Beauty and the Beast 3D

[V1213]

The Disney Digital 3D release of Beauty and the Beast that was originally scheduled to occur in February may have been rolled to sometime in 2011 for the US but those of us in Australia and New Zealand are lucky enough to be able to see it now. That's right, Beauty and the Beast 3D is currently playing in Australia and New Zealand, exclusively at Hoyts cinemas. It was released in mid-August in New Zealand and just yesterday in Australia.

I had the chance to see it tonight and came out very satisfied and impressed by the experience.

The movie itself is the original theatrical cut, cleaned up and enhanced to produce a stunning, clear digital image. But the point of the exercise is the 3D and it is something different indeed.

Instead of just giving depth to each otherwise 2D layer of animation, each object on screen has been given its own depth and dimensionality. For instance each character is just like they would be in a computer animated 3D movie, with noses and cheeks that stick out from the rest of their face etc. We're not simply talking about a 2D Belle coming towards us from the background, we're talking about a 3D Belle dancing around the room with each individual part of her given its own depth. The result is very impressive and must've taken a lot of computing power and human hours of correction and modelling to get right. Dealing with perspective and illusions of depth that were drawn into the 2D original must've been hard and does create the odd moment when the object appears to morph slightly but that was kind of cool in of itself.

Perhaps the best use of the 3D is not the characters, but the scenery, like the castle. A real sense of the vastness of the castle is acheived by the immersive 3D experience. The only peculiar moments were some far background features (mountains etc.) appeared to be stacked 2D layers rather than 3D objects, but this could be because of the need to create the illusion of depth when drawing the original 2D version meant that things were layered, with clear foreground and far background areas and relatively little inbetween.

The falling rain and snow worked extremely well in 3D as well and this worked to great effect in the transformation scene, heightening the dramatic emotional connection with the audience.

Besides the amazing visual treat of the 3D and cleaned, vibrant picture, the sound was better than I'm used to. This may be my home system's failings or they may have cleaned up the sound too. Either way, I noticed a few sounds that I hadn't before and found some words easier to understand.

Also of note was that the prologue has been subtly changed from "...if he could learn to love another, and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell...", as it was in the original, to "...if he could learn to love a woman, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell...". Make of that what you will.

Overall, this was a great cinematic experience and it's always great to see such a classic back in the cinema (the third release now!). I recommend that everyone who can takes the time to see Beauty and the Beast 3D, not only for the classic story and award-winning score but for the technically and visually impressive 3D.

To my mind Disney would have more success with hand-animated movies if they were 3D like this; I enjoyed the visual detail, nuances and intricacy of the hand-drawn 3D more than the relatively simplistic computer-generated look of the Tangled trailer, which played before the movie.

Condolences to you guys in the US who will have to wait an as yet undefined amount of time to experience this treat.

[yoyoflamingo]

Thanks for the review! Definitely going to see it when it (finally) comes to America! Sounds amazing, in addition to the movie already being amazing!

[animagusurreal]

This sounds wonderful and I can't wait 'til it comes here. This may be a chance for more hand-drawn classics to return to theaters, as they did when I was a kid. (I consider myself fortunate to have grown up during the last round of theatrical re-releases, and the first round of home video releases.)

However....

Also of note was that the prologue has been subtly changed from "...if he could learn to love another, and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell...", as it was in the original, to "...if he could learn to love a woman, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell...". Make of that what you will.

I wonder what the late lyricist Howard Ashman would have made of this.

Ashman was survived by his life partner Bill Lauch

Everyone knows that the Beast winds up with Belle, and that Belle is a woman. Thus, I can't image what reason Disney had to go back and make the spell specify that his love had to be female, unless they wanted to show where they stand on a certain issue, to make nice to a certain demographic.

Also, "to love another" just sounds better. "To love a woman" has a whole other connotation (insert Barry White music) .

[mister_peterman]

Taken from my blog:

I've never written about my thoughts on 3D. The people who hate the format are considerably vocal about it, but I guess when you are coming up against James Cameron you kind of have to be. The haters think that 3D is a money-grabbing gimmick, a way for cinemas to pull in more customers and charge them a higher price, while studios use the inflated numbers to get higher in the top-grossing film charts.

I think that this is often true, and the argument against 3D films can be rather convincing, but I don't think that it covers the whole story. I see 3D as just another tool in the filmmakers belt, a creative decision that directors can make to build their creative vision. It's not for everyone, but I don't see it as any different to any visual decision made in any film. But that is where my issue with the re-release of Beauty & the Beast in 3D lies - 3D is a creative decision to be made while making the film. I believe that once a film has been released, that should be it, it's done, complete and everyone moves onto the next thing.

Beauty & the Beast 3D isn't bad, it just didn't need to have been made.

The parallels between this and something like what was done to the original Star Wars trilogy is obvious. There is no need to get caught up in new technology to try and make something better. Make something new, for christ's sake! Like the Star Wars films, Beauty & The Beast is still that amazing film it was back in 1991, but the additions don't do anything to enhance the experience, and can even weaken the original vision.

But lets get into the film, and the changes (I won't even touch on the other big issue with the film - the altered prologue text), and I can report that it isn't all bad! The 3D isn't too evident for about 50% of the film, and taking off your glasses proves this. The most obvious 3D parts are outdoor shots where there is a lot of movement through buildings and trees, and the effect is quite convincing a lot of the time. Most of the longer movement shots though unfortunately don't look that nice - they too often look like layers of paper moving backwards and forwards. If you have seen an animatic, or the video production at the recent Pixar exhibitions, you will understand what I mean. It looks cheap and doesn't do anything to pull you into the animation in the way that the recent Pixar films have used 3D.

That good thing I was talking about? The waltz scene! I have a feeling that this 3D conversion was done for this scene alone. Famous for being one of the first uses of computer 3D animation in a feature film, this part of the film didn't feel like anything was forced into a 3D machine. Truly, it is quite spectacular.

Would I recommend Beauty & The Beast in 3D? Yes, for two reasons. The waltz scene is the first and the second is that it is probably going to be the only way for many people to be able to see this film in cinemas again - or for the first time. It was great seeing a cinema full of young kids experiencing such a classic film in this setting, even if it did have 3D cobbled on top of it.

[pineapplewhipaddict]

What?!

Ugh.

Here is my full reaction on my blog...ironically, I had started writing about the issue of the release in the US, when I stumbled upon this thread, which only added fuel to the fire

A Disney Princess vs the Real World: The “Deal” With Beauty and the Beast Right Now

The “Deal” With Beauty and the Beast Right Now



Okay. So by now, you have probably heard that "for the first time ever, in high definition," Disney is taking Beauty and the Beast back out of the Disney Vault and releasing the film on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Perhaps even a few of you know that you can currently visit the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood to see this classic return to the big screen (now through October 7th).

But that's not in 3D, which we've all been waiting for many years now. Disney showed a clip of "Belle" in 3D 2 Comic Cons ago. The 3D version was supposed to debut February 2010 as per advertised on their website.

But February came and went, and Disney never openly addressed the situation.

So instead, we have speculation.

This is a typical Disney case of double-dipping. Beauty and the Beast is quite probably their strongest animated film property, and they want to milk it for all it's worth. So, they will re-release it as many times as they can get away with.

Copyright Disney
I don't take any issue with having the option to see a much-beloved film on the big screen again. Nor do I take issue with seeing that film turned 3D. But it looks like Disney may want to re-release this property up to 4 times within a very short period of time, and that just doesn't seem right to me.


But here's the real kicker – the 3D version has apparently already been released in New Zealand and Australia. From what I've been reading, the typical 3D haters aren't happy because the film wasn't originally designed in 3D or thought of in 3D, so it didn't need to be done…and everyone else is just happy to see this new look of the film, which is all cleaned and pumped up in color, sound and definition.

There is one controversial change to the opening prologue. As we originally know it: "If he could learn to love another, and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell…" The change: "If he could learn to love a woman, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell…" Really, Disney? If we're talking about unnecessary choices here, let's take a look at this one! Obviously Beast ends up with Belle (a woman)…do we really need to walk on eggshells here to further "comfort" conservatives? I don't think so. The public was perfectly happy with the original prologue. You might as well be spitting on Howard Ashman's grave. Nice, really nice. Personally, I think the original wording sounds nicer, anyway…

This proves that Disney is really trying to get every penny out of America, folks. I don't know about you, but I'm really, really angry right now.

And we still don't know when Disney plans on releasing the 3D version in America! There are merely rumors that the 3D version will come out in 2012 or later, so that when Disney releases the 3.0 version of the "home video," more people will have purchased 3D TV's for their homes by then.

Which now brings me to another troubling question – if Disney altered the prologue for the 3D release, then have they altered the prologue for this upcoming Blu-Ray/DVD release as well? It comes out October 5th, so we don't have to wait too long to find out.

Not all of the merchandise being released with this current set of offerings is bad, by the way. There are a few neat collector's items I found at Disney's official online store, along with an amazing new book called Tale As Old As Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beast. And reportedly, this new Blu-Ray/DVD set will contain bonus materials that will go more in-depth and dirty with the behind-the-scenes drama (as this project was originally very different and in others' hands).

But here is my advice to my readers out there: prioritize how you will spend your money. Check things out. Decide what is realistically best for your budget and your home. If you hate 3D or you don't plan on having a 3D screen in your home anytime remotely soon, then perhaps you should get this upcoming release. If not, then perhaps you should wait.

Or you might be like me…totally on the fence.