Beauty and the Beast

Danny, Hayley, Jacob and I went to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D tonight.  I had never seen it in the theaters.  When it originally came out in the fall of 1991, Ashlyn was just seven months old.  She wasn't ready for the movies.  Danny and I were broke, we couldn't afford the movies.  So, the original release came and went without us.
The following year it came out on VHS and it was one of the first movies we ever bought Ashlyn.  I remember buying it at K Mart in Oceanside.  We had no idea what the movie was about other than seeing bits of it on the Oscars.  But her collection had to begin somewhere and this seemed to be a good place to start!
I love this movie.  I love the music, the bird feeding scene, the snowball fight, the library.  I love the grand ballroom and the beautiful yellow dress.  I love that the Beast learns to love and to be loved in return.
I love that there are so many lines from that movie that are still part of our language today.
What I had a real problem with, though, was Belle going into the West Wing.  Granted, the Beast completely overreacted when Crazy Ole Maurice came to the castle.  Seriously, the Beast could have just stayed up in the West Wing for the night and Maurice would never had to have known that there was a beast living there. 
Anyway, back to Belle and going into the West Wing.  She promised that she would not go there.  And other than her over active curiosity, there was no reason to go there.  She had an entire East wing and there was probably a grand foyer.  I bet she could have explored the servants quarters, the grounds, the tower.  But she had to go to the West wing and then to make matters worse, she had to mess with the rose.  I think the Beast was well within his rights to have a freak out.  Ok, so he wasn't well within his rights to hold her captive but she did agree...
Now, back to the movie.  So there we were, with our super cool 3D glasses on.  Bags of popcorn in hand and boxes of Bunch a Crunch in the drink holder.  There was the stained glass window and then Belle going to the book store and I was hooked.  I had not seen this movie in a long time and I had forgotten how wonderful it was.  Seeing it on the big screen was incredible.  I wanted to be their guest!  I wanted to help Crazy Ole Maurice free Belle from the castle, I wanted to warn the Beast the Gaston was on his way to kill him. 
Occasionally I would look over to Jacob and Hayley.  I couldn't see their eyes because of the glasses, but I could see their smiles.  Jacob had the same smile on his face that he uses when he looks at Harlow.  When Belle came down the stairs in her yellow ball gown, Hayley gasped.  I am quite sure that she had reenacted that moment many times in her childhood.  For a long time, Belle was her favorite princess.
I love that Disney is re releasing these movies.  We are having a great time revisiting the kids childhood.  At the same time, we are having a wonderful time loving these movies all over again on the big screen.  Lion King last fall, Beauty and the Beast now and Finding Nemo coming soon.  
Tale as old as time...