BEAUTY AND THE BEAST [PG] D

The Mouse House has embarked on a plan to recreate their animated hits as live action entertainments, which on the surface seems to be a concession to the idea that, thanks to computer generated technology, we can render almost any fantastic sequence imaginable in realistic fashion. The efforts on “Beauty and the Beast” by director Bill Condon (“Dreamgirls” and “Breaking Dawn,” the two-part finale of “The Twilight Saga”) left me wondering why anyone would want to go to such lengths. For instance, the dazzling spectacle of the musical number “Be Our Guest” from the 1991 animated film gets reproduced with Emma Watson as the flesh and blood Belle, but much of the magic remains a digital showcase with little else to remind us that there was another beating heart on the screen. To feel the wonder of the tale, revisit the classic and skip the fake reality.