Belle from Beauty and the Beast has always been my most favorite of the Disney Princess’, I wish I could say that it was because she was sweet and kind to all she met, but the reality is I liked her because of her hair. Yes, her hair. To my knowledge, she was the first brunette princess and since I was a brunette she was my favorite.
I’ve often said it’s the little things in life that amuse me.
I turned six the year Beauty and the Beast was released, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that my sixth birthday party was Beauty and the Beast themed complete with plates, napkins, cups, tablecloth, and plastic figurines of Belle and the Beast (I kept those until I was eleven. The little things, folks. The little things.) In my six year old mind, that was probably the coolest birthday party that had ever been or ever would be, for that matter. Heck, I still think about that party, and I still think it was pretty cool.
I can’t believe I just admitted that…
I suppose that another reason I was so taken with Beauty and the Beast was that my dance company performed a dance/production to “Be Our Guest” and took it to a couple of competitions. I can’t recall with exact clarity what part I played, but I do remember my costume was kelly green with a hot pink tutu and carried a fake hot fudge sundae made out of styrofoam. I loved that routine, and if memory serves, I believe we took home the whole enchilada with that one. Yes, yes we did.
Well, let’s fast forward a few years (about 18 years) and imagine my joy when I found out that Beauty and the Beast was going to be re-released in 3-D in theatres. As soon as I found that out I immediately started making arrangements to take my oldest nieces to see it. I knew that they had seen the movie at home, but never in a theatre. So on Saturday mom and I took four, very excited little girls to the movie theatre for the first time. Once we settled in, I distributed the glasses to help us see in 3D, and ran out to the lobby to buy popcorn to feed six people. Once I made my way back to theatre I was relieved to find that I had only missed the first song, and sat back to watch my most favorite of childhood movies. It was just as beautiful as I remembered, and I still envy Belle with that gold dress. I had such a good time, watching it again. It brought back some really good memories for me; but my most favorite part was watching it through my niece’s eyes. They were mesmerized, and it was such a sweet thing to see.
I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to share this experience with my nieces, it was such a fun time, and I hope they’ll remember it for many years to come. Oh, and someone may or may not have teared up during the ballroom scene… the world may never know.
