Beauty and the Beast

Whether or not you give a mouse dropping about 3D (and Disney has done a smashing job on the refit), what a treat it is to see ‘Beauty and the Beast’ again. It was among the studio’s crop of early 1990s hits, but in look and feel harks back to the Disney glory days, delivering a rush of sunnily confident, cockle-warming innocence. ‘Be nice and nice things will happen’ is the message, as plucky heroine Belle dodges salivating wolves to rescue her dad from the Beast’s castle. It’s witty and charming, with glorious Busby Berkeley-style numbers. And for sheer inventiveness you can’t beat the talking objects in the castle: Mrs Pots, the cockney teapot and her chinaware brood; a stagecoach that scuttles like a spider; the footstool dog waggling his tassels. Magic.