‘Belle’ reimagines ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in a digital age and anime style.
Courtesy of Studio Chizu
By Lily Canon
The newest rendition of a fairytale classic, “Belle,” is a visual feast, which is par for the course of director Mamoru Hosoda.
The movie contains hallmarks of Hosoda’s other gems, including expressive animation and themes of identity, drawing in audiences who are looking for a more mature animated film.
What sets “Belle” apart from Hosoda’s other work, like “Summer Wars” and “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time,” is not only its pink-haired protagonist, who was designed by Disney veteran Jin Kim (the mastermind behind Elsa from “Frozen”), but its status as a musical.
The soundtrack is one of the best parts of this film, which is quite a feat when competing against surreal floating whales, Dungeons & Dragons-inspired avatars and fantastical landscapes that make up the wider digital world of “U.”
This film modernizes “Beauty and the Beast,” transforming the “beauty” and “beast” characters into virtual alter-egos that face the swarms of bigotry online, as well as abuse and awkwardness in the real world.
Belle is the pop-star persona of a grieving teenager Suzu, voiced beautifully by Kaho Nakamura and Kylie McNeil in the Japanese and American versions respectively.
While this film is far from unique in its subject of adolescence in a digitized age, Hosoda handles these themes with a touch more finesse, showing an optimistic view of technology rather than condemning it all together.
Fittingly, the director also pays homage to Disney’s 1991 version of the fairytale, which newcomers to Japanese animation might recognize in a few classic ballroom scenes.
The film’s visual flairs garnered itself a wide-release in the United States, a feat that might push further representation of non-Western animation.
Despite the film’s fantastical visuals and emotional story, there are a few shortcomings.
The plot bit off more than it could chew regarding the two main leads, which results in the audience wishing it could see more interaction between these interpretations of “Beauty and the Beast.” Hosoda seems more interested in Suzu as a protagonist, thus we don’t get to see much of the elusive beast.
However, the expressive animation and soundtrack delivers enough heart to make the film worthwhile, even if viewers have to fill in some gaps in the plot.
Another small problem is the computer animation. We can only speculate how much COVID-19 interfered with Cartoon Saloon’s production, but anime fans are already familiar with the awkward blends of 3D with 2D. At times, Belle’s hair floats oddly, or a background will look a little too uncanny. However, these flaws are minute and barely distract from the transportive imagery in the world of “U.”
Hosoda’s latest film is unabashedly passionate about the digital age, tugging at even the most serious viewer’s heart strings. If you’re curious about Hosoda’s other works, “Belle” will bridge the gap between Western and Japanese animation.
