Beauty and the Beast: Bittersweet and Strange

Water color on water color paper.
21.6 cm x 27.9 cm (8.50 in. x 11.00 in.)
2016

Here’s another 1 of the top 9 liked pieces posted on my Instagram feed, @mosntergram7, a painting commemorating the 25th anniversary of the premiere of the beloved Disney animated feature film, originally posted on Monotonae Nov. 24.

Personally, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is one of my top 5 favorite of their animated features, and it’s my number 1 if I answer from my gut without internal deliberation. None of the continuity errors or the weaknesses of the young animating crew detract from the essential message of the film, “true beauty is what’s inside.” Plus, Disney was still building on the success of The Little Mermaid (despite The Rescuers Down Under) and it happened to be the right film at the right time for me and my Disneyland friends.

By now I’ve drawn Belle and Beast a lot. I have had the opportunity to do so professionally on Main Street of Disneyland Park, and with Disney Consumer Products. This new piece was done from memory inspired by a moment in the ballroom dance sequence. If any one thing makes this different from my work for product art is the choice to have Belle’s eyes closed. Sure she closes her eyes in the film sequence, but folks on the production side want to hedge their sales bets by establishing a character connection with the consumer/audience with open eyes and better yet eyes directed at the consumer.

As a watercolor painting, the making of this brought memories of my aforementioned time working on Main Street making personalized original character art that were reproduced for wristwatch faces. I still self-describe my efforts with paints as a “colorist” rather than graduating to that of a “painter.”

The logo is included as a mark to signify the anniversary. It’s nothing official and probably would be very different if I spent more time developing it.


[The Top 9 of 2016]