History YMMV / BeautyAndTheBeast2017

** As Cogsworth is turning into an inanimate carriage clock as the other Enchanted Objects. He starts losing the ability and speak as he's talking with Lumière during their final moments. This moment becomes harsher since Creator/DavidOgdenStiers (the voice of Cogsworth in the original film) passed away a year after the remake's release.

* WTHCostumingDepartment: Considering the period-appropriate costumes of just about every other character, Belle's golden ballroom dress is utterly out of place and really doesn't fit the eighteenth century world that the film is clearly set in. [[http://ew.com/article/2016/11/03/beauty-and-beast-emma-watson-yellow-dress/ It doesn't help that Emma Watson apparently had a close hand in designing the dress,]] instigating her 'no corsets/stays' rule, and that the outfit was finished with (among other things) ''glitter''. To make matters worse, the disparity in style was a conscious choice (Watson thought the progressive and practical Belle wouldn't wear the typically elaborate and unwieldy fashions of the day). This wasn't [[FanDislikedExplanation taken well]] by the fans, many of whom thought the dress was underwhelming at best and hideous at worst.

** Emma Watson notably didn't wear a corset for any of her costumes, arguing that Belle wouldn't be restricted and would dress in order to able to move freely. However, stays in the eighteenth century were designed much more to support the bust rather than reduce the waist -- they were essentially the ancestor of the bra -- and by necessity ''had'' to be easy to move in while still helping the wearer with her posture.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: One of the bigger complaints about the movie is the justification for why the servants were enchanted (they didn't try to raise the Beast better than his abusive father and thus made him the way he is) feeling rather cheap, given how they couldn't have done anything to oppose the king, and the Enchantress then cursed the Beast for what, by that logic, ''wasn't his fault''. However, this justification was actually used several years prior in the Broadway play - only there, it was a single sentence in an exposition-driven scene, wasn't taken as the official reason (the servants are only guessing that ''might'' be why), and instead of blaming them entirely for how the Beast turned out, it's phrased as them "helping to make him the way he is," still placing some responsibility on him for his own actions.

** The film also cast Harriet Jones -- an acclaimed musical actress who at the time of the film's release was the alternate Christine in the West End's ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' -- as the Prince's mother, who doesn't even get to ''speak,'' much less sing. There is, at least, an explanation for her casting: originally she was supposed to have a singing part (singing a lullaby to the young prince), but test audiences thought that she was Hattie Morahan (the woman who plays Agathe). This led them to believe that the Enchantress was singing to the young prince... for some reason. Thus they recast the prince, put Harriet in a dark wig, and reversed it so that the ''prince'' sang to ''her.''

* UnintentionallyUnsypathetic: The villagers were given an AdaptionalNiceGuy change by making them more wary of Gaston to the point of [=LeFou=] having to pay them to sing during "Gaston" and suspected him to try and killed Maurice. However, they were also given the AdaptionalJerkass treatment by being more bigoted towards Belle for less understandable reasons. Such as complaining to her promoting female literacy in a time period where it's not looked down upon. In the end, it makes the ending where they regained their memories of being [[spoiler: former castle residents and servants]] hollow since they never apologize for their behavior towards Belle or realizing that they almost killed [[spoiler: their friends and family.]]

* GeniusBonus: Gaston and [=LeFou=] wear military uniforms belonging to the Gendarmes de la Garde, a pistol-armed unit from the Maison Militaire du Roi (the [[PraetorianGuard royal guard]]), and the Gardes Françaises. Knowing the units combat record, this explains ''everything'' about them.

* GeniusBonus: Gaston military uniform belongs to the Gendarmes de la Garde, a pistol-armed unit from the Maison Militaire du Roi (the [[PraetorianGuard royal guard]]). Knowing the unit's combat record, this explains ''everything'' about him.

** Disney acted like [=LeFou=] being gay is something important, but within the film itself it doesn't alter his personality in any significant way. Given the time-frame the movie takes place in, homosexuality was seen as an illness and even a crime. [=LeFou=] would have been either completely confused about his feelings, or desperately hiding them, lest he be tarred, feathered and kicked out of town, but the film never actually addresses this detail at all. Worse still, making him gay ties into the core theme of the story; that you should never judge someone by their appearance but instead based on how they are on the inside. Instead the reveal is used by the filmmakers to get attention and call themselves "progressive".

** In the movie, when Belle was very young, her mother died in a plague that Belle herself survived only by moving to Villeneuve with her father. In real life, Belle's Spanish voice actress, Hiromi Hayakawa, died in childbirth mere months after this movie was released and took the child with her.

---'''WebVideo/BernadetteBanner''': ...if I were the costume designer to whom Miss Watson had allegedly refused wearing a corset, I would have amiably and wholeheartedly agreed -- and then put her in a pair of stays.

** Maurice has had a [[BrokenBird sad]] [[BreakTheCutie life]]. Even before TheReveal about his [[TheLostLenore his late wife]] you can't but feel sorry for him, especially in the tavern scene where he's frantically trying to tell the villagers about his daughter being held prisoner and when [[HopeSpot it finally seems like someone will listen]] [[spoiler: it was just a ruse by Gaston to ask him for Belle's hand in marriage and when Maurice (quite rightly) refuses Gaston tries to outright ''murder'' him!]]. Were this movie told from his point of view it could rightly be called AdultFear TheMovie.

* UglyCute: The Beast! He does look kinda cute for somebody who's referred to as creepy-looking in-universe. [[spoiler:Even Belle seems to agree!]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Belle:''' How would you feel about growing a beard?]]

** The film in itself has gained this response. It's either considered a worthy and beautiful remake that fixes the "issues" of the animated one, and to some is even considered a superior version, or it's an awful remake that creates new flaws in the attempt of "fixing" the ones of the original (see DesignatedHero), is simply filled with {{Padding}}, {{Narm}}-filled performances, and is miles away from competing with the animated version.

-->"But instead we find out that the enchantress had merely decided to blame them for not raising the prince better, even though that wasn’t their job. Besides, if the enchantress does hold other people accountable for The Beast's behavior, turning him into a monster in the first place becomes little more than a callous exercise in [[UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming blaming the victim]]."

** In another case, some people were willing to watch this remake until they noticed how it seemed to "borrow" the look/overall aesthetic of the [[Film/LaBelleEtLaBete 2014 French adaptation that toplined Vincent Cassel]]. Others argue that the original animated movie "borrowed" elements from [[Film/BeautyAndTheBeast1946 Jean Cocteau's 1946 adaptation]], another French production, stating that those people should accept that Disney's version will always end up copying elements from the French even if they don't like it.

* PortmanteauCoupleName: "Gafou" for [=Gaston=] and [=LeFou=], as well as "Stanfou" for Stanley and [=LeFou=] have gained some traction online

** The scene of Belle going to the West Wing. In the 1991 version, the whole idea of the West Wing is that it's where the Beast resides and thus is the creepiest part of the castle, covered in darkness, broken furniture and even ''animal carcasses''[[note]] WordOfGod of the original is that the Beast became more and more animal like over the years and even began ''hunting'' like one. It's subtly shown in the 1991 version but animal carcasses ''can'' be seen if you look close.[[/note]] In this version, the West Wing looks... mostly fine and not very different from any other room in the castle! It also removes Belle's wonder and fear as she slowly explores the room before eventually coming upon the rose. Instead, Belle in this version walks nearly straight towards the rose as she apparently knows exactly where she's going and has little interest in exploring the forbidden place she's entered, [[SarcasmMode presumably from how alike it is to the other parts of the castle she's seen.]]

-->[[spoiler:'''Belle:''' "How would you feel about growing a beard?"]]

* WTHCastingAgency: Audra [=McDonald=], one of the greatest musical theater singers of her time, is cast in a musical in a role with far less singing than the other characters. To add insult to injury, most of the other performers have minimal musical theater experience. The key exceptions are Dan Stevens, Kevin Kline, Luke Evans, and Josh Gad... ''and it shows'', with many critics singling them out as the highlights of the cast even though their screentime (especially Kline's) is relatively limited.
** Some of the reaction to Emma Watson as Belle has been this, with many feeling that she isn't ''nearly'' a good enough singer to justify being in the lead role for a musical movie (especially a Disney one). See BrokenBase.

** Is Gaston a loathsome man in every single way? Or is he a DesignatedVillain? Some people think that Gaston went out of his way to give Belle flowers, and comfort her after the villagers harassed her, only to get rejected. Also, they think that Gaston, in offering to help Maurice rescue Belle, is more heroic and think that Maurice is wrong in denying Gaston his blessing. [[UnfortunateImplications Of course, this seems to imply that Belle somehow has no right to reject him since he was acting nice to her; and factors out the fact that guys do act nice to girls in order to manipulate them into liking the guy.]]

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Or possibly thrice, in the case of Gaston's idea of happy thoughts.

* DesignatedHero: As questionable as the Enchantress was in the original film, due to how she cursed the innocent servants as well as the Prince, her actions in this film are even worse. She twists the knife on the Beast by giving him [[spoiler: a magic book that could allow him to go anywhere... if only his appearance wouldn't cause the locals to attack him]], and she curses the servants to DIE, or even worse, possibly condemn them to AndIMustScream when the last petal falls. And then [[spoiler:she inexplicably does nothing against Gaston despite ''knowing'' he tried to murder Maurice (because she saved him), he directly insults her, and in general is just as bad or worse than the Beast ever was]]. All in all, she's negligent at best and downright cruel and self-serving at worst. [[http://www.craveonline.com/entertainment/1225085-beauty-and-the-beast-review-ceci-nest-pas-belle#/slide/1 This review]] also points out the questionable justification given for her cursing the servants:

** In ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', Creator/EmmaThompson's character Sybill Trelawney teaches the art of divining the future from tea leaves to students who include Hermione Granger, Emma Watson's character. This time Thompson plays a teapot -- the mother of a teacup -- who becomes good friends with Watson's character. Furthermore, Hermione hated Trelawney's class, but here they seem to bond as Mrs. Potts becomes a maternal figure. It's kinda funny in hindsight there.

** The entire idea of Belle being discouraged for teaching a young girl to read. The original gets a pass because it's deliberately pretty vague when it takes place, but the remake takes place in a period that can be narrowed down to pre-Revolution France. At that point of history, discrimination against female literacy was scarcely true; magazines for women and girls were quite common. Where this slips into critical territory is that the original ''Beauty and the Beast'' was at one point ''published'' in just such a magazine!

** The film in itself has gained this response. It's either considered a worthy and beautiful remake that fixes the "issues" of the animated one, and to some is even considered a superior version, or it's an awful remake that is simply filled with {{Padding}}, {{Narm}}-filled performances, creating new flaws in the attempt of "fixing" the ones of the original (see DesignatedHero) and is miles away from competing with the animated version.

** The film in itself has gained this response. It's either considered a worthy and beautiful remake that fixes the "issues" of the animated one, and to some is even considered a superior version, or it's an awful remake that is simply filled with {{Padding}} and {{Narm}}-filled performances, and is miles away from competing with the animated version.

* {{Applicability}}: Keeping in mind the debate as to whether or not [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Queen Elsa's]] concealing her powers and then finding a form of freedom after being "outed" is a metaphor for LGBTQ individuals, a similar debate could be posed for the Beast, as he has to whether he is a human trapped in a beast's body, or if he is truly a beast after all. Much of how the plot proceeds is based on others' presumptions based on his outward appearance and on his own presumptions of how they will react to him (he had the ability to leave the castle and find his love any time, and ultimately his true love lived a short horse ride away in the neighboring village). This one is an easier sell, since the Beast is literally Trans, being trans''formed'' rather than transgendered.

** There's an especially weird shot during "Be Our Guest" where the camera lingers several seconds of Mrs. Potts face smiling at the screen which is probably meant to be a charming shot but comes off as incredibly unsettling instead.

** The scene of Belle going the West Wing. In the 1991 version, the whole idea of the West Wing is that it's where the Beast resides and thus is the creepiest part of the castle, covered in darkness, broken furniture and even ''animal carcasses''[[note]] WordOfGod of the original is that the Beast became more and more animal like over the years and even began ''hunting'' like one. It's subtly shown in the 1991 version but animal carcasses ''can'' be seen if you look close.[[/note]] In this version, the West Wing looks... mostly fine and not very different from any other room in the castle! It also removes Belle's wonder and fear as she slowly explores the room before eventually coming upon the rose. Instead, Belle in this version walks nearly straight towards the rose as she apparently knows exactly where she's going and has little interest in exploring the forbidden place she's entered, [[SarcasmMode presumably from how alike it is to the other parts of the castle she's seen.]]

* UncannyValley: Many find the castle servants' designs to be unsettling due to the more pragmatic art direction employed. One can argue that here is some FridgeBrilliance involved as they ARE cursed and are meant to be humans stuck in the bodies of furniture; their looking uncanny is more likely than their being cute. The script also plays into this, with Maurice and Belle's initial reactions being less the bemused wonderment of the original and more sheer terror.

* ToughActToFollow: The film is a remake of what has often been called [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Disney's greatest animated feature]] which was also the first animated film to ever be nominated for Best Picture at the [[Usefulnotes/AcademyAward 1991 Academy Awards.]] Suffice to say this particular live-action adaptation had a ''lot'' of expectations to live up to, especially as few truly substantial changes are being made to the story and characters, much less anything as dramatic as a perspective change, setting alteration, etc. and some felt that it didn't live up to those expectations. Currently, it holds a 7.2/10 on IMDB and a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, whereas the animated film has a 8/10 on IMDB and a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes respectively. For a straighter example, it's also coming out a year after [[Film/TheJungleBook2016 a critically acclaimed live-action remake of another Disney movie]], which itself came out a year after [[Film/Cinderella2015 a very well-regarded live action remake of another iconic Disney Princess film]].