Everyone has a favourite Disney movie, let's face it we were all brought up with them, but only one was nominated for an Oscar and that was today's cinema masterpiece Beauty and the Beast.
Disney's 'tale as old as time' is a contemporary retelling of the classic French fairy story an remains one of the most popular animations almost twenty years after it's release.
Once upon a time, there was a handsome but heartless prince, whose selfishness caused an enchantress to turn him into a hideous beast.
He had only one hope for freedom: winning a woman's love despite his ugliness. The years passed; the Beast remained alone.
Then one day, Maurice, a poor inventor, accidentally stumbled upon the Beast's lair. The angry Beast instantly swore to kill him -- until he saw Belle, Maurice's lovely daughter, who had come to the palace to fight for her father's life.
The Beast promised not to harm Maurice on one condition: Belle must stay with him. And so began Belle's lesson in the true meaning of beauty... a lesson that would bring her love and happiness ever after.
The release of Beauty and the Beast saw a return to form for Disney and the film remains the only animation ever to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The enduring legacy of Beauty and the Beast is the movie's heart and soul, the telling of a simple fairy story with unforgettable characters who deliver the message that the greatest thing that you will ever learn is to love and be loved in return.
And for an animation to deliver so profound a message in so convincing a way is, even to this day, an amazing achievement, the ballroom scene is one of the best moments ever committed to film.
And despite the advancement in animation technology since the film's 1991 release no film since then has come anywhere close to achieving the same effect.
Like Gone With the Wind and Casablanca Beauty and the Beast has not just become a timeless piece of romantic cinema but cinema itself and stands as one of the best pictures ever made.
The message of love someone for who they are not what they look like it a message that still resonates with an audience today and will in the years to come.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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