On October 5th, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the much-anticipated Beauty and the Beast - Diamond Edition on a Blu-ray/DVD combo and movie download. I remember when this Academy Award winning Disney film hit the theaters in 1991. I was amazed by the art and music of this production. Now, nearly two decades later, I still find this movie to be just as charming and humorous and the graphics to be just as breathtaking. I am so thrilled to be able to share the magic of Disney's Beauty and the Beast with my children.
The lesson taught by this timeless story is that one must look beyond the surface to see the inner beauty in people. This concept is simple and can be understood by children as young as preschoolers and is a lesson that everyone needs to be reminded of occasionally, children and adults alike.
Of course, the main characters of Belle (Paige O'Hara) and the Beast (Robby Benson) make the movie, but they did not do it alone. The supporting characters, such as Belle's endearing father Maurice (Rex Everhart), the motherly Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), the passionate Lumiere (Jerry Orbach), and the every-so-proper Cogsworth (David Ogden Stiers) help to make this movie the gem that it is. Let us not forget the character you love to hate Gaston (Richard White) and his jester-like sidekick Lefou (Jesse Corti).
This movie runs for approximately 90 minutes, which was a little too long for our 3-1/2 year old twins. After an hour they began to get antsy, but that did not stop our youngest son from asking every five minutes "What's going to happen next?" for the first 60 minutes. Our 6-1/2 year old son enjoyed the film very much, especially since this romantic fairy tale also included plenty of humor, adventure, and even some action.
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If you are looking for this movie in DVD only, then you will have to wait until November 23rd, 2010. In the meantime, you can find the Beauty and the Beast Blu-ray/DVD combo at the Disney Store and other retailers who offer Disney movies. The movie download can be found on iTunes.
Thank you to Click-Communications for sending us a complimentary sample Blu-ray/DVD combo to base this review upon.
