Beauty and the Beast (Disney song) author Jerry Griswold believes that the song's opening line "tale as old as time" alludes to the fact that Belle's story is an ancient, timeless one "deliberately situated within the context of other traditional tales;" hers is simply "the newest incarnation" of it. "The Translation of the Songs in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast": an example of Manipulation" author Lucía Loureiro Porto agrees that although the song "does not tell any story, it is made of phrases that imply that love is as old a feeling as mankind." According to Perry Seibert of AllMovie, "Beauty and the Beast" is "as
Beauty and the Beast (1962 film) Beauty and the Beast (1962 film) Beauty and the Beast is a 1962 American romantic fantasy film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Joyce Taylor and Mark Damon. It is based on the 18th century fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and features title creature make-up by the legendary Jack Pierce. Shot in Technicolor and distributed by United Artists, the film is the first English language live action screen adaptation of the fairy tale story. Edward Small, the film's executive producer, described it as a "fairytale for everybody - no messages, no menace."