Perspective: A Book To Movie Adaptation of Beauty and the Beast

Perspective: 
A Book To Movie Adaptation Review of 
the novel The Beauty and the Beast 
by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve
&
the movie Beauty and the Beast 2017
 directed by Bill Condon

 

“If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?" - Disney's Beauty and the Beast 2017

There will be spoilers in this whole review. If you have not seen the movie and/or read the book and want to, don't read this post.

The Plot

The basic plot is the same in both versions of the story. Beauty takes her father's place in the Beast's castle after he steals a rose from his garden. They spend time together and eventually they learn that appearances are not important. It is what is inside that counts. Beauty and the Beast (who is really a prince) fall in love and she breaks the curse set upon him. Other than that there are many differences to the plot. 

Before I begin this review, I do want to say a couple of things. All of the thoughts that I have mentioned below about both versions of this story (the book and the movie) are based on what I enjoy in a story. I'm sure that there are plenty of people that would enjoy the book more but I don't. I do find what has changed from the original novel to the story I grew up with in the original Disney movie, are interesting to look at. In this review, I will be mentioning the large similarities and differences. If I looked at all of the little ones I would be here all day. 

 Below, I am talking about the new Disney movie but there are not many differences between the two. I knew full well going into this that I hold a bias towards the movie because of my heavy nostalgia for it. I adore the 1991 Beauty and the Beast. Belle was one of my first role models. Going into the novel, I wanted to love it but that did not happen. I am thankful for it though because without the author's original story the Disney versions would not exist. 

The Stars of Beauty and the Beast 
(2017 Disney Version): 

Emma Watson as Belle: 

Dan Stevens as the Beast:

Kevin Kline as Maurice:

Luke Evans as Gaston: 

Josh Gad as LeFou:

Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, 

and Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza:

Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts and Nathan Mack as Chip:

Similarities 

The Beauty/Belle as a character: 

  - In the most simple ways, Belle from the movie and the Beauty of the book are similar. They are both caring and would do anything to save their father, even risking their lives. 

  - They both really do not care about what others think about them. The Beauty of the book does not ask for much from her father whereas her sisters ask for too much. They believe that she is strange because she is being a decent person. Belle, in the movie, is considered strange because she is a bookworm. Also, because she is forward thinking. Both do not let what others say bother them and they stay strong through it all. 

  -Both are known to be beautiful. This much is obvious with just the names. The Beauty of the novel is actually only known as The Beauty. We never actually even get to know her name. Belle in the movie is also very beautiful but this also goes along with her personality. Both are beautiful inside and out. 

The Castle:

  - The similarity between the castle in both the book and the movie is that it is much more than it seems. Belle and the Beauty both explore their version of the castle and find more than they could have ever imagined. 

The Beast is a Prince:

  - The Prince gets turned into a Beast in both versions of the story though there are many differences to why he does. 

Differences 

The Antagonists: 

  - In the novel, the Beauty's sisters are antagonistic in the case that they are cruel to the Beauty because she is kind. Like I have said above, the Beauty of the book is known for her beauty but also because she cares about her family. She doesn't want to even ask for anything from her father. It's not until her cruel and rotten sisters start to make comments about it that her father basically pleads with her to ask for something.

  - Also in the novel, there is an evil fairy that turns the Prince into a Beast. I'll focus more on the transformation later on. She is really evil to be evil. 

  - In the movie, the antagonist is Gaston. He is interested in marrying Belle and will do anything in his power to get her for himself. Over the course of the movie, Gaston changes from being a charismatic man (who Belle can see is actually a pompous man) to a vile creature. In both Disney versions of the tale, he is a foil to the Beast. He is really what the prince was like at the beginning of the story. A handsome man who is conceited and cruel to those around him. He only grows worse over the course of the movie. 

  - I find Gaston as a much more interesting villain for the tale, especially because of him being the Beast's foil. What really makes Gaston a more intriguing antagonist is the fact that he is so conceited in himself. Gaston believes that he deserves Belle for himself because he is handsome and that no one else does. He helps show the message of the movie perfectly. Beauty is found within. Just because he is a gorgeous man it doesn't mean he is worth it. Belle knows this from the beginning and over the course of the movie we learn how right she really was.

Belle/ the Beauty as a Character:

  - One of the major differences between the stories is that Belle is a much more developed character than The Beauty. In the movie, we get to learn about Belle's aspirations. She's a reader, inventor, and a teacher (at least somewhat). She still has a heart of gold and cares for those around her. But she becomes a three-dimensional character in the movie, while her book counterpart is bland and forgettable. 

  - Belle stands up for herself and fights for her father, the Beast, and her friends. She is someone for little girls to look up to. The Beauty, on the other hand, is an archetypal woman for the Beast to fall in love with because she is beautiful. Yes, she has a kind heart but this is not really shown too much. It's told to the reader. I really enjoy the additions to Belle's character in the Disney movies.

Life in the Castle:

  - In the novel, a lot of the focus of the Beauty's time in the castle is how extraordinary it is. She sees and does so many interesting things that make her fall in love with the castle. I can see why she does. We never really get her spending much time with the Beast, which is supposed to be the heart of this story. They see each other each night and he always asks her the same thing, "Will you marry me?" She does spend time with the Prince in her dreams though she doesn't realize that these two people are the same person. A lot of this time is spent with her saying how handsome he is and it doesn't make for an interesting storyline. 

  - In the movie, we get to see their relationship develop in a means that makes sense for both of the characters. Belle and the Beast do not get along with each other at the beginning of their relationship. As the story continues on they both learn about each other. They become close because of a mutual affection for each other but also because they have similar interests. It makes for a more interesting romance for the audience to watch. We want to see them get together and for them to develop into something more. 

-Out of both, I really enjoy the movie's aspects of Belle's time in the castle because it is spent with her actually spending time with the Beast. They develop the relationship instead of just showing the wonders of the castle. The love story in the novel does not feel real at all. No time is really spent on it and this is a romance. 

The Transformation:

  - In the book, a fairy basically has raised the Prince for his mother because she has been fighting in battles. Eventually, the fairy wants to get married to the Prince. He does not want to marry her because she has basically raised him and is like a mother to him. Also, she is quite old. She takes this as the fact that he thinks she is ugly so she curses him. He is transformed into a Beast because of this and is meant to learn a lesson. But the Prince is never actually being conceited or nasty at all. 

  - Actually, when we meet the Beast at the beginning of the novel, he seems kind-hearted. The only reason he even gets angry at the merchant (the Beauty's father) is that he has stolen from him. Which I don't blame him for because he was so kind to merchant beforehand. After the Beauty comes to live with him, he's kind to her never getting angry. There is never really a moment that I believed he was a horrible creature. He might have looked hideous but he never acted like it. So what lesson does he really have to learn? Yes, he does not like his appearance but he never really complains about it. 

  - In the movie, it makes much more sense for the Prince to be cursed. He's conceited, pompous, and just unlikeable. Over the course of the movie, we get to see him grow as a character. He learns that his looks are not everything and he grows as a person. This makes for a much more intriguing narrative and character arc. We as an audience get to see the growth of his character. The novel does not have this growth. He never really needs to change because he never was a horrible person. The growth of the Beast's character is one of the most interesting pieces of the movie and without it, the novel felt empty. 

Belle/ The Beauty's Life Outside of the Castle:

  - Belle is much closer to her father in the movie and we actually get to see this relationship between the two. She has learned and become who she is because of Maurice. 

  - The relationship between the Beauty and her father in the novel is not focused on a lot. We do see though that she is his only daughter who seems to care for her father and not the money that he makes. It's obvious of why he cares for her so deeply. Also in the novel, the father is told by the Beast that he will be his prisoner or one of his daughters will take his place. He goes home and tells his children of what has happened. There is a difference here that I really did not like. He willing lets his daughter go to live with the Beast. He goes home with the complete knowledge that most likely the Beauty will take his place because she adores him. Could you see Maurice from the movie doing that? No, because he never would have. I'm glad they made the change in the Disney versions of this story. 

- In the novel, we also get a focus on the rest of the Beauty's family. She has five sisters and six brothers. The brothers are hardly ever mentioned and the sisters are just there to be awful. Also, they make the Beauty look so much better by comparison. Much of our introduction to the Beauty at the beginning of the book is by comparisons to her sisters. My favorite aspect of the novel was actually the beginning with the introduction to the family. I felt for these characters and their suffering and I thought that the merchant really wanted to better his children's lives. He might make some questionable decisions later on but at the beginning, I really cared for his struggles. 

  - In the movie, we see her in comparison to the rest of the town. We get to see Belle's personality shine through her interactions with the villagers. She wants to better her life and her father's. We also get to see her in her interactions with Gaston. Belle is never guided in her thoughts by the appearance of others. She cares about what they are like and over the course of the movie we get to see much more of this. 

The Ending: 

  - In the novel, the Beauty leaves the Beast to go home and see her father and family because she is missing them. She is meant to leave for two months. The Beast tells her that if she stays away from him any longer he will die of heartbreak. She makes a promise to come back. After the two months end, she comes back and finds the Beast dead. He died of a broken heart. She cries over his body and he comes back to life. He is eventually turned back into a Prince because he got someone to fall in love with him. This is not how the book ends. There is actually one hundred pages after his transformation. 

   What takes up the rest of the novel is the explanation of how the Prince became a Beast (which I have mentioned above). Beauty and he eventually do get married but it really becomes very slow at the end.

  -In the movie, the ending is much more climactic. The Beast lets Belle go home so she can save her father. When she gets there she realizes how much of a beast Gaston has become and she tries to stop him. Gaston learns about the Beast and guides the mob to attack the Beast. During the attack on the castle, Gaston shoots the Beast and kills him. The Beast dies defending himself and Belle (at least it looks like he is going to die) and as a hero in his story. Belle's love is what brings him back in this like in the novel, but it's because the enchantress witness's the change of the Beast. You feel much more for both characters at the end of this story and pull for them to get their happy ending.

  - I really think that the ending that Disney has made for this movie and originally in the 1991 version is just a better one. It is much more action packed but also feels much more heartfelt. You can feel the love that Belle and the Beast have for each other. It's devastating watching the Beast's face when he believes that Belle has betrayed him. It is also heartbreaking when he sees her after she screams for him at the end. Every emotion is so evident and it is one of the most beautiful endings I have seen in a movie in a long time. The novel's ending goes on for way too long and the payoff is not worth even reading it. It could have ended much earlier and it still would have felt the same. Lackluster and not thrilling at all. That's why I believe the movie ending is fantastic and the novel's ending is not even close to comparing to it.

Overall Thoughts

Beauty and the Beast has been one of my favorite stories since I was a kid. I love the 1991 Disney version of the movie and I love the 2017 live action version. This story is and will always be special to me. Going into reading the book, I was excited and had high expectations for it. I'm sad to say that I did not really enjoy reading it. I believe that it could have ended about a hundred pages earlier (there is an abridged version that does) because the whole ending sort of felt pointless. So yes, I love both of the Disney movies a lot more than the novel and I don't mind saying that. This is a case that I believe the movie is better than the book. It has the same story but has been changed enough that it makes it so much more of an interesting and heartfelt story.

The movie that started my love for this story.
It is one of a kind and holds a special place in my heart.