Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Yes, I did watch this, feeling a sort of fondness for watching some Disney I haven't seen in a while, but then 'Beauty and the Beast' was never one I particularly felt an affinity with, which is odd considering it probably has the most relevance to male audiences.

A lot has been written about the way Disney film install early ideas of femininity in its young audiences, but here I feel the focus is much more on the male characters. We are presented with the Beast, a handsome but arrogant young prince who has been cursed until he can find someone to love him for the goodness within. This means that boys will be shown early on that a good heart is better than being the best. The alternative is Gaston, much more beastly than the Beast, the local strongman and selfstyled hero, who is much admired by women and men alike but is entirely self centred and cruel. Although he is clearly the baddie, his success and standing in the local community is attractive, and his raw masculinity and demonstration of brute strength would be very tempting for boys to try to imitate. Both compete for the love of Belle, a beautiful, dreamy heroine who is capable of seeing beyond facades and showing an interest in true character, of which Gaston is completely void. The other dominant male figure is Belle's father, who may be the most kind and gentle but is ridiculed by the townspeople and cast as too feminine, perhaps, to be taken seriously. Other male figures are the comical and suppressed assistant of Gaston, Lefou, the womanising but kind candlelarbra(!), Lumiere, and the uptight but, again, kindhearted clock(!), Cogsworth. They all present alternative ideas of masculinity and offer alternative amounts of authority, all of which Belle ignores as an independent spirit.

Belle is clearly an admirable role model for young girls: beautiful, friendly, independent, studious, strongwilled, brave, loving and gentle. The pick of the men, however, is not too appealing, and it's unlikely that any girls grew up wanting to marry the Beast. He makes an interesting antihero, whilst Gaston is clearly a bad example, but the way society at large responds to these characters could easily cause a minor dilemma in any young boy looking for a role model.

Or maybe it's just Disney. With a few songs, as usual, but not too many and none particualrly memorable other than the one accompanying the pioneering dance sequence and sung by Angela Lansbury as a teapot. It's nice to go back to the more oldfashioned style of cartoon, but that dance sequence, which made use of computer technology, hinted at the future of Disney films, and the good run of animations from Dreamworks. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.