Beauty and the Beast in Terms of Fantasy Genre - Essay Example

Beauty and the Beast” in Terms of Fantasy Genre Following research essay will consider as its main aim to acknowledge the connection between Disney animated feature “Beauty and the Beast” and fantasy genre in its general and natural meaning. As the source basis to provide comprehension of exact relations between the cartoon and selected genre of fiction some examples from literature, cinema, popular culture and folklore will be presented. Identifying the roots and origin of the fantasy genre as well as its historical, artistic and cultural value to the society, art and humanity will be among the most important tasks of the following analysis. “Beauty and the Beast” as a great example of animated film telling a marvelous supernatural touching and sincere story will appear as a part of a wider cultural tradition which in turn will allow to name it also a great example of a fantasy genre due to a significant movie’s contribution on its behalf. Fantasy is one of the most superficial and outward genres in the art and popular culture. The main characteristics and traits that build the concept of the genre being taking separately can be considered as the details of almost half of all known stories, books, films etc. Most simply anything that has some supernatural, magical, wizardly or enchanted parts in it can be named fantasy though its creators could not even conceive it on purpose. Nevertheless most original, bright and sharp fantasy tales or films have numerous general and main components due to which their connection to the genre can’t be denied or disputed. Fantasy is one of those genres that have strict boundaries like western, noir or chivalric romance in which story can be told only after setting distinctive scenery. In general above the presence of sorcery and wizardry fantasy genre often has a medieval pattern in it be it details like castles, monarchy or aristocracy (princesses, kings, queens, merchants etc.) beasts (dragons, talking animals, leviathans etc.) or knights and witches all of which are also a description of medieval times and its naive and simple ideas of adventure and interesting story. Chronological boundaries of fantasy are way more wider then medieval approach to the genre because different kinds and traits of fantasy can be seen in so many works of fiction and even ancient religions that it is difficult if not to say impossible to state when it first appeared. If the presence of magic and supernatural elements as well as mythology is taken as a main description of a fantasy than even works of Homer, parts of “Mahabharata” and “Ramayana” of ancient India and other heroic epos like “The Song of the Nibelungs”, “Egyptian Book of the Dead” or King Arthur’s legends can be named works of fantasy. Due to the wide characteristics and the dominance of aesthetic elements instead of content ones the definition of the strict boundaries of the fantasy genre can be named an artistic and creative process itself due to such free nature of the genre (Timmerman, 1983). It is also important to add that fantasy often has a lot of pathos and overall can seem pompous and epic to the edge which of course is a part of the genre’s archetype and can’t be ignored. Another significant fact is the one that fantasy has more in common with ethnic beliefs and tales as well as folklore than with a general and historical literature tradition so it is wider than for example romanticism or modernism because both such movements as well as even different techniques like monologue, poetic sketch, movie, videogame or even song can tell a fantasy story and be true to the roots and origins of genre. So now when basic principles of fantasy may it be said are clear it feels necessary to look for the named patterns in the animation film “Beauty and the Beast” and then eventually develop and present a connection between our subject of research and the genre which it represents and to which belongs. The cartoon which we consider the subject of our study is based upon the traditional fairy tale written by French writer Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont though there are other numerous variants and versions of the tale its core however is similar in all of them. “Beauty and the Beast” has a lot of magic elements in it as well as all other kinds of magic and wizardry which allows to name it a fantasy work. Prince is magically transformed into a beast (human inside but wild and animal-like on the surface) and then back. Talking and singing furniture, fully operated by itself house as well as all sorts of weird supernatural things like magic mirror or flying objects. Everything happens in a castle in a wood which brings an atmosphere of mystery (Beaumont, 2012). Story itself as well as its original source of inspiration are a fairy-tale in its fullest and most common meaning due to the love conflict as the core and all other named above aesthetic elements as the parts of background environment. Very significant contribution to the Disney’s movie creating and developing process was done by the legendary surrealist writer, poet and director Jean Cocteau whose 1946’th version of the tale in a form of a motion picture served as an inspiration for Disney’s cartoon. Jean Cocteau made his famous great movie adaptation of this tale in a more surreal and mysterious way though it doesn’t say that it was less fantasy (Cocteau, 1972). On the contrary it only serves as an example of how adaptive is fantasy genre which roots and most famous pieces can be also named as parts of other genres and artistic movements. To provide the fullest possible understanding of a film and to develop a clear connection between the movie and genre itself it is necessary to bring some other examples of fantasy in the cinema and literature . Making them both at the same time I see the best examples in the series of books “Lord of the Rings” by J. R. R. Tolkien, “Song of Fire and Ice” by G. R. R. Martin and “Harry Potter” by J. K. Rowling as well as visual adaptations of these works of literature. First of all there are magic in all the following works while in Harry Potter it is the main point of all series (Rowling, 2010). Secondly dragons are present as a most used medieval evil creature (Tolkien, 2012). Both “Song of Fire and Ice” (“Game of Thrones”) and “Lord of The Rings” use wide maps with kingdoms and holy dynasties, warrior unions, supernatural creatures, absolute evil, devil worshippers, fairies, elves, grand and epic battles as well as a lot of fights with cold weapons, mythological creatures etc. (Martin, 2012). Harry Potter creates more original fantasy by trying to show its reader or viewer that in this time and in our world side by side with our daily life supernatural forces exist and magical events occur all the time. Fantasy tales are always full of different non-human characters like trolls, hobbits, goblins, mermaids all of which originate from folklore, myths and national tales. Both Cocteau and Disney not only developed an original version of a great French tale but also stood true to the legacy while creating new vision due to the Cocteau’s surreal elements and musical structure of Disney movie (Singer, 1992). But above that even appearance of the Beast which himself is like a bull is very interesting which suggests for example connections with Minotaur from the antique myths or the philosophical tale of Voltaire named “The White Bull” where a man is also enchanted and magically transformed into an animal and back (Voltaire, 2006). The whole animal-to-man transformation is a classical motive in the fantasy tales and fables. As Homer was mentioned above it will be fair to say that in his Odyssey in one of the parts all the Odyssey’s crew is transformed into animals while being on a strange and mystical island (Homer, 2010). Tolkien’s friend K. S. Lewis wrote a fantasy saga himself which is called “The Chronicles of Narnia” and as everybody may know it has a series of film adaptations. Among other very popular fantasy representatives can be named “Midsummer’s Night Dream” which is a play written by Shakespeare where the nature of magic is being discussed and observed (Shakespeare, 1765). Among movies it is pieces like “Edward Scissorhand” and “Green Mile” but films like such are too numerous to even start specify them because fantasy as it was said earlier is a very wide and complex mechanism which work can be demonstrated through almost any medium, sphere of art, culture or tradition because it goes along feet to feet with the progress of written and spoken world. Fantasy as the one of the most important genres though very undemanding nevertheless still shows people how to believe in wonders in order to wide their imagination. Such process which is a core of fantasy can be considered as a part of any artistic activity because everything is born only with a help of imagination and being magically and wizardly empowered fantasy tales and stories pushes creativity and imagination to its edges in order to bring bright emotions and the wonder of reader who reads or watches wonders. To sum it all up it will be said that “The Beauty and the Beast” can be easily called a true fantasy in one of the most wider senses of this word. This animation feature succeeds in introducing viewer with the roots and most basic and general original descriptions and patterns of a true work of fantasy which can be seen with the help of a light analysis. Such analysis exactly fits the purpose of the current essay. References Beaumont, M., L. (2012). Beauty and the Beast and Other Fairy Tales. London: Courier Corporation Cocteau, J. (1972). Beauty and the Beast: Diary of a Film. London: Courier Corporation Homer (2010). The Odyssey. Chicago: Cosimo, Inc Martin, G. (2012). A Game of Thrones: The Story Continues Books 1-5: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire). London: HarperCollins UK Rowling, J. (2010). Harry Potter Collection: (Books 1-7). London: Random LLC Singer, A. (1992). Disneys Beauty and the beast. New York: Disney Press Shakespeare, W. (1765). The Plays of William Shakespeare in Eight Volumes. London: J. and R. Tonson Timmerman, J. (1983). Other Worlds: The Fantasy Genre. New York: Popular Press Tolkien, J. (2012). The Lord of the Rings. Edinburgh: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Voltaire (2006). Candide and Other Stories. Oxford: Oxford University Press Read More