Beauty and the Beast - cultural + costume
Tale as old as time! One of the o.g. disney films, and my favourite princess as a child. (Ignoring the whole loving a beast thing), Beauty and the Beast was a beautiful story about looking beyond the exterior, and finding the heart of gold within.
Costume wise, this film is hard to pin-point, as its all hand drawn by the disney artists - see Georgia's post for more info!
However, placing the knowledge that this film is animated aside, the costumes in Beauty and the Beast are some of the most re-created worldwide. The Belle princess gown is part of the original disney princess line, and the merchandise for this dress can be found in nearly every corner of the globe. The Princess gown is a vibrant yellow, with regal features such as the hoop skirt, and that all important tiny waist. Belle's town outfit was always my favourite. It was simple, elegant and screamed, "I'm going to be the princess at the end of this movie". The Beast also has those classic time specific pieces, both in tatters when he is more wild, and regal/handsome when he needs to impress Belle.
Culturally this film has several motifs we've seen over the past 5 movie reviews. Acceptance. Integration. Beauty beyond the skin. In fact, BATB has all of these pertinent messages, all delivered so young minds are learning a valuable moral story, (again the whole loving your dog to the point of kissing him is being over-looked here).
The Beast is loved despite his looks and temperament, Belle is accepted by the towns people as being "normal", and the castle is brought back into society again.
This movie, always gets me to sing along, and gets me in the moos for a long disney marathon.
well done disney!
And now, our time has come to an end! Hopefully we can still post occasionally, but for now, it's been a pleasure reviewing with you gals, and thanks to all our readers!
Love Always,
Bella xx
