Growing up, “Beauty and the Beast” was one of the many Disney movies I owned on VHS.

To this day, I remember walking into my mom’s room and asking her if I needed to rewind the tape or not.

It was a classic movie that my sister and I must have watched a thousand times.

Throughout the last few years when I have watched live-action remakes of children’s movies.

I have cringed because what used to be a part of my childhood was now a bloody violent chapter of my adulthood with roughly the same plot.

However, after watching this live-action remake of “Beauty and the Beast,” I must say that Disney did a good job of not taking the violent scenes too far. While there is some gun violence and blood, it’s nothing today’s youth hasn’t seen in movies already.

The movie has just the right amount of real actors and animation all in one. There were only a few scenes where the animation was kind of in your face and seemed too fake.

I also thought the design of the Beast was kind of far-fetched in that he didn’t look very beast-like and more so like some sort of horned mammal

However, the actors in the movie did a phenomenal job of creating their new kind of brand rather than just going off of the original Disney movie.

In the motion picture, Emma Watson plays the bookworm Disney princess Belle who is taken prisoner by the Beast, played by Dan Stevens. Going into the movie, I was unsure of Watson’s vocal ability, but was completely blown away when she belted out the song “How Does a Moment Last Forever” later in the movie.

She has a crisp and clear voice that makes listening easy and fun for everyone. Other notable vocals in this film would be that of Audra McDonald who plays Madame Garderobe the real-life wardrobe.

McDonald, who is a six-time Tony award winner, and is all over the soundtrack and definitely left her footprint on the audio part of this film.

I found the costume designs to be excellent, especially in the scene where Belle is on her way through the market.

Everyone in the village is believably dressed in the correct fashion of the time period without being too flashy.

All the school children are wearing proper attire and even Belle has nearly the same outfit she did in the original animated film.

“Beauty and the Beast” exceeded my expectations of a live action Disney remake.

It was the perfect balance of action and dialogue that still had music to pay homage to the original soundtrack.

I would recommend seeing it for more than just nostalgic purposes.