‘Beauty and the Beast’ Is Disney’s Latest Mega Production
Beauty and the Beast is a tale for the ages. We’ve read it in fairytale books and watched it in numerous TV and movie adaptations. Maybe the most memorable of this classic was the iconic 1991 Disney animation. With its infectious songs and beautiful graphics, the film entered the popular mainstream worldwide.
Now, Disney is reviving its 1991 rendition with live action heroes, making this Disney’s latest live action fairytale production, but by no means its last.
The film opens the same way as its 1991 predecessor. Emma Watson inhabits the role of Belle, the iconic character from the 1991 animated film. She says live action fairytales are likely to draw people of all ages into the theaters.
“As a child you love Disney, but as an adult you still love Disney because it sort of connects you with that childlike feeling that everything is going to be OK and there’s hope in the world,” Watson said.
It was this nostalgia that made Disney invest $300 million in this lavish musical, with Oscar winning filmmaker Bill Condon at the helm. The film offers background stories that add depth to their characters, such as Belle.
Watson says the evolution of the romance between Belle and the Beast also is more complex than it was in its previous incarnations.
“Beast and Belle really dislike each other at the beginning, they really don’t get on, and then they form a friendship and then they fall in love,” she said.
This is not the first time Disney has turned a beloved animated fairytale into a live action version.
The Jungle Book by acclaimed filmmaker Jon Favreau became a box office hit, received broad critical acclaim and won an Academy award.
Similarly, Maleficent — the dark fairy who wishes Princess Aurora into an endless sleep in Sleeping Beauty — got her own movie, with Angelina Jolie as the title character in Disney’s live 2014 action film.
