Last night, I watched “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration.”
I was more of a Cinderella than Belle kid, but I have some special memories associated with various iterations of the 1991 Disney film.
“Beauty and the Beast” was the first Disney animated feature nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and it won two (song and score). The Broadway musical ran for 13 years; the live-action 2017 remake was nominated for two Oscars. It’s a big deal.
So it made sense to celebrate the anniversary of the Disney classic with a movie on ABC (it’s now streaming on Disney+). And Disney brought the star power, with H.E.R. starring as Belle, Shania Twain as Mrs. Potts, Martin Short as Lumiere, David Alan Grier as Cogsworth and Josh Groban as Beast. Not to mention Jon M. Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians,” the upcoming “Wicked” movies) was a producer on the hybrid animated and live-action special.
But did it work? Yes and no.
Rita Moreno introduced segments and revealed behind-the-scenes tidbits. The back and forth between animated and live was mostly seamless. The costumes were beautiful and just enough over the top to be fun but not crazy.
On the flip side, it had a lot of live-theater work that just doesn’t translate on a TV screen. H.E.R. and Twain do not have the vocal range to pull off the more significant songs, though they did their best.
My biggest complaint was it tried too hard. There were some segments that were avant-garde, which doesn’t work in an anniversary celebration of a classic.
All this to say, is it worth trying to reimagine IP?
It feels like everything entertainment is a franchise or re-imagination. Original ideas fall by the wayside.
Yet people crave original ideas. Look at the success of “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” We want something new and exciting, where we can’t know what will happen.
Franchises, sequels, etc., make money, no question. They have a built-in audience. It doesn’t matter if people don’t like it, so many others will flock to screens to stay in the loop. There’s a reason why the MCU has multiple phases in the works. (I’m not an MCU person, and with all the movies and TV shows, there’s zero chance I will catch up.)
So what are execs to do? Follow money or creativity? Of course, they’ll follow the money!
I give the producers credit for the 30th anniversary special. They tried to keep the classic feel while providing new views. It just didn’t always work, and ultimately it went too far to truly bring in the nostalgia it was aiming for.
As viewers, we must try to promote and view original content often. Because I’m not sure I want to watch a 50th-anniversary celebration of “Beauty and the Beast,” even though I’m sure execs will do something for it.