Tonight with the Family: 32 years ago, Disney reached its highest point with this movie

Once upon a time in a magnificent castle lived a prince with a heart of stone, selfish and lonely. One winter evening, having refused the shelter of an old beggar woman, he finds himself transformed into a hideous beast and is condemned to maintain this hideous appearance for the rest of his days, unless he manages to fall in love with a woman and be loved in return by his 21st birthday.

A few leagues away, a young girl named Belle, considered an original by everyone in her small village, dreams of a different life, flipping through the chapters of many works borrowed from the town bookseller.

• Tonight With The Family: Released 33 years ago, this forgotten Disney film opens with one of the studio’s most beautiful scenes.

Directed in 1991 by the duo of Kirk Wise and Gary Truesdale (who would sign the great Hunchback of Notre Dame a few years later), Beauty and the Beast is a small miracle of cinema. Considered by many fans to be Disney’s best animated film, this film, which Walt himself considered making several decades ago, immediately wowed audiences and critics alike.

The 30th installment of the Enchanted Kingdom classic is as powerful as it is effective, and with a richly animated story, it rests above all on three unshakable pillars…

Three main features

His character Belle, who is the most interesting and attractive in the history of Disney. Its protagonist (the monster), which Glenn Keane’s particularly inspired brushwork at the head of his art helped make terrifying, disturbing and complex at the same time.

And finally, the film’s masterful score, composed in the style of a Broadway musical by the brilliant Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.

With all of these qualities to be added to the film’s visual prowess, Beauty and the Beast reaches a level of sophistication and technical sophistication unprecedented in the studio’s history, allowing it to become the first animated feature film to be nominated. Oscar in the Best Picture category (a feat that has only been repeated twice, Up There and Toy Story 3 from Pixar Studios).

What will you like…

• Songs from the film, starting with the sensational intro track and followed by a memorable one It’s a party or Eternal history.

• A beautiful romance between beauty and the beast, which is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful love stories of the studio.

• Various secondary characters, both funny and friendly, such as Lumiere’s candlestick, Big Ben’s clock or Mrs. Samovar’s teapot.

What could be bothering them…

• The beast, especially at the beginning of the film, before the character becomes human. It’s truly terrifying when you get to know him, his metamorphosis (primarily internal) is all the more incredible.

• The real villain of the film is Gaston. Quite funny and funny most of the time, he also knows how to be annoying on occasions.

(Re)discover all the hidden details of Beauty and the Beast…