BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Rating: 
Original Review: Possibly the best loved of all the recent Disney animated adventures, Beauty and the Beast justifiably maintains its position as the only animated film to have been nominated as Best Picture, and was a deserved Best Score and Best Song winner in 1990. Alan Menken's score, which is rich and exciting, makes great use of the underscore for the equally excellent songs. 'To The Fair' is a quirky, chirpy march which uses the underscore to 'Belle' for the most part; 'West Wing' is a marvellously atmospheric cue featuring the magical theme used in the prologue; 'The Beast Lets Belle Go' is a romantic, emotional piece; 'Battle on the Tower' is a fun, heartstopping action cue, and the finale - 'Transformation' - contains all the themes in a gloriously operatic close.
The songs themselves are also really good: heavily in the style of Broadway showstoppers, but I have to admit that some of the late Howard Ashman's lyrics are most peculiar - listen to the words during the performance of 'Gaston', and you will see what I mean. With lines like "In a spitting match nobody spits like Gaston" and "Every last inch of me's covered with hair" is it any wonder I generally prefer Stephen Schwarz as a lyricist - his songs have a much more adult content and slyly ambiguous words (just listen to the Hellfire track from The Hunchback of Notre Dame for proof). However, the songs 'Belle' and the famous 'Beauty and the Beast' are absolutely wonderful. The former, performed by Paige O'Hara, is fun and upbeat with a marvellous chorus; the latter won the Oscar and is one of the best romantic songs ever, not just from movies. The only quibble is that I would have chosen somebody other than Angela Lansbury to perform it: it deserves someone who can hold a note and with a much clearer voice to do it justice. Also, the Jerry Orbach-sung 'Be Our Guest' is a real showstopper with a hint of Oliver and more than a touch of the Moulin Rouge. Overall, this is by far the best Disney album so far and I think it will take something rather special to knock it off its pedestal.
Track Listing:
- Prologue (orchestral) (3:12)
- Belle (song) (5:07)
- Belle Reprise (song) (1:03)
- Gaston (song) (3:37)
- Gaston Reprise (song) (2:01)
- Be Our Guest (song) (3:42)
- Something There (song) (2:16)
- The Mob Song (song) (3:28)
- Beauty and the Beast (song) (2:44)
- To The Fair (orchestral) (1:55)
- West Wing (orchestral) (3:39)
- The Beast Lets Belle Go (orchestral) (2:19)
- Battle on the Tower (orchestral) (5:27)
- Transformation (orchestral) (5:45)
- Beauty and the Beast (performed by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson) (5:45)
Running Time: 52 minutes 00 seconds
Disney (1993)
Voice Cast: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Angela Lansbury, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Richard White and Jesse Corti.
Original score composed by Alan Menken. Original song score composed by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Howard Ashman. Orchestrations by Alan Menken, Danny Troob and Michael Starobin. Recorded and mixed by Michael Farrow, John Richardson and Bruce Botnick. Edited by Kathy Bennett. Album produced by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1997. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.