The live action Beauty and the Beast has come out in the cinemas and luckily, I was able to go and see it.
In 1991, the animated version was released in the cinemas. It won multiple awards such as the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy , Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Best Original Song award for its title song. It also became the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Disney's first animated film to be turned into a broadway musical.
With the original having been so widely popular, director Bill Condon was under a lot of pressure and had the extremely critical eyes of every Disney fanatic on him. Very soon after the release, the ratings came pouring in and it was clear very quickly that it was a hit with the public.
The storyline didn't stray too far from the original, only diverting when it need to fix one of the plot holes some avid fans managed to spot in the first film which clearly showed that the director wanted this to be an improved version of the animation. Other differences included finally finding out what happened to Belle's mum, a mystery that hadn't been solved until now.
I loved this version of the film and found that all the characters, in my eyes, where casted perfectly. The soundtrack is incredibly catchy and true to the original but a warning, if you do go and see the film, you will be singing "Gaston" for days afterwards!
Maisie Fletcher, LPGS
