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 (1992 film) to kill him, until the gentleman explains about Beauty's request. The beast commands the man to return home and tell Beauty to come in his place. Beauty's father goes home and tells his children about his encounter with the beast. Beauty insists on taking her father's place, and the pair travel to the castle together. The beast offers Beauty's father jewels as compensation, but Beauty's father declines. Father and daughter sadly part ways, and the beast is momentarily touched by their affection. That night, Beauty waits willingly for her death. To her surprise, she is given food by Clara, a