First 'Beauty and the Beast' trailer shines

Posted Monday, November 14, 2016 at 2:58 PM Central

by John Couture

The art of remaking a beloved animated classic into a live-action film is a delicate one. Just take Alice in Wonderland as an example.

Done right, the result is a $335 million blockbuster. Done wrong, the result is a $77 million flop.

So, when word broke that Disney was making a live-action version of the classic Beauty and the Beast, it was understandable that there was plenty of trepidation to go around. Some films just lend themselves to live-action remakes such as The Jungle Book, while others like Beauty and the Beast seem dubious at best.

I mean, this is a story in which people have been cursed and turned into talking anthropomorphic household items. It also features a leading character who is a beast, I mean, it's right there in the title, so every artistic choice would naturally be scrutinized under a fine microscope. The first casting announcement of Emma Watson as Belle was spot on, no, better than that it was, daresay, perfect.

Suddenly, the project looked promising, but still, how would the film look as a live-action movie? The first teaser trailer, again, was promising, but we didn't get much of a look at the areas of concern such as the Beast, Mrs. Potts, and the rest.

Would a talking clock and teapot translate well or just look silly? Well, today's first full-length trailer gave us a pretty good idea on all of that.

While there are still plenty of other questions to be answered and it could still all go sideways in a hurry, this trailer makes me pretty confident that Beauty and the Beast will be one of the more successful live-action adaptations. What do you think?