Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)/YMMV

"Confused Matthew: The townspeople know exactly what kind of man Gaston is. And they love the hell of him for it."
 * Accidental Aesop:
 * Another example: The townsfolk repeatedly call her "strange" and "odd", presumably because she is a bookworm and ignores the local jerk. So the lesson of the song is, "If you are kind, chaste, and intellectual, people will think you are weird and your only friends will be talking furniture." This could, however, also be taken in the in-verse, seeing as Belle is quite clearly the protagonist and the folks are not all portrayed positively. Basically: "Remain true to yourself despite what others think."
 * Adaptation Distillation: Obviously, with the many versions of the fairy tale out there, Disney had to pick and choose what to include, what to leave out, and how to interpret it, but one interesting point: the usage of the magic rose as the vehicle of the Enchantress's curse is a wonderful Call Back to the Beaumont version, since in that the whole reason Beauty's father ends up imprisoned by the Beast and has to send his daughter to him is because he was trying to steal a rose from the Beast's garden for her. So while there isn't a whole rose garden in the film (except possibly during the "Human Again" sequence, and there seems to be wild roses growing in the forest at the beginning as well as surrounding the stained glass window at the end), it makes sense they would use a single rose as the source of the spell and the focus of the final window. It really was the center and driving point of the story, even in the Beaumont version.
 * Alternative Character Interpretation:
 * Perhaps the biggest one, in that it even inspired a lot of debate and even fights behind the scenes, is the question: Who is the actual protagonist? Belle is certainly the viewpoint character, and most of the story is told from her perspective, but the character who develops and changes the most as a person, and whose actions drive most of the plot, is the Beast. Lyricist Howard Ashman in particular was convinced of this, and modern critics are more and more inclined to agree.
 * In a departure from the original story in which the Beast was kind and gentlemanly (if very rarely hot-tempered), the Disney character starts off angry and depressed and has all the classic trappings of the villain.
 * Commentary from the filmmakers has fueled theories that the Beast is near-suicidal for much of the film and his rescue of Belle from the wolves was also an attempt to kill himself while doing something meaningful.
 * Fans are divided between thinking the enchantress was a Well-Intentioned Extremist, a benevolent fairy, or a raging bitch who cursed an innocent child and entire castle for "a stupid reason". Fans are divided between thinking the enchantress was a Well-Intentioned Extremist, a benevolent fairy, or a particularly cruel member of The Fair Folk who cursed an innocent child and entire castle for a relatively petty offense (though breaking or denying Sacred Hospitality was a serious offense in old times). Some people even view her as the true Big Bad.
 * Belle: Is she a well-meaning bookworm unfairly made an outcast by the villagers, or is she actually a snob deserving of being ostracized? She certainly wants a more exciting life than what she finds in "this poor provincial town", but at the same time the villagers turn out to be much nastier than they appear... and have no problem with holding up Gaston as a hero and supporting anything he does, including continuing to pursue her even though she's not interested. It doesn't help that the stage musical makes the "snob" interpretation more valid: The additional song "No Matter What" has Maurice actually telling her "They [the villagers] are the common herd/Take my word" — which also makes him look bad.
 * Cogsworth: Is he the cliche frumpy disciplinarian present in the Disney movies like Zazu and Lawrence or is his personality based more of a child under an abusive parent, whose in fear of angering the parent and has to stop others from pissing them off in fear of what happens.
 * The song "Be Our Guest". Do the servants want to make Belle feel welcomed in the castle and be kind to her, or are they only being extremely courteous to her at dinner because she is able to change them back into humans? (Notably, the original plan was for the characters to sing this to Maurice, which would fall under the former interpretation, but the filmmakers felt it was better to use such a big number in the service of one of the leads.)
 * The villagers. Some see them as misguided people who are genuinely afraid that the Beast might harm their children, but Confused Matthew offers a truly compelling theory that they are the true monsters of this film, since they're the ones who put Gaston on a pedestal and back his more devious plans. The fact that they willingly supported Gaston's plan to blackmail Belle into marrying him, despite his revealing enough of it to know how horrific of a plan it is, with absolutely no sign of fear, strongly supports that theory.

"No one thinks up these endless refrains like Gaston!"
 * Gaston:
 * Is he a complete jerk? Is he actually a fun guy with a zest for life who thinks that Belle has been driven mad, because she seems to think that this monster is a nice guy? Is it him who winds up going mad after Belle rejects him and humiliates him in front of the entire town? It's worth noting that he was originally supposed to die by falling off a cliff and laughing hysterically, indicating that he had indeed been driven mad in his desperate effort to impress Belle.
 * Is he so caught up in being the "ideal man" in his community that he cannot express himself outside of macho stereotypes? It should be noted that while it has the trappings of wanting what you are denied, the audience doesn't really get to see the village itself and the only other women we see are swooning and passive with Gaston. Maybe deep down, he wants the woman who is different because she will actually display a personality despite what tradition says. Unfortunately as a product of the society, Gaston regurgitates these ideals - that women shouldn't read or think - because it is what his culture tells him is proper. The fact that Belle is brave enough to buck these traditions despite the pressure of their culture may be what truly appeals to Gaston deep down, as a man so thoroughly trapped by the masculine ideal. Listen to his boastful song, that is either an extremely arrogant man who is supported in his arrogance by his peers, or a deeply insecure man whose life's purpose is "to be the best" and any deviation from that would render him worthless. Ultimately, his unwillingness to escape such trappings, and his twisted approach to acquiring what he desires is what leads to his downfall. Not blaming the village itself, as the village showed deep adoration for Gaston, they may have changed too once he was brave enough. However, Gaston had a choice of how he interacted with Belle and he chose poorly many times. As pointed out elsewhere, in a WMG, Beast and Gaston could easily have turned out like each other if a few details were changed.
 * Jerk or not, it's a common interpretation that Gaston's response to Belle's situation is much more reasonable than the film treats it. He ignores the town's resident crazy at first, but when he realizes that Belle is actually missing, and that both she and her father were kidnapped by a murderous magical beast... well, he's the town's hunter, taking care of dangerous animals is quite literally his job and from his perspective he isn't forming a mob to attack a misunderstood magical loner, he's rallying the townspeople to protect an unpopular girl in danger. Magic is essentially an outside-context problem that he would have no idea how to deal with.
 * Awesome Ego: Gaston was written to seem incredibly egotistical and self-absorbed. The viewers loved this.
 * Awesome Music: "Beauty and the Beast".
 * Let's just keep it simple and say most/all songs in this are topnotch.
 * Angela Lansbury, the voice of Mrs. Potts, said in an interview that the song was originally faster and more pop-like, and she was the one who turned it into more of a slow ballad. She was at first reluctant to take the part because the song was, as she says, "not her cup of tea." (No, really, she said that.)
 * To me at least, no Disney song has ever topped "Belle".
 * Gaston's Villain Song became a meme.
 * "Something There", though not as famous as the others on this list, is what a song in a musical is supposed to do; it encapsulated a massive leap in character development that would have been incredibly awkward no matter what dialogue you tried to use.
 * No love for the Transformation? The music there takes this troper's breath away every time! SO powerful, and SO gorgeous.
 * Three words: BE OUR GUEST!!!
 * Completely Missing the Point: The fans who forgive Gaston or overlook the atrocities he's created because he's "handsome" and think Beast is incurring Stockholm Syndrome in Belle when the entire movie is dedicated to showing otherwise.
 * As well as fans who dismiss Prince Adam's human form as "too ugly".
 * As well as those fans who forget that Gaston wanted to LOCK UP Belle's father in order to FORCE HER to marry him.
 * Crap Saccharine World: It's a highly-idealized rural French town which, while poor, still has lots of wide open spaces, and the castle is gorgeous on the interior. But it's still eighteenth-century France, where Maurice and Belle are shunned and seen as uncanny for being themselves because women aren't supposed to read.
 * Draco in Leather Pants: Gaston has a large fanbase who are willing to overlook the fact that he is a misogynistic, arrogant, murderous jealous man. Some of his fans even think Belle is either crazy for rejecting him, or a stupid bitch that he didn't deserve anyway. The fact that these same people tend to also say that Gaston is a saint compared to the Beast, who in turn gets the Ron the Death Eater treatment, just makes matters worse since this completely overlooks the whole "forcing Belle's father to be committed to an insane asylum" thing.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Chip's voice actor was so popular with the filmmakers that his tiny role was greatly expanded; he replaced another character, a music box, for the most part (the music box was only relegated to a cameo in the final version, specifically right before the battle).
 * Fountain of Memes: Gaston. In YouTube Poop he seems to occupy some sort of strange middle ground between Butt Monkey and Memetic Badass...
 * As of late it also seems to be common subject of the Poops he star in to pair him with Frollo and pass them off as the best of friends. Hilariously enough they both live in the same country and hinted to be around the same time period as well; that and they're both arrogant pricks with amazing singing voices that lust after beautiful women that don't want them, and that they're presented as the "Man outside, monster inside" person. Popular examples of this are Smash Bros Lawl and The Frollo Show.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: Elisa and Goliath of Gargoyles once spent Halloween as Belle and the Beast. Gargoyles' equivalent of kissing is stroking their lover's hair. Think of this during the 3 times when the Beast runs his fingers through Belle's hair.
 * The film makes a very good Take That to series where the female character falls in love with the male character mostly for his looks (i.e. Twilight, years before it ever existed).
 * Ho Yay: LeFou is slavishly devoted to Gaston; some people also read a bit of subtext into Lumiere's interaction with Cogsworth (they certainly do have a bit of Tsundere-esque bickering going on).
 * Informed Attractiveness: Belle. While certainly pretty, she's described as an unparalleled beauty in the movie... which also features the THREE Bimbettes, who are easily as good looking(or better looking, really).
 * Belle's beauty may be as much to do with her being seen as unattainable, unlike the Bimbettes and note that all the attractive women in-universe are all drawn as busty and practically heaving out of their bodices, except for Belle who may intentionally have been drawn as taller and more slender. In short her beauty is meant to be more understated and natural than obvious.
 * Also, it's more of an inner beauty. Of the Disney Princesses, she's the most conservatively dressed and the only brunette, yet she's one of the kindest and most honest of the princesses.
 * Not to mention, the three bimbettes are identical. It may well be the reason that Gaston doesn't turn an eye to one of them despite their beauty—because they've got two other equals right there.
 * This troper would like to add that when he saw the movie and Belle emerged for her dance with the Beast, it is the only time he ever heard audience members whistle their approval at how attractive a cartoon character was.
 * Love to Hate: Gaston.
 * Memetic Badass / Memetic Mutation: No one [verb]s like Gaston—this is even In-Universe. It's also lampshaded in the reprise in the musical.

"NOBODY ORDERS DECAF LIKE GASTON!"
 * Even prior to YouTube, this was a Running Gag in House of Mouse:

"Beast: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!""
 * "Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!"
 * "GET OUT!!!!!!!!!!"
 * Videos that remix the scene where LeFou says "I'll strike up the band!" for Gaston's wedding to make the band play different songs are quite popular.
 * "How can you read this? There's no pictures!"
 * Memetic Molester: While not as well known as his Memetic Badass image, Gaston becomes this whenever Belle's involved.
 * Misaimed Fandom:
 * An astonishing number of detractors of the film actually say that Belle falls prey to All Girls Want Bad Boys and that an abusive relationship is portrayed positively. How did these people miss that Belle detested the Beast until he stopped being bad and abusive, and by his own choice too? Hell, it's the whole effing point of the "Something There" song! Or that she detested Gaston who has far more bad boy (including not taking no for an answer) traits than the Beast?
 * Gaston himself gets this quite a bit. Basically, it's Evil Is Cool (of the Memetic Badass variety) meets Draco in Leather Pants.
 * The Beast himself is meant to be a horrifying monster, but once the audience gets used to his appearance, most consider him to have a fascinating design and prefer it to his human form.
 * Moral Event Horizon: Gaston starts out as pretty harmless. An arrogant jackass, but harmless. Then he plots to throw Maurice in the loony bin unless Belle agrees to marry him and plots to kill the Beast because Belle prefers Beast over him (this could be considered Gaston's point of no return since this example of the trope has a Villain Song dedicated to it), but it's when he quite literally stabs Beast in the back after Beast spared his life that you know he's beyond redemption. The only reason why he is not considered a Complete Monster is because, at least in the original script, the specific reason why he even decided to do something reckless like this was because he intended to kill himself immediately afterwards specifically by jumping off. Yea, he was a lot crazier in initial planning.
 * Nightmare Fuel:
 * The very beginning of the movie can be scary for younger viewers. The eerie music combined with the stained glass pictures, while both beautiful things when you're an adult, can make kids not want to watch the movie at all.
 * A tiny, blink-and-you'll-miss-it image as the camera zooms in on the enchanted rose in the West Wing: on the balcony just outside, we see a stone face carved into the wall that looks like it's screaming. It's as if the castle itself were silently screaming in agony over the curse.
 * The Beast's first full appearance, when he confronts and drags away Maurice.

"Maurice: I just need a place to stay. Beast: I'll give you a place to stay!"
 * The Beast locks up Maurice afterwards, likely with the intention of keeping him there until he eventually dies from hunger or older age.

"Beast: She'll never see me as anything... but a monster. (a petal falls off the rose) It's hopeless."
 * This happens in-universe for Belle, when she asks the Beast to come into the light to see him properly; as his foot appears her eyes get wider and wider, and when he's fully revealed she's clearly terrified.
 * The Beast when Belle disobeys him and goes into the West Wing. For the only time in the movie Belle seems to be in danger of actual physical harm from him, as he smashes furniture in rage with single blows of his paws. On top of that, the way he yells can be enough to scare a child.
 * The West Wing, which is much darker and more gothic than the rest of the castle.
 * According to Word Of God, the Beast hides the carcasses of animals he's slaughtered in there. This is because the Beast is slowly losing his mind, and according to the novelization it's just slow enough that he's aware that it's happening. This is clearly seen in the musical when he screams at Belle for nearly touching the rose, ripping her sleeve in the process. This causes her to run and the Beast screams out "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you! I don't mean to hurt you! You don't understand! There is so little left of me. There's so little left..."

"Belle: He's no monster, Gaston. You are!"
 * The creepy spidery coach-thing that whirrs like an angry insect hive as it transports Maurice back to the village. You never see this thing again during the rest of the film. It makes you wonder where it's hiding. Or what it used to be.
 * Monsieur D'Arque, the asylum owner, is WAAAAAAY scarier than even the actual Beast himself. Played by the same person who voiced Frollo, and looked like Frollo.
 * "The Mob Song", especially when you get older and you realize this can and HAS happened in real life.
 * In the stage version, the servants who have been cursed to live as hybrid-object-human things are gradually turning into full-fledged inanimate objects. Cogsworth and Lumiere, themselves transforming into a clock and a candelabrum respectively, even joke on a few servants that this has already happened to (including a "dumb as a brick" coworker who is the wall behind the stove). To elaborate: rather than simply transforming into sentient-but-mobile household items, the servants of the castle are still essentially human, but as each day passes, they become more and more object-like, slowly losing their humanity. It's implied that once they completely become objects, they'll either be dead, or stuck forever as human souls trapped inside immobile, sightless, voiceless items. In this case, the former actually seems like a kinder alternative. Of course, it's really a concession to the fact that the parts have to be played by people - so the scene explains why the clock, candlestick, teapot and others are still "human sized", but it still makes for excellent Nightmare Fuel.
 * Gaston suddenly stabbing the Beast in the side with a huge Slasher Smile on his face even after the Beast spared his life.
 * Then, directly afterwards, comes his Disney Villain Death: even though it's less family unfriendly than, say, the deaths of Ursula or Scar, the sheer height of his fall and his terrified expression and long, high-pitched scream make it chill-worthy. If you pause the movie when he's falling, you can see skulls in his eyes.
 * That's nothing when you take into account the former option for Gaston's death: when stabbing The Beast on the roof before falling off, he reacted while falling to his doom in a very similar fashion to Heath Ledger's Joker when Batman threw him off the roof in The Dark Knight.
 * Also consider the Beast's death itself, the placement of the wound looks like Gaston stabbed him and punctured his lung (and knowing Gaston, knew exactly where to stab him to do it), which is a truly agonizing way to die. His obvious pain and struggling to breathe as he says his last words to Belle combine this trope with Tear Jerker. He is also visibly bleeding from that wound, sizing you up from a distance.
 * The first wolf chase when Maurice takes the right path instead of the left path like Philippe wanted to go. Because, really, it's not like you're gonna run into trouble on a dark, eerie, forbidding path instead of a sunny, cheerful well-traveled path.
 * And among other things, the music preceding that part and leading into it. There's a good reason it didn't appear on the original soundtrack.
 * When Phillipe runs off, leaving Maurice alone, all the man can do is mutter "oh no" to himself as storm clouds gather. Maurice then hears an ominous growl, and sees three wolves off in the distance, staring him down. The image by itself is Nothing Is Scarier as they simply stare down the camera. Maurice appropriately takes off running, and the wolves are able to cover the ground between them and Maurice in moments. The second chase also counts.
 * While it's both Heartwarming and Awesome, the Beast arriving to Belle's rescue with a full out roar is a poignant reminder that he is dangerous and not somebody to be messed with.
 * According to Word Of God, Gaston was originally supposed to survive the fall and then get eaten by said wolves in a deleted scene. It was deemed too dark.
 * One of the villagers plucking Babette (the feather duster). It's the same as pulling someone’s hair.
 * If you recall that she has a human form as a housemaid and that her feathers correspond to her skirt, this could be considered the same thing as rape, which is so much worse. The chuckling from the villager and Lumiere's reaction add to the effect. Consider that Lumiere probably gave that guy third degree burns which seems a little harsh otherwise.
 * And speaking of which, Lefou and the other villagers were given a right scare when they realized that everything in that kitchen was alive and hostile, including the stove (complete with Evil Laugh) and the cutlery. Yeah, they hightailed it out of there quick, fast, and in a hurry.
 * Another bit from the battle scene where Lefou backs Lumiere into a corner with a torch. The following close-up shows Lumiere's terrified expression as the flames slowly melt his wax head. Thankfully Cogsworth shows up a second later in a Big Damn Heroes moment, but it's still a pretty tense moment.
 * Overlapping with Tear Jerker: After Belle leaves to take care of her father, the Beast bays out of sorrow. After watching him become more gentle and human-like throughout the film, it's both heartbreaking and horrifying to see him revert to animalistic roaring. The scene quickly cuts to Belle riding out of the castle as quickly as possible with a look of terror on her face. It's all too clear in that moment that while the Beast has grown on her, she still hasn't forgotten his ugly side.
 * If you listen carefully, when watching the Special Extended Edition, you can hear breaking glass and wood as she rides away. The Beast is destroying things in the West Wing again, likely with even more ferocity than when Belle nearly touched the enchanted rose.
 * Gaston's determination to make Belle his wife, including locking away her father in an insane asylum... purely because he can.
 * Which gets even worse, by his reaction when Belle seems to have feelings for someone else, a "monster".


 * The Broadway version of Gaston can also be jarring for those only familiar with the animated film. He's almost the same character with the same lines, until the scene in which the mob comes to take Belle's father away. When Belle asks him to stop and he says he'll only help her if she marries him, not only does Gaston force a kiss on her, but when she slaps him in retaliation, he almost punches her. Very frightening and not very Disney-esque.
 * Gaston's "proposal" to Belle, which is basically a G-rated rape scene. The way he follows her around the room, telling her what their marriage would be like and how many kids they would have, along with him trying to kiss her at the end, is all very unsettling.
 * Gaston's line about having six-or-seven strapping boys is unnerving. What if, hypothetically, his wife gave him a daughter? Or a son he didn't like? Gaston could have become an Abusive Parent quite easily.
 * Meta: This post describes why Gaston is such a terrifying Disney villain, as well as this one.
 * The Problem with Licensed Games: Some of the videogames that are licensed from the Disney movie came off as Nintendo Hard, most notably the 1994 NES version and the 1993 Sega Genesis version called Beauty & the Beast: Roar of the Beast.
 * Scenery Porn/Scenery Gorn: The castle, both before and after the transformation. Suffice it to say, the background painters had loads of fun with this place, and it shows, in every single shot.
 * So Cool It's Awesome: The film is considered to not only be the greatest of the Disney Renaissance (either this or The Lion King), but also one of the greatest animated features ever.
 * Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped: This movie puts the inner beauty message right up front, and makes it work quite well -- though not for all viewers.
 * What an Idiot!: So you're being held prisoner by a giant monster with serious temper problems who is starving you because you wouldn't eat dinner with him. So what do you do? You go into the one place in the castle he specifically told you was forbidden. But to be fair, Belle probably wouldn't have given the West Wing a second thought if Beast hadn't specifically mentioned it to her.
 * Also, Belle having to use the mirror to expose the Beast's existence, of all things, to keep her father from going to the Asylum. Honestly, Belle, did you honestly expect Gaston or the rest of the villagers, who were congregated into a lynch mob at the time, to even think that the Beast was friendly, and not try to kill him?
 * To her defense, there really wasn't a ton she could have done. No one was listening to her or her father, and he was being dragged off right then and there.
 * The Woobie:
 * The Beast becomes this right around "Something There". Prior to that, he was a Jerkass Woobie.