First Trailer for Disney’s Live Action ‘Beauty and The Beast’

Disney is going to make a lot of money on this film. Parents will take their kids to see it. Children of this generation may very well grow up feeling like this is the Belle and Beast that belongs to them. I get that. The trailer looks pretty good. However, ask me if I feel like it adds something that the animated film lacked? I don’t know.

I’m happy to see any movie with Kevin Kline, and as good as he is as Mr. Fischoeder on ‘Bob’s Burgers,’ I’m thrilled to see him with a live action role in this film. Conversely, I’m pretty sad about the execution on what we’ve seen of the magical housewares in the film: Stanley Tucci as Cadenza, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth and Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts. the clips we get to see in the trailer look more like something from the old Jim Henson Story Hour, than what I’d expect from Director by Bill Condon. They are accurate designs for the period, but they lack any sense of warmth.

I’m open to see more, but so far, this trailer has me more interested in going back and watching the original than buying a ticket to see the remake.

Beauty and the Beast opens March 17, 2017.

Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is a live-action re-telling of the studio’s animated classic which refashions the classic characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience, staying true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs. “Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within. The film stars: Emma Watson as Belle; Dan Stevens as the Beast; Luke Evans as Gaston, the handsome, but shallow villager who woos Belle; Oscar® winner Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle’s eccentric, but lovable father; Josh Gad as Lefou, Gaston’s long-suffering aide-de-camp; Golden Globe® nominee Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, the candelabra; Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, the harpsichord; Oscar nominee Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, the mantel clock; and two-time Academy Award® winner Emma Thompson as the teapot, Mrs. Potts.

Directed by Oscar® winner Bill Condon based on the 1991 animated film, “Beauty and the Beast” is produced by Mandeville Films’ David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman with eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, who won two Academy Awards® (Best Original Score and Best Song) for the 1991 animated film, providing the score, which will include new recordings of the original songs written by Menken and Howard Ashman, as well as several new songs written by Menken and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice. “Beauty and the Beast” will be released in U.S. theaters on March 17, 2017.