#i don't like 2017 remake but I've been trying to pick apart 'didn't work for me' vs 'actually bad' vs 'just jumping on the hate bandwagon'

[onceuponymous]

My take on Disney's Beauty and the Beast 2017 remake is that I might have enjoyed it if they went full Lion King 1 1/2 with it.

Like, my personal major source of discontentment with the remake is that I already know and love Beast and Belle from '91, and these versions aren't them. (And the well-told argument that the Disney live-action remakes are doomed by nature of being retreads of what was done new and fresh the first time)

But the writers clearly did have some new ideas, like exploring the servants feeling guilty for the curse being "their fault," the effects of this castle full of people disappearing and how the spell accounted for it, Cadenza/Garderobe tragic romance, LeFou redemption arc! It just feels like none of these ideas got fleshed out, because the time had to be devoted to "Beast gives Belle the library," "ballroom dance," etc plotbeats.

Make the servants/LeFou the main characters! Retell the story, but from their perspective! And this opens up even more new ground. '17 Gaston is somewhat more chivalrous to Belle, and has some implied depth coming back from being a soldier; make it so that's because we're seeing him from LeFou's eyes. There's more spell mechanics like the town memory-wipe and Garderobe fighting off eternal sleep; go into those details!