A Bela e a Fera

I'm going to get this out of the way first. Old Man is the best thing about this movie. Just the attitude and stupidity he has has gotten him to become a cult classic character. Other than that, the movie was MEH. Beauty was just as dumb as her father, the two sisters, I wish could get karma back to them for being so mean, and the brothers are, well,just there. Beast is a joke, and Clara could care less about what she does. The animation is cheap, and some of the acting feels like the actors could give two s**ts. But, personally, if it wasn't for Old Man, I would have given this a much lower rating than it has, maybe like a four or three. And on a side note, this movie ain't an exact ripoff of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, but it is definitely a cheap cash in.

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.

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