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I've been re-reading the Beauty and the Beast TV Tropes page and re-watching key scenes on YouTube, and it's reminded me how much I love this movie. I've not watched it all the way through in about 15 years at least, probably closer to 20.
(Oh my God, years, how do you happen? Also, spoiler warning.)
It's probably the best straight-up romance Disney has ever animated, and without a doubt one of the most beautifully animated 2D movies they ever made, as well as just being one of the best movies in the Disney Animated Canon. The Lion King is right up there with it in terms of quality, but for me at least this one is the best--it's just ... grander, in so many ways, without losing its sincere heart.
I'm probably too tired to try to make any more sense than that, so I'm going to quit while I'm (maybe) ahead.
The thing is, as I've gotten older my tastes in fiction, and in particular, romance, have changed. When I was little, I was totally on board with the Beast getting turned back into a Prince and he and Belle going off and doing their Happy Ever After thing.
Now, that feels a bit like a copout. The whole movie is about sending the message that true love is not about appearances, but about the people we are inside. So it feels a little hollow that the ending rewards acknowledgement of love of the Beast's inner beauty by giving him outer beauty. The Beast had already regained his humanity by the end, if not his human body, and it's his humanity and personality and heart (and even presumably his use as a living furry blanket) Belle falls in love with.
(Alleged outer beauty. I personally think the Prince is one of the least attractive of the human Disney Princes, and prefer the Beast's design. It's not necessarily more attractive (unless you're into chimera), but it's one of the most interesting and complex heroic romantic couple character designs Disney has ever done. And the fact that Belle genuinely falls in love with him when he looks like that, to the point she's initially disappointed/suspicious it's really him when he turns human until she looks him in the eyes and recognizes him, really sells the film's underlying message.)
I'm tuning in for Belle's romance with a thinking, feeling Beast, not her romance with some generic prince that neatly sidesteps all the really interesting potential character-drama of their relationship with the power of blandness.
So what I'd love to see is an AU where the movie ends almost exactly as before. Gaston is defeated, Belle and the Beast confess their love, the spell is lifted from the castle and most of its inhabitants...except the Beast. And they're still in love, anyway, because their love is epic. Now, there would be some drama, but they fall in love while he's a chimera so there shouldn't be a boat-load of "I'm a monster!" angst, if only because it would unnecessarily rewind Beast's story-arc--he's already gone through that in the original movie, and conquered it masterfully by the conclusion. It actually weakens his character if it's implied he only overcame his outer appearance and opened up emotionally because he was depending on getting his human body back to manage a long term relationship.
There appears to be an actual small cottage industry of these sorts of fics. I've run across a few on FFN, already. If anyone would like to recommend any, let me know. I'm going to keep exploring and will post recs of any good ones I find.
(Oh my God, years, how do you happen? Also, spoiler warning.)
It's probably the best straight-up romance Disney has ever animated, and without a doubt one of the most beautifully animated 2D movies they ever made, as well as just being one of the best movies in the Disney Animated Canon. The Lion King is right up there with it in terms of quality, but for me at least this one is the best--it's just ... grander, in so many ways, without losing its sincere heart.
I'm probably too tired to try to make any more sense than that, so I'm going to quit while I'm (maybe) ahead.
The thing is, as I've gotten older my tastes in fiction, and in particular, romance, have changed. When I was little, I was totally on board with the Beast getting turned back into a Prince and he and Belle going off and doing their Happy Ever After thing.
Now, that feels a bit like a copout. The whole movie is about sending the message that true love is not about appearances, but about the people we are inside. So it feels a little hollow that the ending rewards acknowledgement of love of the Beast's inner beauty by giving him outer beauty. The Beast had already regained his humanity by the end, if not his human body, and it's his humanity and personality and heart (and even presumably his use as a living furry blanket) Belle falls in love with.
(Alleged outer beauty. I personally think the Prince is one of the least attractive of the human Disney Princes, and prefer the Beast's design. It's not necessarily more attractive (unless you're into chimera), but it's one of the most interesting and complex heroic romantic couple character designs Disney has ever done. And the fact that Belle genuinely falls in love with him when he looks like that, to the point she's initially disappointed/suspicious it's really him when he turns human until she looks him in the eyes and recognizes him, really sells the film's underlying message.)
I'm tuning in for Belle's romance with a thinking, feeling Beast, not her romance with some generic prince that neatly sidesteps all the really interesting potential character-drama of their relationship with the power of blandness.
So what I'd love to see is an AU where the movie ends almost exactly as before. Gaston is defeated, Belle and the Beast confess their love, the spell is lifted from the castle and most of its inhabitants...except the Beast. And they're still in love, anyway, because their love is epic. Now, there would be some drama, but they fall in love while he's a chimera so there shouldn't be a boat-load of "I'm a monster!" angst, if only because it would unnecessarily rewind Beast's story-arc--he's already gone through that in the original movie, and conquered it masterfully by the conclusion. It actually weakens his character if it's implied he only overcame his outer appearance and opened up emotionally because he was depending on getting his human body back to manage a long term relationship.
There appears to be an actual small cottage industry of these sorts of fics. I've run across a few on FFN, already. If anyone would like to recommend any, let me know. I'm going to keep exploring and will post recs of any good ones I find.
