Form, Flow and Force: Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast is one of my all time favourites by Disney, and I'm mentioning it today because of the ballroom scene. I love the way the movement of the two characters has been captured in this particular scene and it really enhances the beauty of the moment.

Beauty and the Beast - Ballroom Scene

Beauty and the Beast was the second film by Disney (following The Rescuers Down Under) to use CAPS, a Computer Animation Production System that was developed by Pixar. The ballroom scene makes best use of the programme as the two dance in a computer-generated space, beautifully at that. When Belle spins and twirls there is just the right amount of overlapping action in the dress to make it move realistically as well as give the illusion that it is a heavy dress, due to the material and the amount of layers that it has. Her movements are also very fluid, which reflects the delicate nature of the character, where as the Beast's are slightly more uniform, showing that not only is he the supposed lead in the dance, but that this is a concept that he is new to and he is just getting to grips to dancing. Towards the end of the dance his movements become more fluid and natural suggesting he is comfortable with Belle and has picked up on how to be a lead.

Not only are the movements in the scene stunning, but the way the characters have been drawn say a lot about their character. Belle is drawn with smooth, rounded lines, which again highlights her delicate nature. This, along with her slow, "soft", fluid movements, makes her appear very light, where as the Beast is quite the opposite. He is drawn with generally more straighter lines which makes him appear "harsh" reflecting his personality. I like that there is a contrast between this and the fluidity of his movements towards the end of the dance, as it really shows how he has adjusted to trusting Belle and how comfortable he is around her, which greatly impacts this scene.

Still from the Ballroom Scene - Diagram of Pressure and Weight by Richard Williams

The straight lines also help to portray where his weight is shifted to, particularly in the legs. Rather than touching the ground, it seems as though he is pushing against it due to his weight, and this is due to the line work on the character. Richard Williams explained this well in his book as I mentioned before.