There must be more than this provincial life
Disney could be accused of exploiting the nostalgia of their back catalogue with their recent spate of live action remakes and they are, but it’s hard to get angry given they produce such entertaining films. While Alice in Wonderland wasn’t to everyone’s taste, it made a tremendous amount of money. Maleficent was a reasonably interesting spin on the Sleeping Beauty mythology although the proposed sequel does seem a step too far. Cinderella was an absolute joy and The Jungle Book was simple stunning visually and masterful storytelling.
Now comes Beauty and the Beast, the first of the Disney renaissance films to be given an update. For many, this is the definitive Disney film, a critical darling which became the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The film tells the story of Belle, a beautiful yet strange girl who loves to read and dreams of more than just becoming the wife of Gaston, her arrogant and unpleasant suitor. When her father gets lost on the way to a fair, he stumbles across the Beast’s castle and she agrees to stay in his place, and slowly begins to change his animalistic anger.
This will be the first full live action musical adaptation of a Disney Classic (although The Jungle Book incorporated to most iconic tunes), featuring the songs which gave the original its charm with Alan Menkin returning to write a brand new score as well as teaming up with Tim Rice returning to write some new material.
Emma Watson stars as Belle, Dan Stevens as Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, Josh Gad as Le Fou, Emma Thompson as Mrs Potts, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere and Ian McKellan as Cogsworth.
Beauty and the Beast arrives in theatres 17 March 2017
1 Trackback / Pingback