hidden rhymes in beauty and the beast
Both the 1991 classic version of Beauty and the Beast and the live-action 2017 version use rhymes to enhance their writing, but in slightly different ways.
the writing style of fairy tales
When we think of fairy tales, we automatically think of Disney. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, they are all expressed in the public mind through the Disney adaptations. But true fairy tales, as written by the Grimm brothers, bear little resemblance to Disney princess movies. They are full of curses, betrayal, maiming, and murder, and tend to have very similar stylistic elements. When Disney retells a traditional fairy tale, such as The Little Mermaid, they usually sanitize it and make it much more child-friendly. In the process the stories lose most of the characteristics of the classic fairy tale genre. Of all the Disney movies, Beauty and the Beast does the best job of retaining the traditional style of writing.
For starters, throughout the entire move the Beast is referred to as “the Beast”, without ever getting a real name. This is common in fairy tales, where almost all the characters are simply referred to as “the Prince” or “the girl” or a similar description. This is because the written fairy tales are based off stories passed down orally, and descriptive character titles made the story simpler to tell then specific names.
The first part of the movie is narrated, which is unusual in movies but connects the story to its fairy tale origins. Fairy tales were written to be simple and concise, and a narrator allows the storyteller to quickly explain the situation when the story begins.
Along the same lines, an enchantress shows up at the beginning of the movie to curse the Beast. This is a common element in fairy tales, because it quickly gives the characters a problem that they need to solve. Instead of going into great amounts of detail to set up a conflict, a random enchantress, fairy, or wicked relative will find some reason to be mad at the main character and curse them.
And finally, there’s a clear moral to the story. In the original fairy tale it was that a good nature is the only critical element to a happy marriage, and in the movie its that you can’t judge a person by what they look like. While these are very different morals, in both versions they are clearly expressed.
For starters, throughout the entire move the Beast is referred to as “the Beast”, without ever getting a real name. This is common in fairy tales, where almost all the characters are simply referred to as “the Prince” or “the girl” or a similar description. This is because the written fairy tales are based off stories passed down orally, and descriptive character titles made the story simpler to tell then specific names.
The first part of the movie is narrated, which is unusual in movies but connects the story to its fairy tale origins. Fairy tales were written to be simple and concise, and a narrator allows the storyteller to quickly explain the situation when the story begins.
Along the same lines, an enchantress shows up at the beginning of the movie to curse the Beast. This is a common element in fairy tales, because it quickly gives the characters a problem that they need to solve. Instead of going into great amounts of detail to set up a conflict, a random enchantress, fairy, or wicked relative will find some reason to be mad at the main character and curse them.
And finally, there’s a clear moral to the story. In the original fairy tale it was that a good nature is the only critical element to a happy marriage, and in the movie its that you can’t judge a person by what they look like. While these are very different morals, in both versions they are clearly expressed.
Interested in more?
A Crystal Forest by William Sharpe
The air is blue and keen and cold, With snow the roads and fields are white But here the forest's clothed with light And in a shining sheath enrolled. Each branch, each twig, each blade of grass, Seems clad miraculously with glass: Above the ice-bound streamlet bends Each frozen fern with crystal ends. Added Lines From Disney Script For in that solemn silence is heard in the whisper of every sleeping thing: Look, look at me, Come wake me up for still here I'll be. To see more poetry by William Sharp: https://www.poemhunter.com/william-sharp/poems/ To read the original Beauty and the Beast fairy tale:
https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/beauty.html |
About the Writer:
Linda Woolverton (born December 19, 1952) is an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist, whose most prominent works include the screenplays and books of several acclaimed Disney films and stage musicals. She became the first woman to write an animated feature for Disney by writing the screenplay of Beauty and the Beast, the first animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards. She also wrote the screenplay of The Lion King, and adapted her own Beauty and the Beast screenplay into the book of the Broadway adaptation of the film, receiving a Tony Award nomination for this. https://www.scripts.com/script/beauty_and_the_beast_179 Other adaptations of Beauty and the Beast: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast
|