Beauty and the Beast (2017)

And for today's follow-up, the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast.

The Movie:

Continuing their successful formula of springtime live-action remakes, Disney released this version of Beauty in the Beast in 2017 after much anticipation.  It received generally positive reviews, leading to the 10th largest opening weekend of all-time.  As of today, it still ranks 10th in North American box-office and 13th in worldwide box-office all-time.  It received two Oscar nominations, for production design and costume design.

More so than Disney's other live-action remakes, Beauty and the Beast hues closely to the animated film.  Minor additions help add to the backstories of Belle and the Beast, mainly through the use of flashback and a magic book that allows them to travel anywhere.  The Beast is given a minor character change, here being well-educated and much more read than his animated counterpart.  Belle is also made an inventor here, and her father Maurice is more a tinkerer and artist.

Let's start by saying I do enjoy this film, and I think it is well done.  The problem is that unlike Cinderella and The Jungle Book, it is harder to justify this film's existence, at least from an artistic point of view.  (Financially it is easy to see)  Both of the former films' animated versions, while good and classic movies, have flaws that lend themselves to modern updates, and I mentioned these improvements in my reviews for the live-action versions.  However, with Beauty and the Beast being both more recent and about as good as you get from Disney, while it is possible to make additions to the story, they don't really come across as improvements.

Ok then, why not just use the original as inspiration and take it in a new direction?  While this version does give some new ideas, at many times it tries too hard to match the original, which just serves to invite comparison.  The catch-22 is that this movie would be held as a much better movie in a vacuum, but when put side-by-side with the original, at times it just falls short.

The performances range from fairly good to excellent.  I especially enjoy Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Josh Gad as LeFou, Luke Evans as Gaston, and Kevin Kline as Maurice.  As the leads, Dan Stevens gives a nuanced performance as the Beast and does a nice job with his song, while Emma Watson, while capturing both Belle's intelligence and innocent idealism, occasionally falls flat in the more emotional moments, especially in the songs.  The award for the most underused performer ever has to go to Audra McDonald, easily the best singer in the movie (and a Broadway veteran).  Her character does benefit from some of the additional music, but couldn't she have been given even more?

And as to the music, you almost have to feel sorry for Alan Menken for the task he is given here.  The original Beauty and the Beast was easily one of the landmark movies of his career.  A short time later he revisits the material without the help of his recently deceased lyricist, and yet manages with the help of Tim Rice to expand Beauty and the Beast and add some new songs for a Broadway musical.  Then here, where the additional songs from the Broadway show could have been used, instead he is asked to not use them, but instead provide more new material yet again.  Amazingly, his work here is one of the highlights of the movie.

As to the original songs, they are all here and relatively untouched (except for excising the reprise of "Gaston," which does lose one of my favorite lines from the original).  "Be Our Guest" gets a slight reshuffling of a couple of the stanzas.  "Gaston" gets a few lyrical changes and an extended dance break.  "The Mob Song" also gets a few new lyrics to help with LeFou's new shift in character.  These changes all work, although the one in "Be Our Guest" can be a bit jarring depending on which soundtrack you've been listening to more lately.  As to the new songs (all with lyrics by Rice), the first is "Aria," and while it is nice to give Audra McDonald more to do, it does bog down the prologue somewhat.  "How Can a Moment Last Forever" is a touching song, and it also serves as a running motif throughout the film.  "Days in the Sun" is this movie's counterpart to the original cut song later used in the Broadway show "Human Again," and this song is much more low key and fitting tonally.  "Evermore," a new ballad for the Beast, is the most welcome addition, and it was robbed of a best song nomination, as it was miles better than any of the other nominees save the actual winner, Coco's "Remember Me."

The closing credit songs are three covers.  First is a return from Celine Dion, and she covers "How Can a Moment Last Forever."  Next up, Ariana Grande and John Legend cover the title track in what is essentially a karaoke version of the original, and while they are fine, it offers nothing new from the original pop version.  Then Josh Groban gets his version of "Evermore," in a match that is made in opera-crossover heaven.

I should also note that Alan Menken's score here is wonderful, with only a few key scenes, primarily the opening and the transformation scene reusing the music from the original, whereas much of the underscore does a nice job of using the themes from the new songs.  Also, I don't know who did the orchestration of the instrumental version of "Beauty and the Beast" in the trailer, but I was disappointed that it wasn't in the movie.

Presence in the Parks:

So with WDW recently getting much more Beauty and the Beast, this film didn't do a whole lot for that park, although I image there was some cross-promoting, especially in the way of merchandise.

However, on the west coast, Disney used this movie as an excuse to bring Beauty and the Beast into Disneyland.  As part of a "temporary" promotion, that park's Village Haus became the Red Rose Taverne, adding new Beauty and the Beast inspired murals and food.  And there is a reason the word "temporary" is in quotes, because as of this writing, it is still there, with a recently expanded menu.

Other new offerings still present are Maurice's Treats, a snack cart, and Royal Reception, a gift shop.  A Beauty and the Beast show also alternates with a Tangled show at the Royal Theatre, and for a time, there was an increased presence of Gaston at Disneyland.