The output of Walt Disney Animation Studios–currently totaling 54 full-length films–has been cherished by audiences young and old for almost 80 years. In this weekly online feature, arts and entertainment editor Nathan Tucker will review and rank each of them.

With Beauty and the Beast, the Disney Renaissance hinted at in The Little Mermaid blossoms into full bloom like a rose. Maintaining the confidence on display in Mermaid, Beauty gives it a steadier hand, a stronger focus. That it garnered an Oscar nod for Best Picture–a first for the animation medium–is fitting: it is exactly the brand of elegant craft that statuette rewards.  

In the classic musical fashion it aspires towards, Beauty and the Beast features deft and gleaming characterization. Despite being an unfortunate prototype for the YA lit “I’m Not Like Other Girls” heroine, Belle remains both sympathetic and engaging. That is largely a result of  Paige O’Hara’s performance, which lend her an awareness and maturity severely lacking in former princesses. She is ably matched by Robby Benson’s Beast, who walks a fine line between booming menace and gentle puppy dog. The supporting cast is equally aplomb and they deliver the broad strokes of the script with a ready charm and humor. 

There is a general criticism that the story of Beauty and the Beast centers on an abusive relationship, that Belle gives into a sort of Stockholm Syndrome by marrying the monster that kidnapped her. While that is a valid reaction to the original fairy tale, this retelling goes out of its way to avoid this exact tonal fiasco. The almost fretful plotting makes it abundantly clear that the Beast, not Belle, has been induced to change their central character; furthermore, the boorish advances of Gaston (both towards Belle and against the Beast) are an effective foil showing what the Beast would be if he were indeed the monster critics claim.

As with Mermaid, the film is anchored by a marvelous Menken/Ashman book of concise and catchy songs. They are smart and they work: any attempt to further analyze the rapid-fire stage-setting of “Belle,” the smirking character work in “Gaston,” the Busby Berkeley bonanza “Be Our Guest,” or the archetypal title ballad is spelling out the obvious.

And that is largely how Beauty and the Beast feels: deliciously obvious. This was the right way to set up that plot, that was the correct line to lead into that musical number–it’s not rocket science. Just an elaborately polished animated musical extravaganza that makes the hard work of storytelling look easy.        

   The List:

1. Bambi
2. Sleeping Beauty
3. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
4. Beauty and the Beast
5. Lady and the Tramp
6. The Little Mermaid
7. The Jungle Book
8. Alice in Wonderland
9. Fantasia
10. Pinocchio
11. The Great Mouse Detective
12. Robin Hood
13. The Rescuers Down Under
14. The Rescuers
15. One Hundred and One Dalmatians
16. Peter Pan
17. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
18. Cinderella
19. Dumbo
20. Oliver and Company
21. The Aristocats
22. The Fox and the Hound
23. The Sword in the Stone
24. Melody Time
25. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
26. Fun and Fancy Free
27. Saludos Amigos
28. Make Mine Music
29. The Black Cauldron
30. The Three Caballeros