Trailer Review 054 Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast

Disney
[17th of March, 2017]

Chance of Success =  definitely 100% and beyond!

Trailer Effectiveness = 
v 100% since it's a tribute to the original v

short tv spot

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As the famous fairy tale originated from France, they took into account how the royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, looks and make adjustments to the overall shape to resembles more of the classic Disney's Cinderella Castle that is always used as the logo for the company.

The first look from afar of the Beast with the dreaded rose ...

Okay, here's a viable theory from Nerdist (you can watch it below):
"To retcon a plot hole in the original animated classic, the prologue in the original animated classic mentioned that the Beast has until the 21st birthday to break the spell put upon him and later during 'Be Our Guest' number, Lumiere lamented that ten years had passed. With 'the Prince' on the verge of that decisive date, he should be eleven years old when the incident happened so he was just a young boy who had to turn away the old beggar simply because of 'stranger danger' and the absence of the parents in the castle should be brought up as well. Regarding the portrait, the original's interpretation of an eleven years old above simply missed the mark entirely and compared to it, the live action family portrait appeared to tackle these two issues head on: the Prince looks to be more age-appropriate and the slashes on both his own and the father's faces as well but intriguingly leave the mother's alone. Looking back to the original creepy plot line of basically a jerk forcing a woman to leave together until she falls in love with him, this new take might give a more credible motive behind his actions as the father was the one who turned away the beggar and bring the curse upon the castle: the Beast simply a poor kid suffering off of the selfishness of his father and making him a more sympathetic figure instead of the opposite."

Going to the castle garden despite the warnings from everyone of the monster living inside it, the father, Maurice, an inventor himself, appeared to be fixated on the white flowers (rose?), probably the sole reason he was there in the first place.

The inevitable happened when the Beast caught him 'red-handed,' probably justified his decision to imprison the father who trespass into the ground and steal his property.

Finding out Maurice didn't return from his ill-fated trip, Belle bravely open the front door and step into the building although with a wooden stick to protect herself.

Although some of the classic visuals from the cartoon have to be changed and updated into more contemporary and realistic aesthetic, everything looks so tactile and cohesive here as the front area of the castle looks different yet still beautiful on its own.

Having wandered the castle alone without encountering anything (or anybody else), she made a beeline to the source of a call for help, finding her own father behind bars (or taken into custody) and then finding out who was behind this.

The first encounter between the two protagonists: the former shocked to find out a beast looking back at her although surprisingly not fazed too much by it while the latter looking back with a forlorn expression on his face, probably understanding fully his role in this situation and wouldn't want to look more menacing than he already was in this situation. There's a validity here that he is to be portrayed 'softer' and more sympathetic compared to his original's more animalistic and brooding animated counterpart.

With her willingly taking the place of her father, the Beast visited the Rose again but now with a possible candidate that could break the curse although the imprisonment angle wouldn't work in his favor, at all.

Here's a much closer look of the famous duo in the franchise, Lumiere and Cogsworth, discussing the same topic from their own perspective.
(It needed to be mentioned that Ewan Mcgregor, the voice of the candelabra, knows how much his French accent in this particular instance doesn't sound authentic and natural enough, as his native French wife did attested. There was also a preview of how Sir Ian Mckellen would sound as the bottom-heavy clock.)

Being forced to stay inside the highest tower in the castle ...

... she first met the Beast's famous underlings in presumably the dungeon her father was kept in before. After meeting a literal beast looking and sounding like a human, it was another thing to have household items to do the same, in their own miniature sizes but acted like full grown adults.
(I already talked about their designs and the overall looks here.)

Possible plot here (I apologize if it's not the same as the original ... I haven't watch it in years but probably will right before this movie comes out.) is the workers whom got transformed as well coerced the Prince to treat Belle better with the curse firmly in mind. Here's our first look of Chip, maybe the only character that was able to keep the original design since it looked the most feasible. (the voice of newcomer Nathan Mack seemed straight out of the original although if they're being kept in that forms for ten years, you wouldn't be able to see them age physically the same as the Beast but when they transformed back to humans hopefully, they should appeared to age considerably from their original appearances before the curse. Oh yeah, would that 'chip' appeared as a scar or a gashing wound on Chip then? Forgive my morbid curiosity.) Regarding Emma Watson, she looked perfect in my humble opinion as Belle in this closest look of her as the titular character.

One of the most recognizable characters was Mrs. Potts now voiced by Emma Thompson and her design now looked more believably realistic than the more cartoonish counterpart.

Finally out of the castle but straight into the wolf's den and her trusty stick couldn't help her get out of this until ... (they must be using the same technology in last year's the Jungle Book to create these photo-realistic wolves.)

... the Prince unleashed his Beast mode cursed upon him to save a girl in need.

"The animators pulled from an assortment of animals to create a chimera of a Beast:

from the jaws, teeth and mane of a lion, the head of a buffalo, the brow of a gorilla, the arm and body of a bear, the tusk of a wild boar, the legs and tails of a wolf."

Learning of the origin to understand him more, she finally came face to face with the Rose, possibly feeling the connection between the curse and herself.
(this scene looked particularly beautiful in its composition and the use of forced perspective)

Not fully grasping the whole situation of Belle being kept in the castle by the Beast, Gaston was able to gain the village's trust (with his own mural in the tavern, their admiration of him was certainly evident) and convinced them to band together and march to save the damsel in distress.
(his original inferior intelligence would probably be replaced with just an unfortunate misunderstanding. His sidekick on the other hand ...)
In the little snippets of the trailer and the images seen, Luke Evans is appeared to be the perfect real life embodiment of Gaston, with the original used a lot of now cheesy tropes to visualize his manliness while he's also following the realistic trend with the more appropriate garments but his demeanor would certainly be in the similar arrogant veins.

Indebted to him for saving her life and finally understanding of his predicament all these years, she began to open up to him and trying to appeal to his humane side that's still there ... and this was the first time the Prince felt the touch of a female (or human for that matter), helping him to treat other being with kindness.

Replying her kindness with his own, he learned of her love for books and led her in the right direction of probably learning the lore of the curse and how to break it.

Finally reciprocating each other's feelings, they mutually agreed to share a romantic evening dance together because they felt connected and attracted to each other.

As the day turned to night, the angry mob reached the entrance but something must have happened there: maybe we'll see the little servants really fending off the now spooked human crowd with just sheer terror or some sort of plan concocted by them or maybe the inventor protege herself, Belle.

The last batch of images are out of the sequences in the movie and I would rearrange them in order:

This would be her first introductory scene: singing "Belle (Reprise)" while ...

... this was the perfect introduction fitting the egomaniac heartthrob.

Probably dancing along with the Beauty and the Beast, Lumiere was seen here dancing with the updated version of Featherduster, Debutante (voiced by Sonoya Mizuno of Deus Ex Machina fame).

Whether or not they would follow the original storyline, this ultimate duel would see Belle coming back to the Beast's side just fast enough for her to get the Beast to fight back against Gaston and the tragic end of the Beast would be a wonderful ending, hopefully.
(Would they change the ending? Anything is possible but it is highly unlikely ...)

This could be their first dance together but I want to end with this beautiful scene. Just look at that!
(As extraordinarily magical and groundbreakingly beautiful the iconic ballroom dance scene, this short but sweet live action twirl is gorgeous in its own way.)

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+ Highlights +

Enchanting musical scores bringing back to life the original's signature tunes,

faithful live action representation of the beloved classic,

apparently fixing a number of plot holes from the original's storyline,

making the male protagonist a more sympathetic figure than an annoying one,

amazing cinematography represented with the contrast of dark interiors and the bright exteriors.

? Points of contention ?

The servants' transformation would be divisive now until we see them in action ourselves,

that accent though ... still needs works to perfected it.

- Lowlights -

Changing of the appearance of the Beast would still annoy the purists.

! Scenes to Admire !
Belle singing on the mountaintop, Gaston singing in the tavern(?), the castle garden blanketed with snow, the Beast came to the rescue, Belle came face to face with the Rose, the first connection between the couple ... and the horse, and the iconic ballroom dance.

Cast

Emma Watson - Belle
Dan Stevens - Beast
Luke Evans - Gaston
Ewan McGregor - Lumière
Ian McKellan - Cogsworth
Emma Thompson - Mrs. Potts
...

- IMDb - official - wiki - wikia -

- Synopsis -

An adaptation of the classic fairy-tale about a monstrous prince and a young woman who fall in love.

(Director Bill Condon [Dreamgirls],  Rating PG, Genre - Disney, Fantasy, Musical, Romance)

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