Beauty and the Beast (1992)

You won't be disappointed!

Why so much hype?

Such a frustrating disappointment

Just what I expected

I've watched this animated film of 1992. It's of low quality compared to previous animated Beauty and the Beast films made by Disney and Childrens Fairytale Collection. There has been a number of Beauty and the Beast animations found under Golden Films and Animated Classics. This wasn't the best animated version of the story I've ever seen. The music was a little sickly and slow. The beginning was introducing us to Beauty and the Beast doing a waltz. There are few complaints though. One is that the sisters of Beauty are horrible and ugly, and it appeared like a Cinderella film. In the original fairytale, the sisters of Beauty were not ugly or wicked. They were just interested in clothes and jewels. Beauty's character is unrealistic. She shares the same genes as her ugly rude sisters but is ultra kind, charitable and prefers roses to pretty dresses. She happens to be the most beautiful and blonde, while her sisters are dark. She's got two brothers, who are kind. Father is supposed to be kind because he sounds like a bumbling old man but he cared more about his lost cargo than of the lives of men working on the ship. The introduction to a sinister fairy was a twist, and there was also the kind Clara spirit. I found that the clothes of the characters come from different eras, and it was hard to pinpoint exactly what century they're from. The artists of the film didn't know the history of clothes. Other than my digs, it was a nice colourful film. By the way there was no bad colour stain on the whole film as another IMDB user said in their review so it must've been that person's old VHS. They need to get a new one.

Then again I may be biased as I did grow up watching the Golden Films animations, and slowly going through re-watching them(as well as the Burbank and Jetlag animations) a lot of them are sweet and likable. Golden Films' version of Beauty and the Beast is no exception. It is not as good as their versions of Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid and Pinocchio, but one that does deserve to be judged on its own merits rather than be compared to any other version.(just for the record the 1991 Disney film is one of my absolute favourites and I admit I do prefer it, but that doesn't stop me from liking this version) The animation is not great really, I did think the colours were quite nice, but the backgrounds can lack fluidity and some of the character designs didn't work for me, Beast especially looks goofy. However, the music is wonderful, the opening song The Beauty in the Beast is a real charmer and there are some classical music favourites like Clair De Lune(Debussy), Traumerai(Schumann), Carnival of the Animals(Saint Saens) and The Nutcracker Suite(Tchaikovsky). The story has some additions like Clara, who I loved as a character, and is a little truer than the Disney film to the fairytale, and is very simple and sweet. I did like the story-book structure also. The dialogue also has a cute feel to it, again it's simple but, apart from a couple of childish moments, unlike Jetlag's Alice in Wonderland for example it wasn't overly so. The characters are engaging on the whole, you do warm to the Beast and Beauty is a likable protagonist. The voice work is interesting, always emotive and never passive. Overall, a good charming animation, the music, story and characters more than make up for the wanting animation quality. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I admit, I am a sucker for just about anything animated, especially if it happens to be based on a fairy tale. This movie, for all its technical failings has a charm unto itself. Sure its a simple and childish interpretation, but that is what its supposed to be. I honestly really liked the addition of the character Clara. She was really a kick. I know this was made for small children, but I thought that the design for the beast was more goofy than scary. They could have tried a little harder on that. Another thing that bothers me about a good chunk of the movies released by Good Times ent. is the soundtrack. It's distracting to have familiar classical music constantly playing in the background. This is one of the better Good Times films, and worth a watch for your little ones (or if you're an animation junkie like with an appreciation for the lower budgeted productions).

This movie is generic rubbish. You know those ridiculous Japanese low-budget cartoons of the 80's where there was almost no animation, just a bunch of still prints moving across a background? The ones where the character's lower jaw just bobbed up and down when they spoke? Well this movie is not far removed from them. And it was made in 1992? They're kidding, right? You'd have to be stunningly demented to call this movie stunningly charming. Oh, and watch out for the long coffee-like stain on the left of the screen visible throughout the entire movie. It's not on your monitor, it's in the film. No, I'm not joking. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time with this pauper's version of the classic.