2018 Oscars Challenge: [17] “Beauty and the Beast” – 2 Nominations

Director: Bill Condon
Writers: Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos
Cinematography: Tobias A. Schliessler
Editor: Virginia Katz
Composer: Alan Menken
Distributor: Walt Disney Motion Pictures
Release Date: March 17, 2017
Run-time: 129 minutes

FILM SYNOPSIS: Furious that her father has been imprisoned for petty theft, book-loving villager Belle takes his place in the mysterious castle where he is being held. Belle stands up to the castle’s lord, the ferocious-looking Beast, but as they spend time together, the Beast reveals his inner prince, inspiring Belle to return his love.

Not quite capturing the magic that say “Cinderella” did with its live action adaptation, “Beauty and the Beast” suffers a little bit from not straying from the source material at all. Not to mention, making the Beast a CGI character made him feel on a different plane than the rest of the cast. What “Beauty and the Beast” does achieve over “Cinderella” is one of the things it is nominated for in Production Design. The design of the castle and the town feel torn right from the animated feature and bring life to the rooms we knew as a kid. It also does this with the costumes but to a slight lesser effect than “Cinderella” did. I still remember the bright blue dress that was lifted from the animated “Cinderella” and made into one of the most memorable dresses of all time. The yellow dress Belle wear for dancing in “Beauty and the Beast” should have done the same thing for me, but for some reason, it’s not quite there. The rest of the garments lifted from the animated feature are also close but still not quite living, breathing representations of their counterparts. Not to get me wrong, however, the film does still deserve its nomination. But a film like “Phantom Thread,” which is about a dress designer, executes its dressmaking on a much grander scale. The Production Design category could be anyone’s guess. “The Shape Of Water,” “Darkest Hour,” and “Blade Runner 2049” all look like competent opponents in that category, all delivering one different levels. “The Shape Of Water” might have a slight edge just because Guillermo del Toro films usually delve a little deeper and uniquer into those stylized designs. Do I feel like “Beauty and the Beast” could win Best Production Design? Probably not. How about Best Costume Design? Seeing as “Cinderella” got beat out by “Mad Max: Fury Road” that year, with the latter having had tons of nominations and tons of heat going into the awards, I have a feeling “The Shape Of Water” will likely pull off the same win. Not to mention “Cinderella” was the Disney adaptation over “Beauty and the Beast.” That means that “Beauty and the Beast” will likely be going home empty handed.

JACQUELINE DURRAN
Costume Designer

PREVIOUS NOMINATIONS

SARAH GREENWOOD & KATIE SPENCER
Production Designer & Set Decorator