Release Year: 1991

Genre: Animation, Family, Fantasy

Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Writer: Linda Woolverton

Stars: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Jerry Orbach

Have you met the Disney fairy-tale machine?

Yeah, of course you have.

And it kicks into full gear with Beauty and the Beast, Disney's version of the classic French story of a cursed monster and the woman who learns to love him.

Translation: it's what's on the inside that counts. (Who knew?)

The source story was originally penned in the 18th century, but it's been told time and time again as a "once upon a time" bedtime tale. Walt Disney himself tried to tackle it back in the '40s but gave up when a live-action French version came out in 1946 (and, to be fair, kind of rocked the doors off the whole thing). So, it stayed that way until 1991, when Disney's rejuvenated animation wing—led by Jeffrey Katzenberg—decided to take their own stab at the tale.

They added their share of Disney touches, of course:

• They reimagined the original version as a love triangle.
• They made Bachelor #2, the narcissistic Gaston, a fill-in for the wicked sisters of the original story. 
• Belle herself underwent a modern updating, becoming less of the guileless innocent that she was in the first story and more of a liberated woman eager for adventure and unwilling to let anyone decide her future.

The whole Belle change made her much different from most of Disney's other princesses, who mostly just waited around in pretty dresses to be rescued. It signaled that the studio was happy to change its formula to match the times.

That formula proved utterly magical, turning Beauty and the Beast into a massive box office hit (raking in almost $425 million globally on a $25 million budget) and equally massive critical darling. Plus—yeah, there's more—it became the first animated feature ever to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. This flick perfected the template of the Disney princess story, all while building momentum on the company's big renaissance in the late '80s and early '90s. And, it has stood the test of time, to boot: it remains one of the shining jewels in Walt Disney's crown.

Bottom line: everyone stinkin' LOVES this movie.

• Kids love it because it embodies Disney at its best, with funny singing characters and lots of comic pratfalls. 
• Grownups love it because the romance is moving and genuine—something few live-action movies have managed as well as this "cartoon" does.
• And, film fans love it because its animation ranks as one of the most sumptuous and beautiful ever put on film.

This cinematic classic not only defines brilliant animation, but brilliant filmmaking in general. Uncle Walt's vision never felt as strong as it does here, leaving his legacy in good hands and reminding us why we still go gaga over the name Disney.

Short answer?

Because it's awesome.

It's impossible to overemphasize the fact that a great movie is a reward in itself. But, Beauty and the Beast also ends up embodying the high point of an entire art form.

Walt Disney Pictures has long been recognized as the lion king of the animation jungle, with a bevy of established classics and a format that stands as the default definition most people still have for animation. But, as hard as it may be to believe, in the late '80s, the studio was really on the skids. It never really recovered from Walt Disney's death in the 1960s and for 20 years had been wandering in the wilderness looking for magic that they feared had vanished forever.

Enter CEO Michael Eisner, who brought animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg with him to reverse the studio's fortunes. Katzenberg didn't waste time, starting with the live-action/animation mash-up Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, then knocking the ball out of the park with Disney's return to the fairy-tale genre: The Little Mermaid in 1989.

That put them back on the map and reminded animation fans that the House of Mouse wasn't going to go quietly into that good night. But, Katzenberg and Disney needed to prove that The Little Mermaid was no fluke.

The result was Beauty and the Beast.

It was a game changer. Following The Little Mermaid's formula of reimagining fairy tales as Broadway-style musicals, Beauty and the Beast roared into theaters in the winter of 1991 and became a massive hit. Some of that was due to the gorgeous animation that reminded everyone how awesome Disney had been back in the day. Some of it was the fantastic songs from Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman (names that are still spoken of with hushed reverence at Mouse World headquarters). And, some of it was the winning story and characters: taking an age-old story of magic and romance and making it feel fresh and new.

Whatever the reasons, Beauty and the Beast became a success on every level, keeping the Disney ball rolling through a string of subsequent hits and ensuring that the industry leader in animation kept on trucking well into the 21st century. More than that, it scored an accolade that no animated film of any sort had done before it—earning an Oscar nomination for Best Picture in 1991, reminding those stodgy Academy types that animation can be an art form, too.

On top of all of that, it also heralded a huge change in the medium. It capitalized on the new computer animation trend and signaled the beginning of the full-bore CG cartoons that are pretty much standard these days. All of that arrives in a film that's fun to watch, easy to sing along to, and never grows old no matter how many times you see it.

And believe us, we've seen it a lot.