Category Archives: Transformation

Beauty and the Beast

10 Minute Deconstruction: The opening scene is that of a castle, with an voiceover serving as our narrative, which explains the back-story for the rest of the movie. It sets the tone, a dark, mysterious aura, before introducing Belle, the protagonist. Scarcely 3 minutes in, we’re given our first musical number. I do not usually like characters spontaneously bursting into song for no reason, but the music is so damn catchy I really have to make an exception here. Belle is an adventurous, slightly airheaded girl, but extremely likeable. During the course of the musical number, our antagonists are introduced, a steroid-driven lumberjack-wannabe named Gaston, and his dimwitted assistant. Gaston seems to be part squirrel, as he spends most of his time on rooftops, but I digress. He’s egotistical. Gaston throws himself at Belle in a rather sexist way, and, unsurprisingly, is shot down. Belle’s father, an eccentric inventor, has trouble getting his ideas to work, as tends to happen.

My Review: 9/10

There are very few bad things I can say about a classic. Especially one that is very close to the hearts of so many people. And really, it’s an excellent movie, both for kids and adults, although I do recall being slightly traumatized as a kid by some of the darker scenes. The story itself progresses and develops as the movie continues, starting off light and fairly whimsical while gradually moving into darker and darker realms. The backstory is interesting and the characters all different, and while perhaps not exactly relatable due to the context of the story, they’re memorable. One of the few things that I feel takes a little bit of the magic out of the movie is the shameful sequels, prequels, and midquels that came out of it.  I won’t even go into detail on those. But in my opinion, they are just spineless additions to the franchise, trying to cash in on the success of the original. But they just didn’t have the same magic. But it’s not like Disney makes a habit of…. *spots Cinderella III* DAMN IT!

The Transformation: [Spoilers ahead. But if you haven’t seen this movie at least once by now, shame on you.] Due to the Master’s greedy nature, the transformation was not limited to him alone, but spread to the entire staff of the castle. Dozens of people transformed against their will, threatened with the possibility of being stuck forever. Despite this, they are cautiously optimistic, which I personally found to be one of the few flaws of the movie. Hell, if I was transformed against my will into something I didn’t want, I’d probably bitch about it. Although, the main story takes place years after the curse is placed on the castle, so it could be assumed that they are used to it by now, and have moved from bitching about it to trying to do something about it. Presumably, should they wind up being stuck in that way forever, I would expect there would be quite a mutiny. Now, while the transformations themselves are not sequenced and merely glanced over, my dear friend Kashi has illuminated me to something interesting. Apparently, during the course of the stage musical, the transformations are indeed progressive. So, should you get the opportunity to see the stage production, I would recommend going to see it, if transformations are your thing. Oh! And before I forget, rumor has it that Beauty and the Beast may be re-released theatrically along with the Lion King. So keep an eye out for that.

BrisingrKonungr