Beauty & the Beast Teaser Trailer: How It Shows Us So Little but Tells Us So Much

It’s officially official… the live-action retelling of the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast is coming to theaters March 17, 2017 (or approximately 179 days but who is counting?) The official United States teaser trailer was released just a few months ago and has already broken numerous records. It pulled in more views during its first day than any other film. According to Disney, it had reached a whopping 91.8 million views during the first 24 hours, surpassing Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ teaser. But, you may ask, what is all the hype about and what is causing this teaser trailer just over a minute long to break records? That, my friends, is the magic of Disney.

Of course being the tremendous fan that I am, I have watched this trailer over and over again and I could not be more excited for this film. You may ask just how much can a minute and a half long trailer really tell you about a movie but in this case, it tells us so much about this beloved tale.

Now, let’s start from the beginning…

The Music

With the very first musical chord, nostalgia from the first 1991 film came rushing over me. The music is PERFECT and remains true to the animated classic and we can already see that from this trailer. The prologue music from the 1991 film and the music used in this trailer are the same and I am so happy about that. This gives me a good feeling about the rest of the music used in the 2017 film and gives me hope that they will remain true to the original soundtrack which needs no retouching. I mean, Alan Menken who wrote the music for the animated film is also responsible for the music in this movie as well…

The Castle

Pause. How magnificent is this castle? It’s dark and eery on the outside but still elegant and somewhat romantic. The first few seconds of the trailer where the exterior of the castle is shown reminds me so much of the scene when Papa and Phillipe ride up to the castle for the first time after getting lost in the woods. It was dark and gloomy and cold, which is exactly what is displayed in the first few seconds of the trailer. Next, the ballroom. The ballroom is exactly what I imagined it would look like in real life. Of course I have seen the REAL DEAL (and even dined in it) at Be Our Guest Restaurant, but this trailer gets everything right from the chandeliers to the golden hues to the piano. The inside of the castle looks completely abandoned. I personally like how they show the candles melting to show that time has passed.

The Portrait

YES! They just may have fixed a MAJOR error with the 1991 classic film and that is the age of Adam when he was transformed into a hideous (but cuddly) beast and we see this in the portrait of Adam and his parents. Adam in the portrait is clearly a young boy which makes much more sense in the grand scheme of things. Thank goodness. Also, the way that the Beast rips the portrait is yet another clue that this remake will be true to the 1991 film.

Belle, Luminere & Cogsworth

The voices of all three of these characters are perfect. You can already tell that the personalities of these characters are going to similar to the previous film. You can tell in just a few words that Cogsworth has a serious demeanor and a strict attitude. You can also tell that Luminere is quite the opposite of Cogsworth with a charismatic and optimistic personality asking “what if she is the one?” Obviously I have no complaints about Belle.

The Rose

Last but not least, the enchanted rose. It truly looks enchanted. We can already see that Belle has gotten herself into the West Wing…

Needless to say, this movie is going to be phenomenal and I cannot wait to see the full trailer that is being released with the 25th Anniversary Edition of the film on September 20th. I must admit, I am curious to see how they are going to do all of the enchanted objects but I trust Disney. Check out this side by side of the 1991 movie and the 2017 trailer to see all of these similarities for yourself!