Magnificently refurbished and revamped IMAX version of the popular Disney take on the classic fairy tale, with added singing and dancing crockery Originally released by Disney in 1991 Beauty And The Beast was a smash hit, reviving the fortunes of the studio after its 80s slump. As well as featuring the traditional songs, it also boasted a new element - digital animation, which was used to enhance scale and detail during a few key numbers (notably the dance sequence in a giant ballroom). The film was also stored digitally, rather than on celluloid, so when the studio decided to develop this tenth anniversary special edition (inspired by the Star Wars special editions), the team was able to go back to the digital source material. Some IMAX films are simply created by blowing-up of an ordinary 35mm print to the super-sized 70mm, which results in disappointing graininess evident on the 20 metre high screen. Not so here, for Beauty And The Beast Special Edition consists of a thoroughly spruced up 70mm print created by reformatting each frame. Fans of the original, children, and nerds interested in film formats will be thrilled. Disney‘s take on ‘Beauty And The Beast‘, an ancient folk tale first recorded in print in the 16th century retains the basics of the story, but throws in an eccentric inventor father for Belle, Maurice (Everhart,) and a "boorish, brainless" suitor, Gaston (White). The latter even has a comedy sidekick, Lefou (Corti), with whom he has a peculiar passive/aggressive relationship.

When Maurice accidentally trespasses in a mysterious castle, its foul-tempered owner - a leonine minotaur kinda Beast (Benson) - imprisons him. The plucky Belle offers herself in exchange. The Beast accepts, as she‘s considerably more comely. Plus the Beast needs a nice young lady so he can fall in love and break the enchantment that years before had transformed him from an arrogant prince. He‘s encouraged to woo her by his talking household items - housekeeper/teapot Mrs Potts (Lansbury), butler/clock Cogsworth (Stiers) and saucy footman/candlestick Lumiere (Orbach). (The latter also have an oddly passive/aggressive relationship. What‘s with that?) Lumiere gives such guidance as temper-management - "Master, I could be wrong, but that may not be the best way to win a girl‘s affections." Despite the human characters looking old-fashioned (and not in a classic way), Beauty And The Beast is an example of Disney getting it right. A few of the songs grate, but others are wonderful - notably ‘Be Our Guest‘, a number involving crockery and cutlery in routine that starts with French-style accordion and swells in a Busby Berkeley-style extravaganza. There‘s also a winning new number, ‘Human Again‘, which uses a song that never made the first version of the film (though it did appear in the Broadway musical) accompanied by a new six minutes animation sequence that takes full advantage of the castle ‘location‘.