Beauty and the Beast -- Just introduced to movie audiences last month, Disney's latest full-length animation features several "technology firsts" for the motion-picture giant, firsts for which 3D computer animation technology played an important role.
In 18th century France, near a small village and beyond the dark forest, lives a handsome prince in a beautiful castle. One day, a nugly, old woman appears at the castle door. The prince quickly tries to shoo her away. It's a big mistake. The old woman, who, of course, was a witch, turns him into a horrible, eight-foot-tall, hideous, hairy beast. Now, unless he finds someone to love him before his 21st birthday, the handsome prince will remain a beast forever.
Fortunately, in the village nearby, lives Maurice, a lovable, eccentric inventor, and his bright and beautiful daughter Belle. Belle, a most unusual young woman, keeps her "nose in a book" and her "head in a cloud" to escape the provincial, small-town life and the advances of Gaston, a handsome but boorish suitor.
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