My friends and I had the strangest conversation the other day.

"I saw a wonderful movie this weekend!" one friend volunteered, and others echoed the observation.

"Me, too," I cried in delight, "what did you see?"

Dead silence. Embarrassed blushes.

It may be an animated film, but that doesn't make Walt Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" a lesser movie. It just may take longer for some people to admit how much they liked it.

Just in case you missed the day in kindergarten when we discussed this fabulous fairy tale, it's the age old story of the arrogant young prince who is cursed to endure a portion of his mortal life as a hideous beast. Yet a delicately blossoming chain of events finds a beautiful young lady in his company, and slowly, gently, they find true love together because each sees the others' indubitable inner beauty. And they live happily, ever after.

Maybe I was infected by dynamic Disney euphoria, but I really enjoyed this one. I smiled all the way through. It's supposed to be a kids' movie, or so I thought. It had my little sister dancing in the aisles. But it was so much more - and operated on so many levels - it captivated everyone in the audience, regardless of age.

Before I saw the movie, I was a little worried that Disney's 30th full-length animated feature would be the first Disney dud. How much can you do with the girl-meets-ugly-boy-theme, which has been done a million times before. But as those dashing Disney images graced the screen and that marvelous magical music began to play, my doubts were dissipated. Any fears left were completely vanquished as I saw the new twists that were put on the story - like the soon-to-be-famous talking candelabra, named Lumiere, and a palaceful of personified objects.

This is classic Disney at its best - or even better. The animation was excellent and surpassed anything that's been done before. Creativity and imagination abounded. The dialogue was clever and witty, and I really had to listen to be sure I caught all the subtle puns. The musical score was worth the price of admission.

This movie gave new life to an ancient story, and breathed vitality into a lovely, moral theme. This is why I'll never stop loving Disney, no matter how old I get.

"Beauty and the Beast" is a masterpiece that promises to become yet another Disney classic. It's one I'll take my grandkids to see someday. I know I want to see it again and again.

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