Aware of Disney’s propensity for sappiness–yet ecstatic to see my childhood favorite Disney princess come to life in this live action rendition–I entered the theater to see “Beauty and the Beast” with one of my closest friends. We settled into our seats and as the excruciating number of commercials played, we commented on how the audience was filled with adults. Of course, as soon as such observations were made, a sea of little girls came running in dressed in PJs–they seemed to have left behind their princess gowns and tiaras.

Eventually, the film began opening with the classic song “Belle,” which welcomed the talented cast, including Emma Watson who plays the princess to-be with a stronger feminist take than the animation.

Unlike Disney’s animated version, Belle takes on the role of the inventor, and the town she calls home fails to understand her eagerness for knowledge, obsession with reading and longing to explore. In fact, in a scene where Belle’s laundry is being done by a machine she invented and built, she sits down and teaches a young girl to read. She is immediately reprimanded and told that having one woman in their community being able to read was already one too many. They destroy her invention leaving her soapy, wet clothes all over the place. This scene, though brief, brought out a new dimension of Belle and highlighted her strength despite having grown up trapped in such a patriarchal society with Gaston (Luke Evans) –who, in this rendition, was truly vile–trying relentlessly to gain her hand in marriage.

Belle’s father (Kevin Kline) leaves the town and gets imprisoned by the seemingly ruthless and cruel Beast (Dan Stevens). Belle, a devoted daughter, comes to the rescue and takes his place. From here she meets a host of what are typically inanimate objects who had come to life, including those from the original Disney animation such as Cogsworth (Ian McKellen) and Lumiere (Ewan McGregor), as well as a few additions such as Maestro Cadenza (Stanley Tucci), a lively harpsichord.

These characters are personified more as victims of the enchantress’ curse in this film and, with a sense of empathy, they welcome Belle to a lavish room and encourage the Beast to treat her with kindness. Eventually, Belle enjoys her dinner over the classic Disney song “Be Our Guest” featuring vibrant silverware and dishes flying, dancing and moving in geometric patterns.

From this point on, Belle and the Beast grow close. In fact, their relationship takes the story to new depths as the Beast and Belle, through a magical book, visit Belle’s birthplace, Paris, where her father had take his infant daughter away from her contagious and dying mother.

More of the Beast’s background and personality (including his sense of humor) is also revealed in the film.

Initially, I was excited to see Watson, an advocate women’s rights take on the strong role of Belle but also was skeptical given my disappointment with a few films in Disney’s recent remake frenzy. However, this live-action rendition managed to create a new spin on the Disney’s classic and provided the audience with a more complete understanding of the characters and their backgrounds.

While this rendition did close pre-existing loopholes from the animated version, many of the subplots–including those of the various talking objects– seemed to take precedence over the main themes of the story, making them almost subordinate.

Interestingly, though, one of the sub plots about LeFou’s (Josh Gad) sexuality was so underrepresented it was virtually absent. The film garnered much attention because it includes Disney’s first gay moment, which, before seeing the film, I was impressed by given Disney’s seemingly “progressive” stance. Unfortunately, LeFou’s sexuality is merely hinted at.

Clearly focused on appeasing audiences, the characters in “Beauty and the Beast” wore beautiful costumes which, along with special effects, made the new version visually beautiful and immersed the audience into the fantasy world that wove together the old and new.

The storyline was somewhat embellished through the musical score, which mostly remained filled with familiar tunes we sang and danced to when we were little. However, there were a few musical additions, including the Beast’s solo “Evermore” that seemed pointless since it failed to enhance the story.

That said, with the $160 million “Beauty and Beast” had in its pocket, it did what Disney set out to do.

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