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Release Date: September 20th, 2016 Movie Release Year: 1991

Beauty and the Beast: 25th Anniversary Edition

Overview -

Be our guest at the enchanted 25th Anniversary celebration of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, universally acclaimed as one of Disney's finest animated features and now honored in the Walt Disney Signature Collection. Join brave, independent Belle on the adventure of a lifetime as she sets out to rescue her father and finds herself in the enchanted castle of a mysterious beast. Enjoy this timeless tale overflowing with unforgettable characters and Academy Award(R)-winning music (Best Song, Best Score, 1991)!|It took more than 600 animators, artists, and technicians three and a half years to complete the project.|BEAUTY is the first animated Disney feature scripted by a woman, Linda Woolverton.|The film marked the first time each animator was credited on screen specifically for the character he or she brought to life.|Disney's animation department won a Scientific and Technical Academy Award for the design and development of the Computer Animated Production System used to make the film.|The style of illustration was inspired by French painters Fragonard and Boucher.

OVERALL:
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Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Length:
92
Aspect Ratio(s):
1.78:1
Audio Formats:
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles/Captions:
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Special Features:
Audio Commentary By Directors Kirk Wise And Gary Trousdale, Producer Don Hahn and Composer Alan Menken
Release Date:
September 20th, 2016

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

There's something about 'Beauty and the Beast' that resonates deep inside. It transcends children's animation and becomes something much more. When I think 'Beauty and the Beast' I immediately think of Disney. It's a connection that has become synonymous.

'Beauty and the Beast' is full of excitement, an enthralling story, and some of the most memorable musical numbers to ever grace the big screen. There isn't a song on 'Beauty and the Beast' that can possibly be ignored. Each one demands your attention as they shower you with nostalgic memories of Disney's hand drawn animation heyday.

Because he refused to give refuge to a haggard-looking woman, a young prince has been cursed, transformed into a hideous beast, and his entire staff of servants changed into living inanimate objects, like clocks and candlesticks. Like many of these stories go, the curse can only be broken by true love.

Belle is a beautiful young girl who lives in the neighboring town. She loves reading, breaks into song on a moment's notice, and lives with her kooky father Maurice. Belle is a curious creature, and has her head on straight when it comes to life. The town macho, Gaston, has his eye on her. Gaston boasts about how many eggs he eats everyday and how accurate his spitting is. He's a man's man. Only a manly man would use antlers in all of his decorating. Gaston is sure that Belle is going to marry him, who wouldn't want to marry him? He's the finest male specimen around.

Belle's father Maurice is an inventor, and on his way to a fair to show off his new invention he gets lost and finds himself at the steps of a strange castle (it's interesting that this castle has been there for sometime, and the townspeople are only now realizing it). Maurice is imprisoned by the beast. Once Belle realizes he's missing, she goes out looking for him, finds the castle, and trades herself for her father's life.

We know what must happen from here. Belle must embark on the seemingly impossible quest of loving a beast. But compared to Gaston, the beast is a catch.

In a day and age when computer animation is all the rage, it's amazing to revisit 'Beauty and the Beast' and see just how beautiful hand drawn animation can be. The animation here is some of the most colorful and lively in all of Disney's long line of animated features. The music, created by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (the same duo that worked together on 'The Little Mermaid'), has not only stayed in our minds ever since we first saw the movie (To this day, "Be Our Guest" still pops up in my head continually.), but they have sunk into popular culture.

Nowadays, with the ten Best Picture slots at the Oscars, it's much easier for animated films to find their way into the awards picture. Back when 'Beauty and the Beast' was made, it was unthinkable that a children's animated feature could be nominated for Best Picture. It went up against movies like 'JFK,' and that year's winner 'Silence of the Lambs.'

'Beauty and the Beast' is a classic fairy tale, and with Disney's touch, it has become one of the most memorable and influential animated features of all time.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

The release comes with one 50GB Blu-ray and one DVD. A slipcover is included.

Video Review

Ranking:

Tremendous, fantastic, awe-inspiring, beautiful… I think I could just sit here with a thesaurus open for the rest of this video portion using ever synonym of "amazing" that I can find. Disney's 1080p transfer of their classic film looks absolutely magnificent in every conceivable way.

According to the pamphlet insert, when Disney went back and reexamined the film's master elements, they found that they were covered with "white dirt and water spots," but on previous standard definition releases these defects weren't visible. In order to create a pristine transfer, Disney had to go through "extensive spotting sessions with the film's creators" and restore the elements in order to make them high definition worthy.

All that care and meticulous pampering pays off in a big way. You can tell the folks at Disney took their time on this to get it just right, because this literally looks like it was drawn yesterday. In a word, it's majestic.

Throughout its entire runtime, not once did I notice a speck of white dirt, or a fleck of source noise. It's as clean as a high definition image can get. No banding, blocking, ghosting, or any other anomalies that might hinder your viewing experience. Colors are the definition of vibrant. They burst off the screen with life. The computer animation that was used for the ballroom has never looked better either. Although, by today's standards the animation does look a tad dated, it still looks amazing as the Beast and Belle dance slowly around the room. Detail is so fine that you can see hesitations in the lines that create the characters, and I even noticed on a couple of occasions a few instances where the coloring of objects crept ever-so-slightly over the bordering lines. The richness of Disney's hand drawn animation shines through in a magnificent way. Belle's famous golden gown is a sight to behold. It's never been seen in such clarity before. Just one of the many treats that lay in wait for you to discover during this amazing presentation.

Darker scenes fair just as well, the shadows are perfectly cast. Contrast works wonders during the scene in which the Beast bargains with Belle in the dungeon for her father's life.

High definition catalog titles don't get much better looking than this.

Audio Review

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Referring again to the pamphlet, Disney also went back to the source with original sound mixer Terry Porter, who was nominated for Best Sound in 1999, and created an all new 7.1 mix. After creating a 7.1 mix for the originally mono-track 'Snow White' and making it sound superb, I had no reservations that Disney would be able to take 'Beauty and the Beast' and remix it to perfection. In short, they have.

I can't think of a movie in Disney's library that could benefit more from a 7.1 mix than 'Beauty and the Beast.' There's so much going on, and the musical numbers alone demand a mix that can support their sheer size and spectacle.

Dialogue is spread throughout the front part of the soundfield, even finding its way into the side speakers for some stellar directionality that caused me to turn my head more than once. The Beast's voice is full of LFE, and the sub gets a heavy workout during his numerous yells and roars. Frankly, it's so deep and resonant, it's what I imagine 'Jurassic Park's T-Rex sounding like in high-def (if it gets a Blu-ray release). The rear of the soundfield is almost just as busy as the front. There isn't a time where the rears aren't at the least engaged. The musical numbers bring the surround sound to life as the characters sing and dance, engulfing you in the movie.

Sound effects are pristine, pans sound perfect. This is one of the best high definition sound presentations of the year, if not the best. Everything from the crystal clear dialogue and song lyrics to the chaotic cacophony of sounds that accompany the great battle scene at the end are perfectly remixed to give us the most wondrous sound design 'Beauty and the Beast' has ever enjoyed on home video.

Special Features

Ranking:

There are also brand-new featurettes that didn’t make it to the disc, and were instead stuck on Disney’s digital-only delivery system. This is a shame. Some of them were not operable at the time of this review so I have not seen them. Also, included digitally are dozens of previous special features that were included on the Diamond edition.

Also included is all the different releases, which are covered in the Diamond Edition review.

Audio Commentary – This commentary is only available on the Extended Edition. Directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise are joined by composer Alan Menken and producer Don Han. This is the same audio commentary that was included on the Diamond Edition.

Song Selection (Sing-Along Edition Only) (HD, 23 min.) – In Sing-Along mode you can skip around to any song you want to sing along with.

Searching for Beast’s Castle (HD, 18 min.), Acting as a Team (HD, 7 min.), The Beauty of Voice Acting (HD, 10 min.), Frame By Frame: A Thumbnail Sketch of the History of Animation (HD, 14 min.), Disney: A Fairy Tale (HD, 8 min.), Full Circle to Broadway (HD, 10 min.), Ever a Surprise: A Portrait of Howard Ashman (HD, 14 min.).

Final Thoughts

It’s not worth the double dip especially since all you're getting is a few new extras and most of them are digital-only. That hardly seems worth buying an entirely new release. This release, as it contains the same audio and video as the Diamond release, is for people who haven’t purchased the Diamond edition or for crazy collection types that need every Disney release regardless. Unless you didn't buy this the first time around, you can skip this.