Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, and Ariel seemed to be the best Disney had, up until the 1991 release of a new princess, Belle, in the Oscar-nominated movie – Beauty and the Beast. Up until Belle, Disney only created princesses who stood for beauty and grace -and not much else- then Belle burst through the big screen with a book in her hand, showing women can be just as powerful as men, and teaching us true beauty is on the inside.

For people like me, the original Beauty and the Beast could never be upstaged. It was the best of the best and nothing could make it better. But I was recently proven wrong with the latest Disney release on March 17th with a live action version. This film is, in my opinion, the best movie of 2017 thus far. It matched everything that the Disney classic was and could become. The beauty and grace of every character, including the magnificent acting skills of Emma Watson as Belle (who actually did sing all the songs!), and the well-done work by Dan Stevens as the Beast. This movie puts Disney at the top of their game with a weekend opening of over $175 million and currently grossing over $319 million so far in the box office. This is definitely one of those movies to see again and again.

Now before I leave the review as is, I want to shed some light on the subject of an LGBTQ+ character included into the film. Some people seemed to be under the impression there would be a gay kiss included into the film, but Disney seems to be just stepping a toe into the gay-community waters and not quite ready to take the plunge. Gaston’s loyal (sorta) assistant, Le Fou (played by Josh Gad) clearly has the hots for Gaston for any viewer with a touch of gay-dar, rubbing up to Gaston (played by Luke Evans).  Another character seems tickled when Wardrobe spews out women’s clothes and make-up, owning the look with a Beyonce hair toss.  The two characters bump one another during a dance scene and although not overt, it looks like the beginnings of another fairy-tale love story.   Other than that the movie included no actual gay kiss or anything else that pertains to the LGBTQ+ community, but it does bring up some questions: will Disney include more LGBTQ+ characters in the future or is that about all we will see from here on?

Nevertheless, the film has made a large profit making it the biggest March opening of all time. This film, to no surprise, did stir a bit of controversy even though both scenes were so small.  According to Variety.com, “…these anti-LGBTQ groups masquerading as “pro-family” are small in number and reach… showing how obsolete and out of touch anti-LGBTQ activist groups truly are today.” Its no surprise that Disney though is taking this hop into more current themes, most of us can hope it will become more of a leap.