Beauty and the Beast

To celebrate the forthcoming release, Pippa and her best friend Niamh were lucky enough to attend the exclusive Disney Princess gala screening of Beauty and the Beast.

The little girls joined a sea of other excited "mini princesses". Dressed in their favourite sparkling outfits they were treated to an incredible event at Café de Paris in Central London. Not only did they get to enjoy the film but Strictly Come Dancing professionals Kristina Hihanoff and Robin Windsor recreated the groundbreaking ballroom scene, performing to the famous Celine Dion track.

Paige O'Hara, the Broadway actress and the original voice of Belle signed posters for all the children and welcomed them to the event. Both girls got to meet her and she could not have been more charming with them. Pippa and Niamh loved every moment of this fabulous experience. Thank you to Disney and PWT for a once in a lifetime experience and quite the most special event imaginable. I certainly know that Belle has two lifelong fans in these little girls and they loved the film.

Beauty and the Beast is a wonderful story in every way – beautiful to look at, with fabulous music including brilliant songs such as Tale as Old as Time, and Be Our Guest all brought to life with fantastic animation and big numbers reminiscent of Busby Berkeley showstoppers.

Beauty and the Beast was the first of only two Disney animated features to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination (the second being Up in 2009). In 1992 Beauty and the Beast won two Oscars for Best Original Song and Best Original Score.

The film has great pace, many likeable and beautifully crafted characters – the most popular with Pippa being the adorable Chip and of course Belle herself. The magnificent ballroom scene is fabulous to watch and was Disney's first to employ CGI techniques. Pippa kept reminding me (and herself I suspect) that the Beast was "kind really". Both she and Niamh enjoyed the entire 97 minutes running time without fidgeting or getting scared. I know that Pippa was waiting for Belle's screen moments and has talked endlessly since about "my favourite Princess".

Buy Beauty and the Beast while you can. This is a wonderful Disney film which will appeal to all the family and will certainly be on our Christmas wish list.

Beauty and the Beast [DVD] and  Beauty and the Beast (DVD + Blu-ray, with DVD Packaging) are available from Amazon.