. 

This being a Walt Disney animation featured, it is also defined by a memorable soundtrack, with some of its songs such as Be My Guest and the titular track sung by Angela Lansbury being obvious highlights. 

Beauty and the Beast represents excellent timeless entertainment, charming and genuinely suspenseful, with a great psychological and emotional depth as well as a charming message at its core that preaches the importance of inner beauty. It is no wonder, hence, that the film achieved the rare feat for an animation feature to be nominated in the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards."

Animation, USA