Beauty and the Beast Discussion

[Lavendergolden]

I had a quick question for people who downloaded those film prints from the links. Are some of them supposed to be missing audio?

My Mermaid, Aladdin, and Mulan have visuals but no audio. Pinocchio has audio but in French, not English. And Lion King has audio but no visuals. Just wondering if I downloaded incorrectly or if this is what they're supposed to be like.

[Kyle]

They all have audio, maybe you need to try another player? I use VLC myself.

[Lavendergolden]

They all have audio, maybe you need to try another player? I use VLC myself.

I tried VLC on your suggestion and it worked for Mermaid. Now it plays with audio. But Aladdin and Mulan still have no audio and Pinocchio still only works with French audio, not the English. And Lion King still doesn't have video. I wonder if I'm downloading them wrong somehow since no one else seems to have these problems.

[Kyle]

There's no downloading them wrong, you either have them or you don't. its a codec issue or audio driver issue or something.

[Vlad]

They all work fine for me. Try putting them on a hard-drive, and play them on a TV.

[Lavendergolden]

Thank you all for the advice! I'll try that and hopefully the problem will get fixed.

[Lavendergolden]

This is a repost from Tumblr which I wanted to share here.

Whenever I used to watch Beast, the opening of the movie made me feel like I was a distant traveler who came across this strange land and encountered a beautiful castle in the middle of a green forest, teeming with life. That the castle was a relic now but the stained glass windows on the walls were designed to tell a story of its inhabitants from hundreds of years ago. The stained glass windows were maybe telling a fictional story but it was the story of a castle and I was the traveler, like a tourist, seeing the story now.

And to add proof to my reading of the film, the intro features two statues. Tumblr looked at the statues and said they look like Belle and Adam. Especially in their Something There poses with the birds. I like it because it tells me that after Belle and Adam would be lone gone, their marble statues were placed along the castle as tribute to them and to continue to tell their story. It makes them feel like ancient relics of the past from the antiquity era, which makes sense because this is a tale as old as time. Belle and Adam's story could have happened in any era or every era and since the oldest Beauty and the Beast fairy tale comes from Ancient Greece, this is another connection to that. That whether or not the story of the castle and its inhabitants is real, the importance is that it feels real to the travelers who visit that castle and they can envision the story happening in any time or place whether Ancient Greece, Medieval Times (the stained glass windows always felt more medieval to me) or the 1700s where the movie actually takes place.

[Disney Duster]

I love that! That is super duper cool!

[Lavendergolden]

You're welcome. I have another post from the same Tumblr.

This confirms what Belle was really reading her favorite book (not Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, or Snow White).

The text in the book below is actual French text from a real French book. "Le Songe d'Une Femme" by Remy De Gourmant.


This is the text translated.
a languid siren! Finally, he will soon be
happy, if that is what will make him happy.
I know that I am pleasant to look at, since
I take pleasure in it myself, and of this pleasure I will not
deprive my husband, on the contrary. I do not know
if I will love him, I hope so; but I want him
to love me, and I will do whatever he pleases
to please him. Ah! dear Adelaide, I am full of
absurd dreams and contradictory thoughts! I
think of things that seem to me both sweet
and ugly, and I have fantasies that make me
blush and cry at the same time! At least, I
am not bored. I live more in one hour of
these days than I lived in the whole year
last year. Each hour renews me, makes me grow
and blossom. I seem to myself a rosebush that blooms
laughing before my eyes, I am fresh and fragrant;
I am light and strong: I await happiness. Paul
is more handsome than I have ever seen him
before. He is pale with big eyes full of
fever and love. I find him sublime when he
kneels down next to me to look at me as if
in prayer. I want to pray to him too, sometimes,
and to lay my cheek on his knees, but when
I have this desire, I get angry with myself
and I sulk at Paul.

Full post is here.
https://blue-eyed-beastie.tumblr.com/po ... o-find-the
"Anyway, as far as I can tell, the story is told through a series of letters. The excerpt from Belle’s book is from a letter written by one Annette Bourdon to her friend Adelaide Fairlie, dated 19 September at Les Frênes (in case you want to look up the exact chapter, since they aren’t numbered)."

[Disney Duster]

Does the picture match the text? Is there a Prince Charming in the book?

[Lavendergolden]

Does the picture match the text? Is there a Prince Charming in the book?

By picture, do you mean the screenshot I posted of Belle's text and if it matches the translation? Or do you mean the illustration in the book of the blonde boy and dark-haired girl in the blue dress? Because if it's the former, then yes, the French text you see in that screenshot of Belle's book is the same as the translated text I posted and in the link. If it's the latter, I don't think the illustration of the boy and girl are identical to the text but I haven't read the book so don't know how Paul and Annette (the love interest and main heroine) look.
The "Prince Charming" is Paul but he is not royal, nor is the heroine. The heroine of the book, Annette, is engaged to him. The text is all about her feelings for him and how badly she loves him but also hates herself and then hates him because she wants him so much. The rest of the text (not included in Belle's page) even goes on to talk about her desire for him in the bedroom.

Overall, the author appears to be an unwed woman dreaming of her future marriage to a man named Paul. Her confidante is someone named Adelaide, but I suspect she is actually writing to herself. Regardless, she is either betrothed to Paul or she longs to be, since she calls him her husband. Perhaps it is an arranged marriage? She goes on to dwell upon his handsomeness, and how she longs to be close to him, but then she gets angry at herself for feeling this way. The last line of the passage is incomplete, but my best guess is that the author is saying that Paul is not to blame for her sulking, so it is not right to keep a man in the dark, i.e. ignorant. I could be wrong, though. In any case, she is conflicted about her feelings on the matter. You could even say that her feelings are "new, and a bit alarming".



The only thing is that it's a contemporary book with no action, sword fights, or magic spells. So it's not exactly like what Belle claims to be reading (which is more like Sleeping Beauty or Aladdin). So the lack of a real prince and the illustration not matching the text means that this book isn't probably what Belle is really reading despite the filmmakers choosing it as the text.

For those who don’t have the time to read it right now, the summary of it is that Annette is discussing her engagement to Paul, and what has happened since, and how she feels about it. She also wonders what comes after marriage (and yes, she means the bedroom!):

"There must be novels that talk about these situations, novels that I’m forbidden to read. As soon as I’m married, I’ll read everything that’s been forbidden to me; so I will be informed and I will know what I must do, in case of necessity. I am determined to be very good to my husband, but I would not want to cause anyone unnecessary pain. If someone courts me, I will be happy. I like to be looked at, and to be talked to. All alone, I get bored and sometimes I have done extravagances to attract attention. I told you about the one in the river, but it was my sister who had the idea. No matter, I see that the idea was not bad, because it is since that moment that Paul began to look at me with completely new eyes. As for me, if I saw a naked man swimming on the surface of the water, it would frighten me and I would start running. Men are braver; they are not even afraid at all. They both seemed ecstatic, and I almost laughed, which would have made me drink water and drown. What a pity, but what an opportunity for Paul to fish me out and hold me in his arms, like a languid siren!"

This excerpt above is the page directly before the one Belle reads. Belle's page starts off with the "languid siren" line.

And the part that comes after Belle's page is this.
"Paul is more handsome than I have ever seen him before. He is pale with large eyes full of fever and love. I find him sublime when he kneels down beside me to look at me as if in prayer. I want to pray to him too, sometimes, and to lay my cheek on his knees, but when I have that desire, I get angry with myself and I sulk at Paul. It is very difficult to keep a man within the bounds of respect. He addressed me informally once; I did not like that. No one has ever addressed me as “tu” [you] except women. In the mouth of a man, this familiarity seemed unbearable to me. Nothing vulgar pleases me. A woman must be a queen to be completely a woman. This is the attitude I want to take from now on; even when I play hide-and-seek, people feel that I am a princess and they do not pull me carelessly by my crumpled dress. I turned eighteen the day before yesterday. At that age, one has a scepter or a fairy wand. When I laugh, there are eyes that are worried; and when I smile, people look at me to share in my smile."

[Disney Duster]

Yes, I mean the in-movie book illustration of the blue-dressed girl and the "Prince Charming" in disguise. That text is definitely not what Belle was actually reading!

[Thumper_93]

I was reading about the statues. I don't see any resemblance with the characters. The man has some grapes on his hands and he reminds me to Dionysus the greek good. She reminds me to Daphne from the Apollo and Daphne story (with the branch in her arm). It could've been a better idea to draw the statues as them because it's also a metamorphosis story.

[Disney Duster]

You're probably right, Thumper.

[Vlad]

I just watched the 35mm film scan of Beauty and the Beast. I just love the colors; they contribute so much to the darkness of the castle. That scene where Belle tells the Beast to "come into the light" is so well done; in the current restoration, he's very well hidden from her view, but in the 35mm scan, you can't see him at all, only the eyes.

In the opening scene, with the "Belle" musical number, I love that it looks like a morning, the colors are right.

During the iconic "Beauty and the Beast" dance, I thought the dark colors made the ballroom and the two main characters look so elegant.

I just wish that Disney would release a restored version, using these colors.

[Vlad]

Hey guys, I found some more promotional artwork for the movie.

The first one was made for the movie's IMAX release.


I think the art is taken directly from the movie itself, during the Human Again sequence, when they read together.

The second one I think was made when the movie was released on VHS for the first time


I don't think I've seen this one before, but it's really nice.

[PatchofBlue]

Those are both nice. I especially like the image with Walt's characters applauding them as they descend the stairway.

Though, why on earth are Bernard and Bianca both larger than the dalmatian puppies?!

[Disney Duster]

Haha funny about Bernard and Bianca.

Those are great ads.

My computer can't watch the 35mm versions, but if the Beauty and the Beast 35mm is that good, I, too, wish we'd get that as the 4K.

By the way, Vlad, absolutely great avatar and banner. That banner is sooo beautiful!

[Vlad]

Aaaw, thanks, buddy

[Disney Duster]

I know the banner is from Gone With the Wind, but is the avatar from Casablanca? Is that another favorite movie of yours? What's the ranking?