Beyond the Castle: Beauty & The Beast On Film, By Amanda Bergloff

 

"Oh, Beast, how you frightened me!" she cried.

"I never knew how much I loved you until

just now, when I feared I was too late

to save your life."

"Can you really love such an ugly creature

as I am?" asked the Beast faintly.

◆ MADAME DE VILLENEUVE ◆ 

Out of all the fairy tales I've read, "Beauty and the Beast" is my favorite because at its core, the theme that outward appearances can be deceiving...and that one's heart can grow and change when love and understanding come into play is a timeless one. Beauty and her beast can be set in any time period and can work beyond any castle walls.

Many anthropologists believe that the story of B&B has roots going back over 4,000 years, since elements of the tale appear in many cultures- among them, the Greek myth, Cupid and Psyche, where Psyche is transported to a magical palace and not allowed to see Cupid's true form, all the while attended to by invisible servants.

The original print version in western culture of B&B is credited to French author, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, and was included in the story collection called, The Young American or Tales from the Sea, in 1740. (You can read Villeneuve's original story HERE.) However, in 1756, Villeneuve's rather lengthy tale was abridged, rewritten, and published by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in Magasin des Enfants, thus creating the version of B&B that is most commonly known and retold.

From a personal standpoint, every good Beauty and the Beast interpretation makes me cry in the end. Every. Single. Time.

So below, I've picked out eight adaptations of this classic tale in film, animation, and TV. If you're looking for more, you can find a list of B&B films HERE.

And share your favorite versions of this timeless tale in the comments section. We'd love to hear from you!

~LIVE ACTION FILMS~

La Belle et la Bête 

(1946)

Written by: Jean Cocteau

Directed by: Jean Cocteau

Starring: Jean Marais, Josette Day

This 1946 film from France is a real fan favorite whenever I take a poll of Beauty & the Beast movies on #FairyTaleTuesday. Stunning in black and white, this artistic re-telling of B&B blends Cocteau's interesting direction with surrealist imagery, magical special effects, and beautiful performances by the lead actors. This is the gold standard for fairy tale films of all kinds.

Click below to watch the full film:

La Belle et la Bête 

(2014)

Written by: Sandra Vo-Anh, Christophe Gans

Directed by: Christophe Gans

Starring: Lea Seydoux, Vincent Cassel

Another French adaptation, this 2014 film is visually stunning with its sumptuous costumes, settings, and scenery, that also blends the B&B tale with surrealistic touches. Lea Seydoux (Belle) and Vincent Cassel (Beast) give multi-layered performances that take the audience on the journey from fear and selfishness to courage, love, and redemption. A beautiful film well worth seeing for any B&B fan.

Click below to watch the "dark waltz" scene:

~ANIMATED FILMS~

THE SCARLET FLOWER

(1952)

Written by: Sergey Aksakov

Directed by: Lev Atamanov

Starring: Nina Krachkovskaya, Mikhail Astangov

This Russian version of B&B, from 1957, is an example of the Socialist Realism period in Russian animation which focused on adapting traditional Russian folk tales. The film also used the animation technique known as rotoscoping, where live actors and animals were filmed first and then traced by the animators, resulting in exceptional animation. A wonderful movie everyone will love, which shows the traditional fairy tale from a Russian point of view.

Click below to watch the full film:

BEAUTY & THE BEAST

(1991)

Written by: Linda Woolverton, Brenda Chapman, Chris Sanders

Directed by: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Starring: Paige O'Hara, Robbie Benson, Angela Lansbury

Probably the most famous animated take on Beauty and the Beast, this musical Disney version was the first animated movie to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1991. In this film, the message of "don't judge a book by its cover" is both figurative and literal, as Belle's love of reading and books is a strong plot point. I mean, who wouldn't want an entire castle library gifted to them by a good-hearted Beast? Enjoyable, fun, and ultimately moving, this B&B take is magical, indeed.

Click below to watch the "library surprise" scene:

And of course, we have to mention the live action re-make of this animated film, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens,

so click below to watch the official trailer:

~ON TELEVISION~

BEAUTY & THE BEAST

(1987 - 1990)

Created by: Ron Koslow

Starring: Linda Hamilton, Ron Perlman, Roy Dotrice

Did you know there was a television series in the late eighties that set B&B in modern day New York? This American fantasy/drama series had the Beast ("Vincent" Ron Perlman) living in a secret subterranean community of social outcasts while Beauty ("Catherine" Linda Hamilton) was an Assistant District Attorney whose life was saved by Vincent. Sound strange? Well, maybe, but this series gained TV cult status for mixing a modern day romantic love story with a procedural crime drama twist, along with the fairy tale-like chemistry between Perlman and Hamilton.

"...for we have a bond, stronger than friendship or love, and although we cannot be together, we will never, ever be apart..." says it all.

Click below to watch the opening credits to the show:

BEAUTY & THE BEAST:

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre

(1984)

Written by: Robert C. Jones

Directed by: Roger Vadim

Starring: Susan Sarandon, Klaus Kinski, Anjelica Huston

In 1982, Shelley Duvall created Faerie Tale Theatre which was an American live-action fairy tale anthology series that featured prominent actors and directors of the time. Originally airing on Showtime, this series introduced a generation of kids to fairy tales that they could watch again and again on tape when it was released on VHS. The "Beauty and the Beast" episode was a straightforward re-telling of the fairy tale that starred Susan Sarandon as Beauty, Klaus Kinski as the Beast and was directed by renowned French film director, Roger Vadim. This version was the only Faerie Tale Theatre episode to be shot on video for the interior shots and on 35mm film for the exterior and location scenes. Actor Klaus Kinski agreed to play the Beast in this version because he was a fan of the 1946 Cocteau B&B film. Kinski's costume and makeup in this episode were inspired by that film, also.

Click below to watch the full episode:

~VARIATIONS on B&B~

SHREK

(2001)

Written by: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio (based on the book by William Steig)

Directed by: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson

Starring: Mike Meyers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy

Yes, Shrek....While this film features many fairy tale character mash-ups, at its heart, it's a Beauty and the Beast story. Like its "layers of onions" analogy, this movie makes you reconsider what beauty really is...the beast discovers his heart...the beauty changes to a beast...and they both save each other. Cue the laughter and tears.

Click below for the scene where Shrek & Fiona start to appreciate one another:

PRIDE & PREJUDICE

(2005)

Written by: Deborah Moggach (based on the book by Jane Austin)

Directed by: Joe Wright

Starring: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Donald Sutherland

Again, another story with a B&B sentiment at its core. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett do the delicate dance of misunderstanding and indignation, all on the path to transformation. Mr. Darcy is considered "beastly" by Elizabeth, but he realizes earlier than she does, that beyond all reason, she has inspired him to find his heart, and he needs her love. Best of all though, they both ultimately transform each other in this adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. I am such a fan of this film, and it passes my B&B test of making me cry at the end. Every. Single. Time.

Click below to watch their mutual transformation scene:

MUSIC

to inspire your own

Beauty & the Beast tale...

And Beauties everywhere 

and their Beasts 

lived happily ever after...

Enchanted Conversation's contributing editor, Amanda Bergloff, writes modern fairy tales, folktales, and speculative fiction. Her work has appeared in various anthologies, including Frozen Fairy Tales, After the Happily Ever After, and Uncommon Pet Tales.

Follow her on Twitter @AmandaBergloff

Check out her Amazon Author page HERE

Join her every Tuesday on Twitter for #FairyTaleTuesday to share what you love about fairy tales, folktales, and myths.

Also, if you like sharing your #vss fairy tales on Twitter, follow @fairytaleflash and use #fairytaleflash so we can retweet!

Cover & Layout: Amanda Bergloff

Say Yes to the Dress: Fairy Tales and Fashion, By Kelly Jarvis

Editor’s note: What perfect weekend read! Fairy tales! Weddings! Fashion! Kelly informs and entertains in this deep dive into fairy tales and what we wear as a result of reading them. Follow the links, as they are really fun—Kelly really did her homework. (Kate)

It is hard to deny the transformative power of a beautiful dress. When I was a teenager, my grandmother, who was languishing in the final days of a long illness, mistook a pink crystal ring my boyfriend had given me for an engagement ring, and immediately began thinking about wedding gowns. “We will have to find you the most beautiful dress,” she whispered, running her wrinkled hands across the folds of the rough hospice blankets on her bed, as if she might magically turn them into sweeping mounds of bridal silk. From that moment on, the imagined sheen of “pretty new dresses” filled her waking hours, and a hope for the future danced in her dying eyes. My grandmother passed away long before I married the boy who had given me the pink crystal ring, but when he twirled me across the dance floor at our wedding reception, I prayed that she was looking down from heaven to see the beautiful sequined ball gown that billowed behind me. 

No piece of clothing marks the transition from one phase of life to another more than a wedding dress, and weddings are inextricably linked in our minds with fairy tales. Although fairy tale weddings leave much to be desired (Snow White’s mother dances to her death in red-hot iron shoes at her daughter’s wedding and Cinderella’s sisters have their eyes poked out at her nuptials), Disney films have made the idea of fairy tale weddings famous, often ending with opulent ceremonies. An internet search of the phrase “fairy tale wedding” yields thousands of links to gowns, cakes, and venues designed to provide every couple with their piece of happily ever after.  

Fairy tale fashion is not limited to weddings; characters like Little Red Riding Hood and Puss-in-Boots are named for the clothes they wear. In 2016, the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City presented an exhibition on Fairy Tale Fashion, and Yale University Press published a book of the same name featuring over 150 photographs and illustrations to complement its investigation of fairy tale couture.   

Cinderella is the fairy tale protagonist best known for transforming her life through fashion, trading her rags for a dress that makes her the object of the prince’s desire. Perrault provides the girl with a fairy godmother who has a solid fashion sense; she touches Cinderella with her wand giving her “garments of gold and silver cloth” before sending her off to the ball in style. The Grimm version of the tale describes a hazel tree which tosses down beautiful dresses over three separate nights and a Scottish variant features a dress-giving cow, but in each version of the story, it is the dress which signals Cinderella’s transformation from persecuted daughter to powerful maiden. When Disney produced its live action Cinderella movie in 2015, the company spent an incredible amount of time and money designing both the iconic blue ball gown and the wedding dress the heroine dons at the conclusion of the film.  

Cinderella, ATU 510A, is closely related to ATU 510B, stories of “unnatural love”. In tales like Perrault’s Donkeyskin and Grimm’s All-Kinds-of-Fur, the protagonist delays marrying her own father by requesting dresses that echo the beauty of the sun, moon, and stars. When royal seamstresses create the beautiful gowns, the girl packs them away and disguises herself in the skin of beasts, often serving in the kitchens of a prince who eventually becomes her husband. At every turn in these stories, the other-worldly dresses act as signals of the heroines’ constant transformations, both protecting her from harm and allowing her entry into the highest levels of society. In his book On the Nature of Fairy Tales, Max Luthi explores the celestial dresses described in these stories, noting that “one cannot express more beautifully how the world is woven into the clothing of man in the fairy tale.”

Another fairy tale known for its fashionableopulence is Beauty and the Beast, ATU 425C. This “tale as old as time” can be traced back to the story of Cupid and Psyche and often features an active heroine who must quest for her lost husband and return him to human form. The most popular literary version, published by Beaumont in 1756, features many elements found in Cinderella stories including plotting sisters and access to material beauty. When Disney filmed its live action version of Beauty and the Beast in 2017, the company devoted considerable attention to designing Belle’s iconic ball gown and using her costumes to reflect her position as Disney’s first feminist princess. While fashion and feminism may seem at odds, the two topics have a long history, with the evolution of popular dress styles reflecting the arc of female liberation and transformation over time. 

We never outgrow our love for the perfect dress, that sacred swath of fabric that lights us up from the inside and reveals who we are beneath the surface. When my grandmother died, we buried her in a “pretty new dress,” sewn of a cloth that matched the soft blue shade of her eyes. Though earthly concerns were beyond her, it seemed only fitting that she have a dress to signal her transformation from body to spirit, a dress to reflect the kindness of her soul. My grandmother has been gone for over twenty-five years, but on lonely days, I still feel the ache of her loss. Those are the days that I throw on the prettiest dress in my closet and go outside to search for her. I find her in the sequined sparkle of sunlight swirling through the trees. I find her in the silky sheen of sunset shadows. I find her in the twirls and folds of the brilliant blue sky. With every azure sweep of heaven’s billowing ball gown, my sorrow is supplanted by gratitude for my grandmother’s love and thankfulness for the transformative power that a beautiful fairy tale dress can have on the human heart.  

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Bio: Kelly Jarvis teaches classes in literature, writing, and fairy tale at Central Connecticut State University, The University of Connecticut, and Tunxis Community College. She lives, happily ever after, with her husband and three sons in a house filled with fairy tale books. She is also Enchanted Conversation’s special project’s writer.

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The photograph of the wedding dress used in Kenneth Branaugh’s 2015 Cinderella is by Jonathan Olley. The gown was designed by Sandy Powell.

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