MovieChat Forums > Beauty and the Beast (1991) Discussion > SPOILERS alert, but at the end, when the...

SPOILERS alert, but at the end, when the curse was lifted...

posted 7 years ago by TheMan18 (13020)
11 replies | jump to latest

... how would all those people adapt to their lives as humans after living as objects for so long?

Will they be able to walk again normally without learning too much how to do so? Will they cease to have nightmares about being enchanted as such like that? Will their psychological and physical well-being naturally just come to them and they will forget all that ordeal they lived through? What about all of those people who were cursed in such a fashion where they had no mouths to talk with, like the coat hanger, moving pieces of furniture, forks and spoons, or kids who lived as tea cups and whatnot, and will the enchantress and those related to the Witch disappear into thin air or what?

And on a different note, what if Maurice or Belle actually ASKED any of them what HAPPENED to make them talking objects and the Beast a beast and the existing magic rose like that - what would they have responded with?

In the extended sequence "Human Again", there was an alive dust pan that had to eat dust, when he turns into a human, will he not feel so dirty and humiliated by going through all that?

What's even more, they all seem so happy despite all of it and a lot of these don't frighten on their own but radiate charm and humour and whatnot - as I pointed this out before, Chip laughs and has fun, Mrs. Potts charms and says with a smile "How would you like a nice cup of tea" etc and even the Dog gets SO used to functioning as a foot stool and then (at the end) smiles when turning back into its original form, well, we almost forget that they are people who were cursed with a less than good intent, see also the fact that there are DEADLY wolves outside the castle in the forest and all those creepy gargoyles and angry Beast himself (or is he what it seems?)

I know this is all set in a fairytale universe so real life logic doesn't apply much to all of it, right? But did you ever wonder about this, and did this Disney movie ever mean to make us wonder in that sense?

Because if all of this somehow took place in our world, the implications and reactions of it all would be far more complex and difficult. (Then again, it seems on more than one level just an alternate fairytale fantasy world and I don't think we are meant to compare it all too much with our present OR past real times, right?)

[–] Stratego (30511) 7 years ago

Not that long. Maybe 4 or 5 years. They'll get by. I'm sure they're mostly happy to have their own bodies back.

I've said before, I think the movie should've made clear they were not allowed to talk about the curse

[–] TheMan18 (13020) 7 years ago

"I've said before, I think the movie should've made clear they were not allowed to talk about the curse"

True, but what mean is, if asked what made them that way, what would they possibly have responded with?

[–] TheMan18 (13020) 7 years ago

Unless maybe the movie is also suggesting that the way people reacted to strange things happening back in the 17th century or so was different to how we would do so today. That's why Belle and Maurice get used to it, well at least, beyond a few surprised "oh-s", they don't get all that shocked and ulra-surprised beyond.

[–] Stratego (30511) 7 years ago

I think it has more to do with the writers wanting the plot to move along.

[–] TheMan18 (13020) 7 years ago

Possibly, by the way Stratego, did you see the 2016 Emma Watson remake? And did you know that many people actually say that movie fixed a lot of this animation's missing elements even though very few if any say that its on par with let alone better than this.

Come to think of it, have you seen the original Jean Cocteau's (the 80s band Cocteau Twins by the way got their name from that legendary French filmmaker) 1946 original black and white movie "La Belle et La Bete", which does indeed translate as "Beauty and the Beast", or even any of the Soviet/Russian takes on the fairytale under the name of "The Scarlet Flower" ("Alenkiy Tsvetochek")? As a born Russian, I used to listen to that fairytale alone and only several years later when I saw this did I connect it to "Beauty and the Beast".

[–] Stratego (30511) 7 years ago

I only saw bits and pieces, I couldn't stand watching the whole thing.

I actually saw Cocteau's version years ago. That movie was definitely an inspiration for this one.

[–] TheMan18 (13020) 7 years ago

And did you like Cocteau's version, more than this one from Disney?

And I take it you haven't seen any of the Soviet "Scarlet Flower"-related takes on the story, right?

[–] Stratego (30511) 7 years ago

It's not bad, but I like Disney's version better. The characters, the animation, the music, the humour, the story.

I don't think I've seen it. Years ago I watched an animated series that also featured Eastern European fairy tales. Not sure if that was one of them.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7701) 7 years ago

I think she probably figured out the curse by the fact that he turned into a human at the end. As for the rest, I think the curse kept their knowledge of how their human bodies worked fresh in their minds the whole time to remind them so they'd try to encourage their boss/leader of becoming a better person.

Also to The Man i'm pretty sure this has to take place in at least the mid to late 19th century cause if it was in the 17th century the village that everyone lives in wouldn't exist. Everyone would be under the rule of the king and there'd be armed guards in the village making sure everyone pays their taxes and also to ensure nobody rebels. Also I am pretty sure there weren't invention fairs in the 1600s. Much less the technology to build a wood chopping machine.

[–] Otter (24464) 7 years ago

Darling, if we can accept that some Fairy Queene can use magic to turn humans into utensils, we can accept that she can use magic to turn them back into fully functional humans.

Of course that doesn't explain why the servants don't hate their useless prince for getting them turned into teapots and feather dusters.

[–] MadameLee (18) 7 years ago

have you ever thought about the fact the dust pan, broom and the dishes that were NOT children- might only be alive since there was no human to be able to move them?