In 1991 Disney released Beauty And The Beast as part of their line of Disney Classics. It is the first and only Animated film to ever be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Here is my review -

Cast
Belle - Paige O'Hara
Beast - Robby Benson
Gaston - Richard White
Lumiere - Jerry Orbach
Cogsworth / Narrator - David Ogden Stiers
Mrs. Potts - Angela Lansbury
Chip - Bradley Pierce

Characters

Belle - Belle is a girl who wants much more than what is in store for her in the small town she lives in. She has big dreams and aspirations for adventure, success and love. She is loyal, intelligent, beautiful, and kind.

The Beast - He was enchanted long ago, a punishment for having no love or pity in his heart. He has been stewing in his castle growing more and more like the beast he is every day. When Belle comes into his life he knows what it could mean, but he still has a hard time letting go of the cold solitude and bitterness he has wrapped around himself for all these years.

Gaston - Gaston is set on marrying Belle. He is handsome, strong, and a great hunter. He is also rude, conceited, boorish, and malevolent. He will do anything to get what he wants, and does not care who gets hurt along the way.

Lumiere - Lumiere is a candlestick holder, and the very stereo type of a fenchmen. He loves food, and romance. He is very polite, but but acts before he considers the consequences much to the chagrin of Cogsworth.

Cogsworth - Cogsworth is a clock. He is very formal and cultured. He speaks effortlessly about architecture, and art. He is however the antithesis of Lumiere when it comes to caution. Cogsworth tends to be over cautious, where Lumiere throws caution to the wind.

Mrs. Potts - The matronly tea kettle who sings the title song. She mothers the other characters and only tries to do what's best for everyone.

Plot - Belle is a girl with big dreams, who is stuck in a poor provincial town in France. She longs for much more than the town will ever be able to offer. She dreams of the kind of excitement she reads about in books. She must contend with the reality that her dreams may never come true. She must also deal with the advances of the boorish but handsome Gaston. She is the daughter of the crazy, yet lovable inventor, Maurice.

On the way to a fair to show off his latest invention Maurice finds himself in an enchanted castle, and becomes the prisoner of the beast who dwells there. Belle comes to find him, and meets the beast. She offers to take her father's place as his prisoner. The beast she is now the prisoner of is actually an enchanted prince. He has been cursed by an enchantress to remain a beast until he learns to love, and is loved in return.

The inhabitants of the castle have been turned into enchanted objects, and long for the return of their human form. This will only happen when the spell is broken, so they go about trying to get the beast and Belle together.

Songs - The songs in this animated musical are truly magical. Belle is a song the entire town sings about the heroine, it is very busy, and very entertaining. Be Our Guest is a classic, sung by the enchanted inhabitants of the castle to Belle to welcome her to the castle. Beauty And The Beast is a timeless classic, it is a beautiful ballad which encompasses the budding relationship between the beast and his beauty. Something There is a cheery song that chronicles that further development of the relationship, it is sung by multiple characters including Belle, the Beast, and the enchanted castle. Gaston is the most forgettable pieces, and is Gaston's buddy Lefou trying to get his confidence back after being rejected by Belle. The Mob Song is an amusing little number, Gaston rouses a mob into a frothy frenzy by preying on their fear of the unknown.

Overall - There is a reason this was nominated for Best Picture, a category where even the best animated features are generally overlooked. It has the emotional depth and conflict that most animated tales, even the best of them lack. When you get to the scene with the Beast and Gaston on the Castle roof, you reach an intensity and grittiness seldom achieved in live movies, let alone cartoons.

Overall Beauty And The Beast is a classic through and through. It has amazing animation, a wonderful soul lifting score, memorable songs, great voice acting, and classic themes of love and belonging that will resonate with anyone.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8