Scary Disney: Beauty and the Beast: The Beginning, The Beast, The Wolves and Gaston

Beauty and the Beast. A tale as old as time. The story of an unusual young woman, Belle, who falls in love with a beast. Belle's father, Maurice, an inventor, gets lost in the woods and finds an old enchanted castle with talking furniture and an angry beast who throws him in jail for trespassing. Belle is led to the castle by her fathers horse and finds her father in a jail cell, she takes his place in the castle and Maurice is let go. When he gets home he tells the villagers what happened, they don't believe him and call him a mad man. Maurice tries to rescue Belle alone but gets lost. Meanwhile in the castle the Beast lets Belle look through an enchanted mirror in which she sees her father dying in the forest. The Beast lets her go to save him and Belle takes her father home. When they arrive they are met by angry villagers, Belle shows them the Beast on the enchanted mirror, the villagers lock them up in an insane asylum and go after the Beast. Belle and her father break out of the prison and race to the castle. Gaston, a local hero, takes on the Beast but falls to his death. Belle kisses the Beast, breaks the spell and everyone lives happily ever after. It sounds a sweet tale but the movie left us with a few scary scenes that we'd be seeing in our nightmares for years to come.

1. The Beginning

2. The Beast

3. The Wolves

4. Gaston

1. The Beginning

The beginning of the movie shows us the background of the Beast and how the castle became enchanted.

One night an enchantress disguised as an old beggar woman comes knocking on the doors of Prince Adams castle. She offered him a single rose in exchange for a nights stay in the castle. Adam is repulsed by her haggard appearance and turns her away. She warns him not to be deceived by appearances and turns into a beautiful and powerful enchantress. Adam tries to apologise for his behaviour but she does not accept and turns him into a beast as punishment and his servants into furniture. She saw no love in his heart. The enchantress gives him a magic mirror which lets him see events from faraway and gives him a rose which will bloom until his 21st birthday. She tells him that if he can learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal falls, the spell will be broken. But if he fails, he will remain a beast forever.

The creepy eerie music, stained glass pictures and dark tone to the scene makes it intense and scary for its younger viewers. After it cuts away from the stained glass the beast scratches at his portrait in disgust and hides his face so the audience can't see him. Then as it cuts to the rose we see a stone face carved in the wall outside that looks like its screaming. A horror like start to the movie making the Beast look like the enemy.

2. The Beast

Ten years after the castle is cursed the Beast finds a trespasser in his castle, Maurice. He does not take kindly to him and throws him in prison. This is the first moment we meet the Beast. Maurice is greeted by talking furniture but the Beast quickly finds out and makes his presence known. The door blasts open, a gust of wind blows out the fire and all of the characters tremble in fear knowing what is coming. The Beast shows up growling like a dog and exclaims, 'There's a stranger here,' the talking furniture try to defend Maurice but this makes the beast more angry. He grabs Maurice and shouts, 'You are not welcome here!' and drags him away. The Beast imprisons him with the intentions of keeping Maurice there for the rest of his life. Poor Maurice. The Beast shows he's used to getting what he wants and that he is all mighty and powerful.

When Belle comes for her father the Beast finds her trying to let him escape. She shows no fear and asks him to come into the light. The look on her face says everything.

The Beast tells Belle she can explore the castle apart from the west wing which is forbidden. She guess where she goes? That's right the west wing. The Beast finds her there and turns into full beast mode. He smashes furniture and screams at Belle making her fear for her life. That's enough to make anyone fear for their life. After this Belle talks to him and we start to see the softer side of the Beast which the audience fall in love with.

3. The Wolves

When Maurice is riding to the fair with his horse Philippe he gets lost on the way. Things turn very dark quickly. The music grows quick and intense, Philippe accidentally drops Maurice in his panic and then Maurice grows more nervous by the second. Then the wolves arrive. They dart after Maurice in an attempt to kill him but fortunately Maurice reaches the castle gates. We all fear for Maurice at this moment and hope not to see these hungry rabid wolves again.

Later on in the movie when the Beast lets Belle escape it is her turn against the wolves. Like the scene with Maurice things turn dark quickly and Belle and Philippe are chased. Philippe's reins becomes trapped which leaves Belle by herself to fight the wolves. But before she is leapt on the Beast shows up and fights all of the wolves and frightens them away. It is a vicious extreme fight which is maybe a bit too mush for its younger viewers. The Beast at the end collapses but is helped back to his castle by Belle and Philippe. The Beast is the true hero in this scene. After this the wolves are never seen again.

4. Gaston

Gaston. The true villain of the movie. He is determined to marry Belle. He has their whole lives planned out. He envisions a rustic hunting lodge with Belle massaging his feet whilst their children play on the floor with their dogs. But Belle keeps pushing Gaston away and says no to him every time he asks. He plans their wedding in her cottage but Belle makes him fall into a mud pool which enrages Gaston. Karma at its finest. Gaston really shows how stalkerish and creepy he really is.

Much later on in the movie when Belle and Maurice return home Belle is threatened by Gaston. If she does not marry him her father will be thrown in an insane asylum. She refuses and they are both locked up. It just shows how far Gaston will go to get what he wants. Gaston shows the villagers the Beast through the magic mirror. Belle shuts Gaston down by screaming, 'He's no monster Gaston. You are!' This enrages Gaston even more and he gathers the villagers to storm the castle.

They break into the Beast's castle where a battle commences. Gaston leads the Beast to the roof where they fight. The Beast grabs Gaston by the throat and holds him over the edge. Gaston pleads for his life but the Beast is kind enough to let him go. Gaston then sees this as his opportune moment. He attacks the Beast and stabs him, Gaston steps back and falls to his death. As he falls skulls can be seen in his eyes showing that this is the end of our villain.

Throughout the movie Gaston shows that he has the ability to get what he wants when he wants and no one can tell him otherwise. Though he is creepy and stalkerish over Belle he tries to make her fall in love with him which unfortunately fails every time. Like most Disney villains he meets his death with a grim way making him one of Disney's unforgettable characters. Thanks Disney for another great movie.