BY JORDAN GUMMERE (‘17)
Remakes of classic movies can sometimes turn out for the worst, but Disney’s live action Beauty and the Beast trailer is stirring up excitement. The movie trailer for the new version and the original 1991 version are almost identical. The music to every last detail of the scenes depicted in the trailers are amazingly similar.
1. Belle’s arrival
The torn portrait of the Beast before he was cursed is torn in both trailers from when the beast turned down an old lady shelter for the night and she cursed him. Belle’s Father Maurice is locked in the Beast’s dungeon when he stumbles into the castle looking for shelter. It’ll be interesting to know how he comes to be there this time, since in the live-action Beauty and the Beast it is Belle who is the inventor, not Maurice, so he’s unlikely to be on his way back from the science fair as he is in the original.
2. Lumier/Cogsworth/Wardrobe
Another similarity is that Lumiere and Cogsworth discuss that Belle could be the one to break the spell on the Beast. We also see in the animated trailer we see Belle bumping into the wardrobe, but that’s not seen this time around. She does feature, though, and is voiced by Audra McDonald. Another interesting addition fixes a bit of a plot hole from the original. Did you ever wonder where Belle’s fancy clothes came from? Almost everything in the castle is in disarray, so you have to wonder where such a beautiful ball gown came from for Belle to wear when she dances with the Beast. As you can see in the trailer, Wardrobe supplies Belle with some new threads, and presumably she’ll be responsible for the golden dress too.
3. Wolves
After a particularly nasty encounter with Beast in the animated movie, Belle takes her horse and rides off into the woods but doesn’t get far. Wolves surround her and she’s forced to fight them off with a tree branch. Fortunately the Beast arrives and saves the day — just like in the scene from the live-action trailer. Once they are back at the castle, the trailers differ from each other in minor ways, such as the Beast being nursed back to health in bed, rather than sitting in his chair. Belle’s tender devotion to him remains the same though.
4. The gown
Disney previously released a photo of Emma Watson wearing Belle’s yellow gown, and the Beauty and the Beast live-action trailer shows her dancing in it with the Beast, and it’s an iconic scene from the original movie.
5. Gaston, the villain
We can’t forget Gaston. Just like the original, the remake trailer shows Gaston gathering a group of townsfolk to storm Beast’s castle. The video also gives a quick look at Beast and Gaston’s epic rooftop battle.
Watch the full trailer here!