Ten Reasons Why Beauty and the Beast Wins

Well, I was going to write about the Scottish Festival that we went to last weekend {the highlight of every summer! My wedding last year was only marginally more exciting for me than this super-awesome event ;)} But for whatever reason I'm not really feeling it today, so instead I'll just take an unexpected turn and talk about my favorite Disney princess movie ever, Beauty and the Beast. Random, I know. I like to keep you on your toes.

Beauty and the Beast is by far the best and most role-model worthy Princess movie Disney has made. (I feel I should point out that I'm talking the classics, here. I feel like Tiana and even Rapunzel are pretty decent princesses to take after, too.) And by the way, while I will staunchly defend this movie as the best princessy movie ever, I will also totally abandon my position if you can provide me with a reasonable and well-stated argument in favor of another film. But just you try! Just. You. Try.

So here you have it....

10 Reasons Why Belle's Story is the Best

1. Belle reads constantly. Obviously this is awesome. Thanks to her love of reading, she's smart and imaginative and also makes friends with all the townspeople, especially the bookstore man. This is something everyone should definitely do because people are fun friends AND with just a simple batting of your over-large eyes, you too could go home with your favorite book free of charge! There are no negatives here.

2. Belle lives in the French countryside. Does this really need further explanation? I have been in rural France-land and it is seriously like a scene from a story book. A story book like Beauty and the Beast.

3. Belle is an awkward misfit. Now, this seems a little unbelievable since she's gorgeous (her name literally means beauty...a little transparent) and the "hottest" guy in town totally has a thing for her, but nevertheless she still doesn't quite fit in somehow. Everyone in town looks at her with the same indulgent smile that you would give a child after he showed you his masterful mud-pie. I suppose this is because she is a nerd for reading books. And because her father is a bit of a nutter. Either way, having watched this as a little book-loving, super-awkward pre-teen, I feel that this whole misfit characteristic really works well for the young and potentially insecure female audience. Would it work better if Belle also had braces, Snoopy glasses and no sense of fashion? Yeah, probably. But it's a good effort.

4. Belle is an upstanding model of modesty. Suuuure, she shows a little shoulder in that mysteriously available golden ball gown, but for the most part she is in her cute and decently flattering "provincial" garb. No sea shells necessary to win over the man-beast.

5. Belle is a family gal. Nothing comes before her crazy-haired inventor father, Maurice. From the very beginning where she defends him against Gaston (creeper-stalker) and then takes his place as the Beast's prisoner, to the very end where she leaves in the midst of a romance-filled evening to save him from his slog through a blizzard, she is one dedicated daughter. So dedicated, in fact, that she can't even give her semi-boyfriend a heads up that, hey, don't worry, she'll come back in a few hours and he doesn't need to slide into a hopeless depression caused by her apparent abandonment.

6. You get to watch the part of their love story where the Beast is the Beast. It may sound weird, but I would be surprised if anyone said they honestly thought the transformed Prince was more attractive than the Beast version. (Okay, maybe not that surprised.) But really. The Beast was strong and bulky and makes for a pretty intriguing love interest in that he differs from the average strapping Disney prince...and is a Beast. I wonder if Belle minded that her post-curse Prince was suddenly the exact same size as she was and had prettier hair? Regardless, the Prince had blue eyes in both versions of himself so that's a plus either way.

7. Cogsworth's awesome zinger. Ad-libbed by David Ogden Stiers (aka Cogsworth), mind you.
Beast: "I want to do something for her...but what?"
Cogsworth: "Well, there's the usual things: flowers...chocolates...promises you don't intend to keep..."

(7.5).....And then he gives her a library! I mean, come on! Take note, fellas.

8. Belle tolerates no controlling Beast baloney. Beast gets all demanding and rude, so what does Belle do? She leaves. Way to go, Belle. No one should take that kind of hogwash from anyone else, and when the Beast gets after her for it later, she gives it right back to him and he realizes he's been a real dunderhead. I hope you are all appreciating my totally PG-rated language in honor of the Disney topic.

9. Belle meets her Prince and doesn't marry him the next day. This is probably my biggest reason for loving this movie. Granted, he is a freakishly huge buffalo-bear-gorilla-boar-wolf-lion who imprisoned her within ten minutes of their first meeting, but the fact is that they started out with no affection lost between them and then got to know and like each other at a normal pace. The fact that they got to know each other at all automatically gives them a boost above the competition. I'm lookin' at you, Sleeping Beauty. And Snow White. And The Little Mermaid.

10. They both learn lessons together. The Beast's life-changing lesson is kinda central to the story. A scary old lady comes to his door and asks for help, he sees her craggy old face and nay-says that right off the bat. So she transforms him into a crazy-looking animal mutt until he can get someone to love him through his beastliness, just as he should have loved others despite their beastliness. And, magically, Belle pretty much learns the same lesson (along with some others, like the fact that you can find adventure without even leaving your own home town if you have a cursed animal living in a castle nearby). People are not always what they appear to be on the outside, and first impressions are not always accurate. Sometimes they're whoppingly inaccurate. A stupendous lesson for any child, if they pick up on that rather than on the idea that maybe their dishes sing and dance while they sleep.

In case anyone's wondering, the fact that the entire village seems to have forgotten that 10 years prior there was a prince living in a castle within walking distance does not negate the fact that this movie is rockin'. Plot holes do not supersede wonderful life lessons.

Bonus knowledge: A few weeks ago I was informed that the Beast's name is "Adam." Well, I guess technically the Prince-who-is-no-longer-a-beast's name is Adam. The Beast's name is the Beast. But anyway, who knew? I certainly didn't, but I'm glad I'm no longer lacking in this important piece of B&tB trivia.