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Despite an inferior holiday-based sequel, Beauty and The Beast is the ideal Disney movie for curling up in front of on a cold winter’s night.
Disney has its share of holiday content, though its animation roster tends to be rather static. The big one — The Nightmare Before Christmas — is more or less co-owned by Halloween. While the two Frozen movies come with a wintry setting, they’re apt to be overplayed, while Mickey’s Christmas Carol was well and truly scooped by The Muppets’ version of the Charles Dickens classic. They all see their share of viewings during the holidays, but they can grow a little pro forma year after year.
The original Beauty and the Beast makes a surprisingly strong celebration of winter. Though it lacks a specific holiday theme and much of the story takes place during other seasons, its overall vibe is quite conductive to a cozy winter spent with family or friends. The fact that it’s one of Disney’s shining masterpieces are really just icing on the cake.
The Weather Plays a Huge Role in Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast uses the weather — and the time of year — to convey the emotional beats of its story. The opening narrative — recounting how the Beast and the residents of his castle fell under a curse — starts with a green and thrilling landscape, in late spring or early summer. The enchantress who curses him arrives “one winter’s night” — however, a direct break from the initial visuals and an open sign of the tragedy to come. By the time the sequence ends, the winter storm has claimed the castle, with trees now dead beneath a bleak and overcast sky.
That remains until Belle arrives, which again reflects the characters’ positions in the narrative. Belle’s time in “this poor provincial town” comes in the autumn, with reds and golds in the trees and the sky a harvest yellow. It turns actively Halloween- ish as Belle’s father Maurice gets lost in the woods, then shifts back to the winter darkness as Belle agrees to remain the Beast’s prisoner. From that moment, winter takes hold, and stays in place until the Beast’s transformation at the end. The snowy wind blows outside the village tavern where Gaston sings his titular song, for instance, while Belle’s aborted effort to flee the castle takes place in a full-blown blizzard.
Among its other effects, it creates a sense of warmth and coziness in the castle itself, as it slowly turns from a prison to a sanctuary for Belle. That includes the hot food and similar comforts the servants provide, as well as places like the library that emphasize relaxing indoor activities. As the romance slowly blooms, the weather becomes more hospitable, leading to a “snow day” where Belle and the Beast feed the birds and have a snowball fight in the castle courtyard. Belle wears an exceedingly Santa-like red hood with white trim for their outing, which ends with her reading to the Beast in front of a roaring fireplace.
The Atmosphere Makes Beauty and the Beast Ideal Winter Viewing
Spring returns for the movie’s finale, as Gaston marches to the castle amid the rain and mud of March, and flowers bloom when Belle’s love brings the Beast back to life. But the core of the story lies in winter — at its worst and best — with the Beast’s castle transforming into a cozy haven as the weather rages outside. In reflecting the growth of the characters, it turns Beauty and the Beast into an outstanding film to watch in the winter months, wrapped up in a comfortable chair or couch while the temperatures drop outside.
The movie spawned a direct-to-video sequel, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmaswhich adopts a more overt holiday theme (and takes place during the same winter months depicted in the original film). Unfortunately, it’s a poor substitute, and frankly doesn’t do anything but make overt what the first Beauty and the Beast kept subtle. The original film offers winter delights baked into its already classic storyline, and its quiet emphasis on the snow season makes it easy to overlook. Disney fans looking for a change from the usual holiday fare likely have an ideal alternative sitting on their -ray shelf.
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