At the Beginning (Again) With 'Anastasia'

I’m over the moon about the new Broadway musical Anastasia. Because it’s based on one of the movies that defined my childhood.

Christy Altomare as Anastasia (justjared.com)

I remember seeing it in theaters, and then when it came out on VHS my mom said I had to clean my room before I could watch it. I cleaned my room and I watched it. And then I watched it again and again and again. Granted, it was years before I could sit through the nightmare scene (I had that problem with a lot of movies). But I learned all the songs. I knew all the quotes by heart. I loved having a heroine who both (a) kicked butt and (b) wore beautiful dresses. No, seriously, SHE. SAVES. THE. DUDE. AND SHE BEATS THE BAD GUY. SHE FREAKING KILLS HIM. That had NOT been a thing in animated princess movies before then, to my knowledge. And the shot where she steps on the reliquary is immensely satisfying. #GirlPower

And ‘Anastasia’ is just the most beautiful, perfect princess name ever. Not only that, but, as Vlad says in the movie, “The name ‘Anastasia’ means she will rise again.” Funny, how the musical is breathing new life into the fandom. It’s really amazing to be seeing this happen on the Internet.

self-generated

If I had to pick my favorite non-disney animated movie, it would be a tie between Anastasia and Thumbelina. It just did something for me that few other movies could. The story, the animation style, the music...no movie satisfies me the way Anastasia does. The themes and the story tie into a lot of my other fandoms--and, yes, I can’t help noticing the connection with a certain Soviet super-assassin with a metal arm. Hence I feel the need to share this crossover fan art:

Is that Bucky and Natasha or Dmitri and Anya? Yes. (Pinterest)

The movie was my gateway drug to all things Russian. The fairy tale led me to the story of the real Anastasia. The real Anastasia led me to Russia’s beautiful history and culture--golden-domed churches, curved kokoshnik tiaras, Ivan the Terrible, Moscow, Catherine the Great, and of course Saint Petersburg.

One of the other impacts was that it gave me a taste for stories about amnesiac princesses--that became a common trope in some of my childhood daydreams. Also magic necklaces.

When I was older and recovering from the trauma that was middle school, I felt like I had to find myself again. That was when the songs “Journey to the Past” and “Once Upon a December” became real to me.

Hello Giggles

My freshman year at BYU I took an introduction to sewing class. During the lab period the other students and I would take turns playing our music. One day, “At the Beginning” came on and some of our classmates said they’d never heard it before. The rest of us thought that was ridiculous. So a few lab days later, we watched Anastasia in class so they could get the reference. The professor happened to come down that day to check on us--she told us we couldn’t watch movies in lab anymore. But it was worth it.

(Not to mention, I went to a friend's wedding last Friday, and you'll never guess what song they played for the bride and groom first dance).

The last time I sat down to watch the movie was right before I graduated college. More recently, I was able to buy the movie soundtrack at a thrift store. I don’t listen to it nearly as much as I ought to.

Also, this happened on Tumblr a couple years ago:

Tumblr screenshot

I was neutral bordering on, I’ll admit, a little hesitant when it was announced that Anastasia was going to be revamped for a Broadway musical (although I couldn’t tell you why). But the soundtrack, the photos and the stage footage we have seen about it in the last few months is nothing short of phenomenal. It’s really brought back the magic. I have an aunt who is going to see Anastasia on Broadway in September and let me tell you I am so jelly.

The new musical makes significant changes to the story and some of the classic songs as well as adding a lot of new material. I don’t really miss Rasputin and Bartok, tbh. But the changes they made for the stage were a tribute to the real history of the Russian Revolution, the Romanovs, and what came afterward. And honestly, those changes make me want to see it even more.

Because

Just like

Every other

Nineties kid

I went home

And learned about

The real

Anastasia

And I learned to like

that version too

And I can understand the need to make a story originally produced for the big screen fit better for a 2-hour stage performance where all you have to work with are humans. I took a Theater 101 class in college. Film and stage share some elements of visual storytelling, but the stage is three-dimensional and tactile to an audience and some story elements cannot be conveyed to the same effect as they would on screen. You have to tell the story differently. Yet the nods we do have to the original film give you chills: the blue gown that Anya wears to the ballet, the absolutely stirring performances of “Journey to the Past” and “Once Upon a December,” a few measures in “Stay, I Pray You” borrowed from “In the Dark of the Night”, the ghosts of the Romanov family. It’s familiar and brand new at the same time. .

justjaredjr I mean HOOOOLY CRAP

I was able to listen to the soundtrack almost all the way through last weekend, thanks to YouTube. Christy Altomare brings an innocence and freshness to Anya’s character, at least in her singing. “In My Dreams” is my favorite new song. It’s a waltz like “Once Upon a December,” but with more major notes, and it conveys the depth of the loss and trauma that Anya has experienced as well as her hope.

I can’t really say much about the new villain, Gleb, without having seen the stage show. But the songs he sings hint at not only his internal conflict but his keen awareness of how revolutions bring out the worst in humanity. And the point is, the bad guy wants to kill her.

I have to admit, I don’t really like the new finale. Probably because I was expecting a reprise of “Journey to the Past,” “Once Upon a December” kind of kills the optimistic vibe about Anya choosing to be herself and go with Dmitri. But, I haven’t actually seen the performance and I don’t know when I’m going to, so I’ll give the jury more time to deliberate on that. So far I still like the movie better--but the musical does a lot for me. It can stay.

Pictaram

I don’t blame the creators of the stage version wanting to go back and explore some of the themes that were hinted at in the film, because there is a LOT to work with.

The Soviet Union and Communism was never mentioned directly in the movie, although we had a couple of cues (Vladimir’s passport, the “People’s Orphanage,” people calling each other comrade. The musical, however, lets us know all about that.  In the new version of “A Rumor in Saint Petersburg,” we open with a speech from Communist party leaders and people complaining about bread lines, and a brief mention of Saint Petersburg being renamed Leningrad. I went to a Russian Choir concert at BYU around easter, and the choir sang a lot of wartime Soviet ballads--let me tell you, “Stay, I Pray You” really draws from that genre. But it also conveys the idea that Russia is still Russia no matter who is in charge of it.

Dmitri, Vlad, and Anya in the Hartford stage production (pre-Broadway) (Hartford Stage)

Anastasia is the story of a young woman who is trying to figure out who she is in terms of both where she came from and who she can be, a journey from the past (Saint Petersburg) to the future (Paris). If you know anything about history, you would know that Paris during the roaring twenties is a major artistic and intellectual hub for people suffering post-World War I Disillusionment. The musical shows us the Russian expats who escaped the Revolution and expressing their bitterness in “Land of Yesterday”. In real life, we had a lot of American expats living and writing in Paris at the time, most notably Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald. A person who walks into that kind of a scene might be provoked to ask certain questions. World War I destroyed a lot of faith that people had in the old way of doing things--monarchy, empire, aristocracy, religion, morality, and so on. Paris, more relevant to the story overall, represented the forward-thinking and forward-mindedness of the future, and it is a place where Anya has to come to terms with what she really wants. Russia at the time is a Communist country where the government dictates the economy and brainwashes people to be loyal to the State, it represents stagnation. Capitalist, glittering Paris is a gateway to opportunity, freedom, and exploration of self.

The movie is probably best thought of as a fantasy that represents working through your inner demons. Rasputin and his minions are a reminder that childhood is, from a child’s perspective, scary. The things that are trying to separate you from what you want are simply understood as monsters and demons and dark magic. You also live in a world where adults say one thing but mean something else. If you don’t believe me, someone at The Atlantic had similar comments to say about Jim Henson’s Labrynth. But, anyway, back to Anastasia, the movie goes to show, those monsters can be slain. The “good magic” if any, comes from what is safe and familiar--the ghosts of her lost family, the lullaby, finding her grandmother again.

The Broadway musical, I guess, is about adulthood, about transitioning into the world emotionally and spiritually. You’re physically an adult, but inside you still have to do some growing up. It is also a reflection of today’s world where there is so much social upheaval and young adults like me go through a lot of displacement, from home, to college, to the job field, and then the challenge of trying to figure out who they are. Anya’s stage journey from Saint Petersburg to Paris is an analogy of this, where we’re coming from versus where we’re trying to get to. Which brings me to another point: somehow I relate more with the lost Anya the Orphan than the snarky teenage IRL Anastasia, because Anya doesn’t know who she is or where she belongs, and she has to find that out for herself. And that’s a journey people tend to get lost on.

One of the most important meta posts ever written about any movie (Pinterest)

Just because we have this new version of the Anastasia legend does not mean we have to discard any version that came before. The good thing about telling stories is that they can be told over and over again. And if you tell a story in a different way each time, then you learn something new from it. It's still something you can enjoy without being uptight about the (lack of) historical accuracy. The important thing is not who or what Anastasia is about but about the journey the characters go on, and what we learn from going with them. The message has always been, and will continue to be, that following your heart is the most important thing. When you know who you really are, then everything else will fall into place. Anastasia is a story that was important to me in my childhood and teen years. It is a story that I continue to find a lot of meaning in.

20th Century Fox/Pinterest

"I'm 'A', Obviously": Happy Birthday to the Real Anastasia

June 18th is the birthday of one of the most adored young women of recent world history. You may know her as the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna, fourth daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. 

Pinterest

Her family, however, knew her as the resident schvibzik, which is Russian for "Imp," because of what a prankster she was.

Pinterest

No, I'm not lying. 

People have impersonated her, novels and movies have been written about her, myths have been blown out of proportion, but the real Anastasia and her family continue to delight and fascinate everyone--including yours truly.

This is Anastasia when she was fifteen--the current age of my baby sister.

Pinterest

Being a 90s kid, of course, the 1997 fantasy Anastasia blew my mind (and it's still one of my favorite movies ever, and it's now spawned a really awesome Broadway musical). But that, of course, was just a small taste of what Anastasia's real story had to offer. 

When I was older, I came across the Royal Diaries series, and Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess by Carolyn Meyer immediately caught my attention. I read it multiple times and there are lines that I can still (almost) quote by heart (including the one I used for the title of this post):

“Tatiana says that if I eat too much blini I will turn into a blin. That could prove interesting!”

"Someday I will dye my hair red and wear a veil. Won't Mama be appalled!

"My derriere hurts" Say 'figure', Anastasia!' snaps Tatiana. "Okay, then the part of my body that was in contact with a saddle for the last three hours hurts!"

"Grandmama forbade all talk of the war and asked me instead about my French studies--that, of course, proved to be a total disaster."

"Why wasn’t I born knowing all these languages?

"I wanted to KICK Derevenko"

"I was hoping we would be free of lessons until we were truly free. No such luck"

Remarking about riding their bikes down the halls of the Alexander Palace with Marie: "so far we have had several spectacular crashes"

Amazon

More than any other title in the Royal Diaries Series, The Last Grand Duchess made the subject likeable and real to the reader. But more than any other royal family in history, the family of Tsar Nicholas II--Empress Alexandra, Olga, Tatiana, Marie, Anastasia, and Alexei--are a lot more real and accessible to people today because of how well-documented their lives were. Nicholas took tons of photos--and some of them were really, really candid.

Nicholas with Tatiana, Pinterest

There's this family photo that is too reminiscent of the painfully awkward family photos of today, Anastasia is on the far right:

Pinterest

Sometimes historical figures are actually way too #relatable.

"Hey, Olga, can you get out of bed?" "NO"
Also, note that the bedding is not super-fancy
(Mashable)

Just being a normal family here. Move along.

Pinterest :) 

Sometimes it blows my mind that something referenced in a fictional diary actually happened. I remember Anastasia talking about Olga's public presentation when she turned sixteen: here is a photo from that very event.

Pinterest

One thing that Meyer describes in the fictional diary is the Romanov family tradition of building a huge snow fort/mountain every winter. This is the one they built in Tobolsk, Siberia, before the guards decided to tear it down.

Pinterest

They're royalty, but at the same time they're the family down the street. Reading their story just makes you feel, not to be tacky or anything, right at home. I mean, they look almost like anybody's kids. We love them because we relate to them. And we have access to everything they made because it all happened a hundred years ago or more--no privacy rules, no social media, everything is fair game to their fans.

Pinterest--Anastasia on the right

And of course, we still have many of their real letters and diaries and first-hand accounts from the people who knew them. You get the sense that the Romanovs loved each other very much. True, they pulled back from the public spotlight quite a bit because they didn't want anyone to know that the baby brother, Alexei, had hemophilia. So they kind of had to be close. But they got to be a real family.

Empress Alexandra with Alexei. Alexei did not want his illness to keep him
from having fun like any other boy, as we can see in this photo (Pinterest)

The four sisters, Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia, were known collectively as OTMA. They were that tight.

OTMA in 1914, the year part of The Last Grand Duchess is set. Anastasia on the left. (pinterest)

The real Anastasia was feisty, sassy and spirited.

From Town and Country Magazine: 

"Grand Duchess Anastasia grew into an energetic child. She was the shortest of the daughters and the least ethereal, with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. What everyone remarked on was her quickness and sense of humor. She loved mischief and playing tricks, not all of them nice... Anastasia was known to trip people; her cousins complained she played too rough. Anastasia didn’t seem to care. She climbed trees and adored animals. She ate chocolates with her gloves on. She was a brilliant mimic and shone in family theatricals. Anastasia disliked her lessons and showed little aptitude for grammar or spelling, but she was considered by some the most intelligent of the four daughters." 

Anastasia with Marie. Same of the pictures she's in show her with a bit of attitude. (Pinterest)

A more detailed account from Your Dictionary:

Nicknamed shvibzik, meaning "imp, " Anastasia was mischievous, and loved making others laugh. She delighted in mimicking pompous guests, as well as instigating pranks on nurses and tutors. In his memoirs, her French tutor, Pierre Guillard, wrote, "She was the imp of the whole house and the glummest faces would always brighten in her presence, for it was impossible to resist her jokes and nonsense."

Anastasia did not enjoy most of her schoolwork. According to Hugh Brewster, author of Anastasia's Album, her English teacher remembered her trying to bribe him with flowers so he would raise her poor marks. When he refused, she gave them to her Russian teacher. She adored creative subjects, however, and wrote, "I excelled at composition. I must say that all my poems were satires, lampoons, from which no one was safe." Her drawings, paintings, and photographs are well documented in family albums. She often spent hours illustrating letters with drawings, and hand-coloring photographs to highlight a special aspect.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. 

Like the Grand Duchess Anastasia, I too had really long hair and bangs until I was in my late teens. I feel your pain, gurl.  

Anastasia with her father. Pinterest

She would really have loved the 21st century--she mastered the art of selfies before selfies were a thing.

"I took this picture of myself looking at the mirror. It was very hard as my hands were trembling."
-excerpt from a letter written by Anastasia to her father on October 28, 1914
godsavethetsar.tumblr.com via Pinterest

Also making really weird faces. Can you believe that a real historical figure would do this? It's the absurdity of it that makes her appealing.

That's a face that could appall Mama!
Mashable

Honestly, if they get that feisty attitude across in the movies, more power to her.

It makes sense that the movie would have changed some of the details of the story. However, in other aspects they actually did their homework. 

My edit

On the left is a photo of the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna in her gown for the 1903 costume ball. On the right, of course, is the Dowager Empress in the movie Anastasia (1997), dressed for the costume ball in the opening scene. The outfits are not identical. BUT they do have similar design elements. The design of the crown in both, for instance, is similar, both having prongs above the fur brim and a veil in back. Both gowns have a narrow waist and similar horizontal and vertical bands. It's enough of a resemblance that when I saw the photo of the real gown I could tell that it was familiar. 

My edit

Far left, a screenshot of the princess gown and tiara from the movie. The middle panel is a portrait of Anastasia's oldest sister Olga wearing a court dress. The far right is Alexandra's coronation portrait. Notice the similarities of all three: the curved kokoshnik tiara, the sash around the front, lower shoulder line, and the long, open sleeves. To have confirmation that one of her gowns from the movie is based on the actual fashions of the Russian Imperial Court is astounding.  

And last but not least, prepare to have your mind blown:

(Screenshot from Pinterest)

Remember this line from the movie: "Olga made me so mad she said it looked like a pig riding a donkey!...She was right."

It's just so...affirming that the people who created the animated film went to those lengths to include some things from the world that the real Anastasia actually lived in. And then to have a random fictional diary include so much of the real details is thrilling. I think Anastasia is part of the reason I'm a history geek.

This year marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution. After Nicholas abdicated, he and his family were kept under house arrest in Tsarskoe Selo (palace compound outside of Saint Petersburg) for several months and then moved to Tobolsk, Siberia. When the Bolshevik/Communist Party took control of Russia, the Romanovs were moved to Ekaterinberg, where, in July of 1918, they were all brutally executed.  Anastasia was only seventeen. The remains of all the family members have since been found and identified. So, no fairy-tale ending here. But the important thing to remember is that she lived. She lived with her hair down and chocolate stains on her gloves. Dreaming about her escaping can be a fun pasttime. But celebrating Anastasia's life is the best way to go about remembering her--and we do that by living our own lives to the fullest.

The Lizy Reviews: Beauty and the Beast 2017

Moviefone

I’m not going to sugarcoat it. This movie had so much potential. And it didn’t even come close.

I had my doubts from the beginning. But I chose to hope for the best because the Cinderella reboot and Maleficent were both beyond amazing. Now, bear in mind, it’s no use comparing anything to the masterpiece that was Cinderella directed by SIR KENNETH BRANAGH. But here’s what Maleficent and Cinderella did that Beauty and the Beast didn’t do: they took two already great Disney animated classics and did not merely re-tell the original story but gave us two new breathtaking adventures.

Beauty and the Beast, on the other hand, did not do enough to tell an original story. In parts it was directly pulling from the original cartoon and just embellishing. Like they literally took parts from the cartoon and said, “hm, I wonder how we could do this in live-action with crazy special effects?” It didn’t do enough to make it feel like a good enough film on its own merits. There were definitely parts/scenes/elements that showed that they were trying, but those few elements were not sufficient.

This film also has a lack of thematic cohesion. What I mean by that is, I try to get my head around how the different parts of the plot and the themes tie together, and I can’t get them to connect. There isn’t really a running theme like “True Love” or “Courage and Kindness.” We get several different themes, like Belle having to resist conforming to the village, or Beauty is found within, or the objects trying to hold on to their humanity. But, at least from this first viewing, there isn’t anything that really ties those themes together. In some scenes, I feel like there was material cut out that would have helped the story to flow better.

Disclaimer: I am extremely salty/critical about movies on the first viewing. There were things I definitely liked about this film, but at the same time things I felt were too directly tied to the original movie and things that I didn’t think were executed that well.

Some Brief Character Analysis

Gaston and LaFou: Does Gaston own the tavern? It would make sense in this version. Why do you think it’s decorated with all of his hunting trophies? Why is he so popular with the townspeople? He’s not just there for his good looks. He’s there because he runs an important local institution. He’s their entertainer.

Teen.com

The film does try to give him a little bit of backstory, he fought in a war, he’s a womanizer. But he’s not different from the cartoon version in any way that’s compelling.

I thought Josh Gad’s LaFou was more sympathetic than the cartoon version. He had a little more depth and he definitely had development. He tries hard to help Gaston be happy and we are understandably frustrated when Gaston ignores him.

The Beast: I actually like him better than the cartoon version. I think the filmmakers may have rushed his development too quickly, like they didn’t show how much Belle changed him or made him a better person. He’s not vain and arrogant like he was as a Prince, and he doesn’t really throw huge temper tantrums, and he's not even bitter about everything like the animated version is. He definitely has some dress sense and he’s sober and scholarly, so I can see why he's likeable. I think the backstory they did give him was a good start but not enough. They don’t do enough to connect him with the Prince he was before, which would have been a nice change. I also thought the song “Evermore” was kind of emo. What the live-action version here doesn’t do as well as the cartoon is show the beast’s feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing. But it’s cool to watch how he warms up as he falls in love with Belle.

HelloGiggles

Small thing I noticed: he likes Shakespeare but not Romeo and Juliet--I think that’s a great touch. Romeo and Juliet is kind of an overrated play, but that’s another issue in itself. The writers reference Romeo and Juliet because 1) everyone knows it and 2) it’s a “love” story, so it would show just how “bitter” the Beast is about finding love, but that is the only instance of the Beast really expressing how the curse has affected his view of life. Yes, this story is set in France, but I think there’s reason to believe that A) enough educated people know how to read English or B) they have access to good French translations of Shakespeare.

I liked the scene where the objects get him ready for the dance with Belle. They put him in the same wig and makeup that he wore as a prince, and it looks hideous. But the Beast just grins at his reflection in the mirror and it’s hilarious. I think that moment kind of shows that he’s moved on from being a party boy. I mean, this was their first party since the night they were all cursed, so it’s kind of a big deal. But the Beast wants to do things differently.

Belle: Honestly, at first it’s really hard to not think of Emma Watson’s Belle as Hermione. But after a while I get used to it. We get a little bit of development for her character but not a lot, not enough for me to empathize with her. There is a better sense of how she is different from the people in the village and why they don’t like her. On the other hand, Belle kind of acts like she’s better than everybody else--she is, but she’s kind of a snob. I kind of miss the animated Belle’s playful exasperation. The fact that the Beast in this version is educated makes their romance look of inevitable--he’s the only other intellectual she can talk to.

Sometimes I liked her singing voice, and sometimes I didn’t. It was either a disaster or a revelation. There wasn’t really an in-between. It was like she was just singing to be heard but not really performing.

E! Online

I’m not really a huge fan of the dress. It is beautiful, but I was expecting something more 18th-century to fit with the rest of the film. But maybe the dress we get is supposed to be simpler on purpose. We know that Beast is trying to get away from that style himself. And we know from a scene that I actually wanted to see more of that Madame Garderobe put it together with magic. It just doesn't really fit with what they're creating.

With Belle’s other outfits, I didn’t really like how they were mostly the same. And I don’t really like

the patterned bodice and layered skirt style--it is a little too detailed with everything else going on in this film. I get the feeling she sews the pieces herself.

One thing that I think this live-action remake actually did better than the original was the library scene. It was more realistic in size and also in how the Beast doesn’t show it to her to give her a “present” but as something to demonstrate their common interest in learning. And I think it drove home a part of Belle’s character. In the village, she was borrowing books from the village priest, and he had only like half a shelf of books that she would just borrow to reread over and over again. When Beast shows Belle his library, she starts CRYING because she now has access to all the books she could possibly want.

The Objects: Ewan McGregor’s performance as Lumiere was the single best thing about this movie. He is awesome. He takes initiative. He is upbeat and outgoing. He is the new “you can do it!” meme. I’d really love to see him do the “JUST DO IT” speech. That would be so motivating. And he’s so sweet with Plumette.

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Cogsworth is actually a lot less salty than his cartoon counterpart. And he and Lumiere are a lot less savage to each other. That’s kind of a nice difference.

I feel like Mrs. Potts was trying too hard to be a British nanny: her accent was overdone. But I actually liked Chip better than I thought I would. I liked how his dad was still in the village the entire time and he just had amnesia like everyone else. And while we’re on the subject, I think the amnesia was a great touch to the curse.

And also, “I AM NOT HIS GRANDMOTHER!”

Audra McDonald has an amazing singing voice and she was woefully underused both as a character and a singer.

More of this, please!
(BuzzFeed)

Overall, I think it was a good thing that they filmmakers decided to focus more on the objects and tell their stories. The filmmakers did well to show their relationships with Belle and the Beast. But I did not like the scene where the petal fell and they all complained about being less human. That time could have been better spent showing something meaningful about them rather than merely entertaining the audience. It was saddening to watch them all “die” at the end but was that really necessary? Because it didn’t really fit the rest of the story.

And yet, the opening narration makes the point that the Prince loved to fill his castle with beautiful objects and beautiful people. The curse turned the people who cared about him into objects that gradually became soulless. Material possessions are soulless. There’s kind of a poetic justice to that. But this arc was neither fully carried out nor tied in with the other themes in the story (well, except maybe Beauty is found within, but that feels like a stretch). And I loved seeing them all become human again. I like that that was elaborated. And then seeing their Master again when he’s human. That was a great scene.

Other: Maurice is probably the most different from his animated version. I don’t like how they changed his reaction to the enchanted objects. What I do like, though, is that he grew a freaking spine. He stood up to Gaston, and his conflict with Gaston drove the plot forward and it was amazing. I love his relationship with Belle and that we finally got a backstory for Belle’s mom.

Entertainment Weekly

The character that I definitely feel was underdone was the Enchantress. The opening scene, I think that part should have been dramatized instead of re-told. That was lame. But I like how (spoiler alert) she’s the village beggar that nobody likes, and a spinster, and Gaston warns Belle that that’s how she’ll turn out. And she totally stirs the pot by rescuing Maurice.

What was she thinking by cursing the Prince in the first place? Did she have some kind of foresight to know that she was setting events in motion to purge the village of idiocy? And why did she just stand there in the background when the Beast changed back? They could have done so much more with her character arc. Disney really wasted a big opportunity.

Music and Miscellany

I sort of like the new songs “How Does a Moment Last Forever” and “Days in the Sun.” “Be Our Guest” was a well-done sequence. But there was a part where the CGI fireworks fade away and it’s just Belle eating some chicken with Lumiere and Cogsworth for company. I never realized this before but “Be Our Guest” isn’t just a big musical number, it’s Belle eating dinner and the objects getting to know her. And while “Be Our Guest” was performed wonderfully in the film, it would have been more original to see Belle just eating a normal dinner and talking to the objects.It’s not the same, I know, but there are ways to make it interesting and fun without doing the exact same thing as the cartoon. Ewan McGregor still does a great job singing it. Maybe put it in the credits or something?

Honestly the songs don’t fit in very well with the film overall. They’re still great performances, but they took away opportunities for Disney to tell a more meaningful story. The soundtrack is fun, I'll admit to listening to it. But on a certain level I can't help being offended that Disney tried to re-create something that was ALREADY so amazing and the rest of the movie didn't meet my expectations.

Well, maybe I can help it, actually.

But talk to me about the ending scene, however: I love the dancing, I love the music, I LOVE BELLE’S WEDDING DRESS, I love how it contrasts with the ball we saw at the opening, I love everything about it...except the Prince trying to tease Belle with a creepy beast growl.

The verdict: Beauty and the Beast is still Beauty and the Beast. If we were looking for Disney to do something new and spectacular, then this was a disappointment--which is a shame, because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie period. I still walked away liking this film because it's more Beauty and the Beast--more of the same.

Radical idea: maybe Disney should consider NOT remaking its animated classics. I know people only buy what they know, but is a little more originality too much to ask for?