Hay LaaaAAAdies!

A day early, SharkBoy’s copy of Beauty and the Beast (Special Edition) arrived and we sat down last night to watch it.

There are moments when I thank the TV gods we bought HD and invested in a BluRay player. Last night was one of them. The opening sequence when the camera multi-planes through the forest to Belle’s home was so saturated I felt like Dorothy coming out of a shattered gray Kansas farmhouse. The transfer is gorgeous! I’m hesitant to buy 2D classical animation movies on BluRay because at that high resolution and image quality you notice how some animation cells have shadows behind them, not to mention the drop in animation quality when the lead animator hands off a minor scene to an apprentice or intern (see the scene right after the big opening number with Belle and the villagers, Belle’s face goes a bit… un-Belle-ish).

The reason this transfer is superior is because Disney started to use their CAPS line and colouring system for the first time with this movie (instead of the traditional ink and paint on cell form of animation). While the movie is stunning at 1080p, you can tell the software was in it’s infancy if you look close at the lines. The points where lines join up were a tad bit blotchy and the long stroke lines were a bit thinner than they should be – any graphic designer who has converted a drawing to vector format will recognize this flaw. Something to do with early conversion algorithms, but to the vast majority who’s never operated Illustrator, you’ll be fine watching this. Don’t worry.

Two items of note: the re-insertion of the musical number “Human Again” was done seamlessly. The song was made popular from the stage show and removed from the movie because it was too similar in grandure right after “Be Our Guest”. The animation recreated for the disk was equal in quality as the rest of the movie, instead of some horrid “Beauty and the Beast Christmas Special” crap they could have done. The song also bridges the seasons of winter to spring in the story, sealing up that weird timeline jump. Bravo!

And Best Menu Interface Evar. Sure it’s captured video of the characters doing stuff from the movie, dancing around in recycled movements, but they’re interspersed around the castle as you explore. Damned fun!

Enough with the tech, here are some story observations I had while viewing Beauty and the Beast:

How is it that Lumiere hasn’t burned down the castle after all that time with flames for hands? Especially when he’s fraternizing with a highly flammable feather duster behind velvet curtains?

How is it the cutlery create a Eiffel Tower during the dinner number, when it hasn’t been invented yet?

How did I not know Joanne Worley (from TV’s Laugh In) was the voice of the wardrobe?

Mrs Potts must have been super old when she had Chip. Like… dry old. She looks 60 as a human. If you think about it, she might have had Chip as a teapot. If that’s the case then she has lots of children. And what happened to the husband? Was he a serving platter and was dropped? Smashed into 1000s of pieces?

How horrid is it to be turned into an enchanted spoon and for years spend your time in a drawer, not get used and then suddenly you’re repeatedly jammed into the mouth of some poor French peasant girl for weeks on end? I am sure there was no modern dentistry back then.

Not every inch of Gaston is covered in hair. Look at his forearms. Shame.

If all the courtiers and attendants became magical chairs and tables and carpets, etc., what happened to the original chairs and tables and carpets?

What does the footstool leave behind when he poops? Upholstery tacks?

Who finally got the triplets? LeFou? I hope so.