Siskel & Ebert Classics - 11/15/91 - Beauty and the Beast, My Girl

Gene and Roger review the soon-to-be Disney classic plus MY GIRL, BLACK ROBE and MEETING VENUS in this pre-Thanksgiving '91 show. As a reminder, if you're looking for the latest home video reviews -- from Blu-Rays of classic catalog titles to the latest releases -- be sure to check out my own review site at www.andyfilm.com

[@goldenlightpictures6223]

Cool how Siskel totally called Beauty and the beast getting nominated for best picture!

[@rhyancoleman6462]

RIP Angela Lansbury

[@nickperkins8477]

Menken and Ashman were so brilliant together. Howard Ashman was a magnificent creative personality.

[@dnasty312]

My favorite direction he gave was, "Streisand," for Belle's lyric *a bit alarming*

[@thekingofmovies193]

May Howard Ashman rest in Peace, a real pioneer in classic Disney songs along with Alan Menken.

[@orbison]

Little Shop of Horrors is a classic, no matter which ending you take.

[@jamesmitchell8922]

Days after Beauty and the Beast is released, Freddie Mercury passed away from AIDS. Shocking how great talents like Mercury and Ashman would succumb to the deadly disease.

[@dnasty312]

Tim Richmond also in 1989

[@scottmccurdy6493]

It's a shame they thought Beauty and the Beast would only get nominated "because it wasn't a good year for movies." There have been plenty of animated films that deserved to be nominated (some should have even won) even in great movie years. If only the Academy didn't have a blatant prejudice against animation.

[@titanoboa7165]

. . . we were so darned poor in 1991 that we couldn't take our kids out to the movies to see Beauty and the Beast. STILL a classic, still remembered as the beginning of the "Disney Renaissance!!"

[@applescruff909]

Happy Gene (his review of Beauty and the Beast) is good for the soul.

[@joemoravskyfan4730]

4:58 advice that Disney clearly did not listen to

[@andrewattenboroughtwothumb4697]

Beauty and the beast and my girl 2 of my favourite classic movies of the early 90s

[@chrisfinch8637]

“My Girl”, is actually the second film, in which Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky starred in the same movie, together. First time they did this, was in “Uncle Buck”, where Culkin played Miles Russell, and Chlumsky was one of Maisy Russell’s (Gaby Hoffman) classmates, during the “Blasphemer!” scene. Even I was surprised to know that, since I used to thing “My Girl” was the first, but it’s not.

[@migueldisla2332]

i wish siskel and ebert were around today to see what they would say about all the dam remakes and reboots lol

[@bobkerr2755]

Probably the same thing they said about all the terrible direct to video sequels from the 90s

[@jedijones]

It would be a case-by-case basis. Ebert loved Batman Begins but hated Superman Returns. He liked the Total Recall remake but disliked the Fame remake.

[@mykiethomas]

Both my favorite Disney Princess film and Disney love song, bar none. Absolutely adore Beauty and the Beast.

[@thekingofmovies193]

I do too, it's a masterpiece of animation. One of my favorite animated movies (or at least animated Disney movies, it's up there with The Lion King and Bambi). It holds up to repeated viewing, I know because I would play the same VHS like 2 or 3 times a day when I was a kid. And it so desperately deserved to be the first animated movie in history to be nominated for the best picture oscar. (Although, I still think that The Silence of the Lambs deserved the win.)

[@scottmcphee2076]

Beauty and the Beast did not reach my country until mid 1992. Critics praised the movie and said that adults could go and see it and they did not have to bring their kids along with them to enjoy it.

[@lars7282]

Kids nowadays always say how nice BatB is and that it’s a classic - but they will never understand HOW mesmerized we were back then when we saw it in the theatre. The animation may look dated by now, but it was so new back then and as a movie as a whole it’s just a perfect one. A one for the ages

[@1Cheytown]

There's a reason it was the FIRST animated feature to receive an Oscar nod for Best Picture...it's THAT good

[@scottyunitedboy2925]

Completely agree, we watched it back in ‘91 in the UK and then ad infinitum on repeat on VHS and we were simply blown away by every frame of it

[@Dr170]

"Dated?" I hope you are only referring to the ropey computer backgrounds

[@lars7282]

No. It’s very well done. But compared to Hercules or Lion King the animation was slower and the outlines were thicker and not as sharp. It’s still perfect, but Disney topped itself later in the decade :-) (not movie- or storywise)

[@Dr170]

@@lars7282 Hercules is one of history's biggest examples of how useless animation quality is when the rest of your movie is a thunderous pile of crap. A lesson as should be even more well heeded today

[@PowerGlove79]

My Girl, the first time I’d ever cried in a theater

[@Hellraiser0601]

Pu$$y 😂

[@michaelkrolewski7406]

It was at the very least a tear jersey. If that's a pu$$you, I'd take that as a compliment

[@douglascarter2078]

It's really sad to think all those poor bees died after stinging that stupid little kid.

[@chrisfinch8637]

@@douglascarter2078​​⁠He might be stupid, but he knows how to ward off burglars from entering his house, every Christmas, as well as become acquainted with a girl on his block, in the summer of ‘71 or ‘72.

[@douglascarter2078]

I cheer for the bees every time in "My Girl." Get him!!!

[@ericfelds6291]

I once urinated in friends sisters in and out milkshake because their families toilet was broken, i cried when she drank it

[@spencerhensley5495]

Is your name Harry or Marv by any chance? Lol.

[@ilovebrandnewcarpets]

Gene in top form here

[@terrygyimah1956]

My reviews Beauty and the Beast (two thumbs up; way up, one of the best movies that year) My Girl (two thumbs up; way up, one of the best movies that year) Black Robe (two thumbs up) Meeting Venus (two thumbs down)

[@Hellraiser0601]

🤷‍♂️

[@lars7282]

03:53 With animated movies nowadays only being ironic and haha funny and being forgotten pretty fast with leaving zero impact on the movie history, I don’t think anyone nowadays can imagine HOW special and big Beauty and the Beast was back then. EVERYONE loved it. Even my dad, who had zero business with animation. Everyone was haunted by the movie, the Beast character and the song.

[@scottmccurdy6493]

It helps there was no internet to make us all cynical back then. Frozen was also a movie everyone loved and made an impact, but of course, in this internet age, people turned against it once it became "too popular." Can't have something bringing lots of people together through joy. It's sad.

[@jedijones]

@@scottmccurdy6493 Frozen II made even more money, so I don't think many people "turned against it."

[@kristinschermann6581]

I think back in those days my Beloved Harrison Ford could have been a great Rhett Butler & of course Meryl Streep can do ANYTHING!!

[@kevinnavarro2180]

Ebert got it right with Timothy Dalton as Rhett Butler

[@jedijones]

Yes! Joanne Whalley-Kilmer played Scarlett.

[@remasterproductions2599]

Boy, I bet were Siskel and Ebert surprised that Beauty and the Beast made that flawless transition from film to stage when the musical came about on Broadway.

[@michaelkrolewski7406]

The only thing I could never get about My Girl, is how a girl as precocious as she was didn't even know where babies came from

[@Dr170]

Right? You would think she would be cognizant of the stork and all that

[@oobrocks]

The first and probably only animated film nominated for best picture...bc animated films have their own category

[@christianlorre]

Pixar's Up was also nominated for best picture.

[@oobrocks]

Nope: nominated for best animated film; Beauty & the Beast only animated movie nominated for best picture (not in the animation category)

[@1Cheytown]

​@@oobrocks Toy Story 2 was nominated if I'm not mistaken

[@oobrocks]

Sorry

[@bravehome4276]

To clarify: BatB was the only animated film to be nominated for best picture. The category "best animated feature" was not introduced until 2002 (for 2001 films).

[@Jbaxter85]

Beauty & The Beast 👍🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 My Girl 👍🌟🌟🌟 Black Robe 👎🌟🌟 Meeting Venus 👍🌟🌟🌟

[@ThePoreproductions]

Does anyone think if These guys would've given the 2017 Beauty and the Beast a two thumbs up?

[@Thomas_H._Smith]

4:58 "The energy level that's possible in animation is so much higher than you possibly can get human actors to move around, that it almost makes animation seem like the ideal medium for the film musical." Probably not.

[@jacobdehaan4114]

Absolutely not

[@jedijones]

Yes. Ebert would've questioned why the movie was necessary, but still would've said it's entertaining to watch.

[@nickperkins8477]

Gene:”…songs worthy of a Broadway musical…”

[@kd17Burger]

Angela Lansbury did make that song her own

[@nivbri]

Moore and Baldwin would make The Juror

[@jedijones]

The '90s was just like playing a slot machine with actors' faces to see what group it would land on. They'd take a spin, and then make a movie with those people.

[@Hellraiser0601]

I wonder if Ebert knew something beforehand about the casting of Timothy Dalton as Rhett. That was too much of a coincidence to be a lucky guess. And really? They really saw Demi Moore or Meryl Streep as Scarlett? 🤣 🤣 🤣

[@proa007]

Back when such a thing would be considered for a TV for speculation. Pretty sure Joanne Whalley would never have crossed their minds. They've done all right for themselves, Dalton and Whalley, since Scarlett.

[@xSTATOKEx]

I wanna here more about Bob.

[@ericfelds6291]

WHY IS HE HOLDING THAT MOOSE

[@SueProv]

GWTW .... Jane Seymour

[@eightfootmanchild]

Hi, I’m Bob -

[@danorthsidemang3834]

HIAMBOB

[@Hellraiser0601]

🤷‍♂️

[@SueProv]

What About Bob?

[@tiananesbitt7156]

Could someone help me find their review on Single White Female!

[@1Cheytown]

If you look it up on here I'm sure you can find it

[@ericfelds6291]

HEY IM BOB

[@oobrocks]

Blk Robe 5:35

[@brianolson6366]

The live action remake was way better, just joking.

[@GrassValleyGreg]

Hi I’m Bob Bygirl.

[@roostermcscratch9060]

Hi I’m bob 😂

[@RossComptonthe19th]

HI I'M BOB my girl...

[@drumtum]

Tom Selleck & Rosie O´donnell would have been perfect.

[@Hellraiser0601]

Call me crazy but I skip most of the reviews when both Siskel and Ebert gush and salivate over particular movies. It's like "ok, got it, you liked it".

[@Dr170]

OK, you're crazy.