I had forgotten how much I missed traditional animation.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Pixar and (sometimes) Dreamworks as much as the next guy, but I fervently believe there’s nothing like good ol’ traditional animation, and the offer of rewatching Beauty and the Beast (and for me, for the 1st time in theaters) was too good to turn down. Plus, the added enticement of checking out the 3D conversion of this classic ensured that I trekked over to the theater as early as possible. And I wasn’t disappointed. No sir. Beauty and the Beast was a great film, is a great film and will remain a great film for a long time.

Do you really want me to recap the story? Where have you been the past 19 years? Humph. Anyway, there’s a cold-hearted prince who has been cursed by an enchantress for his rude behaviour. He must live as a Beast until he loves and is loved in return. If he doesn’t do so by his 21st birthday, he will remain a Beast forever. Enter Belle: a beautiful woman who is a bookish nerd and hence, a fish out of water in her village. She lives with her father Maurice, who is an inventor. Once, en route to another village for a competition, Maurice loses his way and is trapped inside the Beast’s castle. Belle sets out to find him and offers to stay inside the castle, in return for his freedom. From then on, what happens and whether/how the Beast gets rid of his curse is the plot of the film.

Belle: One of the best Disney heroines ever.

Words cannot do justice to the beauty of this film. Everything in this film, from the animation to the art to the characters to the story to the songs, is beautiful. Not only is this film joyously entertaining, it is also blissfully uplifting and won’t fail to leave a smile upon your face. In its quite meagre runtime of 84 minutes, the film will take you on a rollercoaster ride of romance, repentance, thrill, bravura, happiness and bucketloads of charm.

Now, enough has been written, read and discussed about the film over the years, but what hasn’t been talked about much is the 3D conversion. On the surface, a 3D version of Beauty and the Beast might seem odd, considering its 2D animation and predominantly hand-drawn art… but when you delve deeper, it all makes sense. You see, Beauty and the Beast was animated using CAPS (Computer Animation Production System) which allowed the crew to simulate multiplane effects and stage sequences with depth. So, the third dimension already existed, so to speak… it just had to be brought out.

And how does the conversion work exactly? Pretty well. Try to imagine 2D figures embedded in 3D environments and you’ll get the picture. There are no “poke-out!” moments in the film and the 3D has only been used to push the surroundings as far back as possible, lending the film the quality of an immersive and interactive painting. The depthwork in some scenes is staggering. There are 4 such scenes in particular:

  1. A part towards the end of the “Belle” number, when Belle is walking to her home and the entire village is calling out to her.
  2. A sequence in the “Gaston” number, when the camera moves out from a wall in the bar to the window outside.
  3. When Belle and the Beast descend the staircase for their ballroom dance.
  4. The ballroom dance itself.

This sequence is stunning in 3D.

On the other hand, and this might seem contradictory to the previous paragraph, I don’t think that the 3D added anything to the viewing experience of the film. Yes, some scenes were pretty and there was a “Woah!” factor involved, but it was all on the surface. And since a big reason for converting all these old films into 3D seems to be for enhancing the viewer experience, that is quite a big problem. And I think I know the reason why. A conversion might be technically sound and immaculately done, but if the scene in question wasn’t created with the intention of being screened in 3D, then there’s not much you can do. If the director, cinematographer and others, while shooting the scene, didn’t specifically set up the scene for 3D, then no amount of time spent trying to retrofit the scene with an added dimension will make it as good as a shot-in-3D-and-for-3D scene. This problem comes to the fore in scenes like the “Be Our Guest” number and the wolf attack sequence. Both the scenes could/should have been crackerjack in 3D, and there certainly isn’t any fault in their conversion process… it’s just that it’s painfully obvious that directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise didn’t direct the scene with 3D in mind, and hence the added dimension feels… unnecessary, redundant.

In conclusion, any chance to see Beauty and the Beast in theaters is not a bad thing, and if you can simultaneously experience the masterpiece in a new form, then it’s an even sweeter deal. Now, whether that new form was necessary or not, and whether you’ll like it or not… is entirely upto you.

Movie: (4/4)

3D Conversion: (2.5/4)

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Photo Credit: Walt Disney Feature Animation