Μύ The revival of Walt Disney as an animation studio was sealed with the 1991 release of "Beauty and the Beast". It's not surprising then that they're rewarding this film with two stunning DVD releases. This review is for the two-disc collector's edition, which goes into considerable detail on the animation of the film. There's also a single-disc family edition, which is all you'll need if it's to keep young kids entertained. The features that you'll find on the family edition have been asterisked in this review.
TECHNICAL FEATURES
Picture All three versions of the film look sensational in colour, depth, and texture. The special edition version looks brand new.
Sound An impressive 5.1 sound mix adds real thunder to the Beast and his mood, with the subwoofer used to excellent effect in enhancing the terror he wreaks. The musical score benefits too from a delightful front-speaker mix that opens up the songs beautifully.
DISC ONE SPECIAL FEATURES
Which Version? Three versions of the movie are available for you to see. The new special edition, the original 1991 release, or the 'work in progress' version shown at the New York film festival in 1991. All come with 5.1 sound and presented in impeccable anamorphic widescreen.
Of real interest is the 'work in progress' version, which features segments of line drawing, pencil sketches, partially coloured scenes, and even a coffee stain or two. It's fascinating to watch, often quite dramatic, and strangely moving.
Audio Commentary Directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, and producer Don Hahn get together for an amusing and highly informative commentary that's available only for the special edition version of the movie. A lot is discussed, from revealing two opening characters that have been borrowed from "Bambi", right through to the innovative direction, which featured tricks like smash cuts and crane shots only used before in live-action movies.
Character and background designs are analysed in detail, and of particular interest are the points made about the look of the castle. What was imperative was that it would not end up looking like a Disney castle that had been seen before.
Maurice's Invention Workshop You'll have to play this game in order to get the secret combination that will allow you to 'Break the Spell' on disc two. If you haven't seen the film before then you'd better watch it before attempting to play.
Sing Along Track * Sing along to the songs with this subtitle track. It's obviously been lifted from the caption titles, and as such, the presentation could be a little more imaginative. Still, it does the job!
DISC TWO SPECIAL FEATURES
COGSWORTH AND LUMIERE MENU
Development Two short featurettes make up this section which skims over the long history behind the film, which Walt tried to develop in the 30s and 50s. It was re-examined in the 80s, and you can see an early presentation reel of what they came up with.
Story Three featurettes: the first concerns the problem of adapting the story; the second covers an alternate version of Be Our Guest; the third sees producer, Don Hahn, introduce deleted storyreel footage for Human Again.
Music Here's another chance to catch Human Again, this time introduced by composer Alan Menken. You also get two featurettes on how a music score can offer important structure to an animated film.
The Characters The Beast is the subject of two featurettes in this section. Was he meant to be a hero, a villain, or both? And Robby Benson chats about his work on creating the voice for the Beast, and on aiming to try and capture the impression of a tortured soul. You'll also find an array of character galleries here with audio description.
Production Design One little featurette that takes us through the palette of colours used for the backdrops to this film. You can also explore concept art and design galleries, and layouts and backgrounds galleries. Both these galleries contain some stunning artwork for you to browse.
Animation Four featurettes: the first contains frank words from Roy Disney on the dark years of the 70s and 80s for Disney animation; the second introduces the artists behind each character. The other two concern the transformation of the Beast sequence.
Tricks of the Trade You won't learn how to become an animator overnight from these two featurettes, but you can glean an insight into how early computer technology was brought in for the camera movements in the ballroom sequence.
Release and Reaction Three short featurettes trace the progress of the film from a nervous test screening at the New York film festival (where Disney films were usually reviled) to Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. All involved with the film knew that they had something special, but none were prepared for the box office reaction it got.
Song lyricist Howard Ashman never got to see the success of the film as he died before it was released. There's a short featurette in tribute to him, with various interview contributions. Also in this section is a trailer and TV spot gallery, original release publicity gallery with audio description, and the Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson music video * from the film, introduced by a tousled Celine, who pays gushing tribute to the song.
The Broadway Musical A short featurette on how this film was a perfect choice for Broadway adaptation, a publicity gallery, and a costume design gallery for the show is your bag here.
The Special Edition Roy Disney pops up again to talk about the slow and lingering death of the traditional Disney re-issues, where their animated classics would get re-released in the cinemas every seven years. The advent of video and DVD killed these off, but when a special edition cinema release of "Star Wars" came out, the idea was born to do the same with "Beauty and the Beast".
CHIP'S MENU
Disney's Animation Magic If you like being patronised, this Disney Channel featurette is for you. Presented by idiots, it does little justice to the creative people involved. Frankly, the animators should just grab the two presenters and give them a good duffing out back. That would be animation magic.
Chip's Challenge Fancy a musical memory game? You wouldn't be likely to visit this feature more than once, but young kids and DVD reviewers should enjoy the challenge of this fun game.
Music Video * The Celine Dion original may be somewhat syrupy, but this new funked-up version by teen band Jump 5 will soon have you longing instead for the tones of the long faced French-Canadian chanteuse.
MRS POTTS' MENU
Making of Documentary This 28-minute documentary actually borrows a lot of material from featurettes already described, but is perhaps useful if you want a broad overview of the making of the film without navigating through all the individual menus.
Mrs' Potts' Personality Profile Game Which character are you most like? Play this game and you'll soon find out.
The Story behind the Story * Hosted by Celine Dion, you can access short featurettes on the development of some of Disney's most famous movies. Running at only around two-minutes each though, you're not likely to learn much.
Music Video Argh! It's Celine Dion's music video again!
THE ROSE WINDOW
Break the Spell Game * Selecting the Rose Window leads you to a fiendish interactive game. If you screw-up too many times dodging objects, answering questions, matching items, then you delay your quest to save the rose. The ultimate purpose of the game is to make everyone 'human again'. You'll need to have completed Maurice's Invention Workshop on disc one to play this game.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
Region: 2
Chapters: 22
Ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Audio Tracks: English and Spanish
Subtitles: Multiple Languages
Captions: English
Menus: 3D animated
Special Features Subtitles: None of the special features come with subtitles.
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.
