BACKGROUND
Ask anyone the question: “what is the best animated Disney film?” and I’m sure many people will say The Lion King (1994) …. The amount of people who love that film is unreal…
But if you asked them again and told them to choose another one, I bet a large number of answers would be Beauty and the Beast. That’s not to say I mean that it is everyone’s favourite Disney film, because it’s not mine, though it definitely makes my Top 5, but nobody would argue with the fact that Beauty and the Beast is one of the greatest animated films of all time.
After Disney’s success with The Little Mermaid (1989), the company felt that just maybe they’d found the perfect formula for their movies: taking a fairy-tale, injecting it with some humour and a touch of Disney magic, and set it to a Broadway musical-style soundtrack. It had worked for Ariel, so let’s see if it worked for Belle.
But in the middle of the two films, Disney Animation actually released another movie: The Rescuers Down Under (1990). This film had very disappointing box-office results and because it was created digitally, its budget was incredibly high as well. This was not a fairy-tale, nor did it have a musical soundtrack though, so it just proved that perhaps they needed to replicate what they’d managed with The Little Mermaid.
And wow, did they succeed! Beauty and the Beast was even nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, the first time an animated film had ever received approval like this, and it became a huge hit, with children and adults alike. At the time, Disney had not received attention like this for one of their animated movies before, which then set off a wild decade for the Disney company.
I personally think Beauty and the Beast is close to perfection. The animation is stunning; the music is typical of a Broadway musical style; the characters are comical and lovable, as well as complex and flawed; the story is romantic and full of meaning – it’s just overall a brilliant movie, and is one of my favourite Disney films. There’s not much else to say on it; Beauty and the Beast was a total phenomenon.
PLOT
I doubt many people in the world have not seen Disney’s Beauty and the Beast but here’s the plot anyway. As told in the prologue, a selfish prince refuses shelter to an old beggar woman one winter’s night. She turns out to be an enchantress who curses the prince, his castle, and all who live there for his cruelty. She leaves a red rose that will bloom until his 21st year and will then start to wilt; if he can find someone to love him, and earn their love in return, before the last petal falls, then the spell will be broken; but if not, then he will forever remain a beast.
The film then jumps to a small French village, where Belle is dreaming of greater things for herself, as she doesn’t fit in with the others and wants something more than “this provincial life”. At the same time, she’s having to defend her inventor father, Maurice, from the others who think he’s crazy, and trying to avoid Gaston, the village hunk, who’s determined to marry her. Her chance comes when her father is captured by a beast on his way to the fair to show his latest invention, and she goes to the castle to save him. As the Beast will not let him leave, Belle offers to take his place. The Beast accepts and Maurice is taken back to the village. Maurice enters the village tavern, trying to find help to free Belle; instead, they all laugh at him and he decides to find her himself. Gaston uses Maurice’s outburst to his advantage by using him as leverage: Maurice will be sent to the asylum if Belle refuses to marry him. Now, he just has to wait for her to return…
In the meantime, Belle and the Beast constantly clash, though she does make friends with his “staff”, who have been turned into enchanted objects, such as Butler Cogsworth becoming a clock, Mrs. Potts the cook becoming a teapot, and Lumière the maître d’ becoming a candelabra. They want to help Belle settle in as they believe she could break the spell and turn them human again, however, things come to a head when she enters the forbidden West Wing, the Beast’s living quarters in the castle, and he scares her away. Belle rushes out of the castle, only to find herself in the middle of the forest with a pack of wolves hunting her. Luckily, the Beast comes to her rescue, and from this point, we see the two, slowly but surely, start to fall in love.
One night, after a lovely dinner and a magical dance in the Grand Ballroom, the Beast gifts Belle his magic mirror, so she can see the outside world and check on her father. Through the mirror, Belle sees her father is ill, lost in the woods; the Beast frees her from the castle so she can be with him – he doesn’t expect her to ever return to him. Belle and Maurice return home, where Gaston is waiting for her. Despite Maurice being forced into the back of a van to be sent to the asylum, instead of agreeing to marry Gaston, Belle just proves the Beast’s existence with the mirror, sending Gaston into a jealous tirade, as he believes she loves the Beast. Belle and Maurice are locked in their cellar, whilst him and a mob of villagers storm the castle to kill the Beast.
The Beast, heartbroken at losing Belle and his only chance to be human again, doesn’t fight back and allows them to enter his castle. Soon, Gaston finds the Beast and tries to goad him into a fight, but the Beast does not want to fight back – until he sees that Belle has returned to help him. Beast and Gaston fight on the castle roof. Beast has hold of Gaston, ready to throw him to his death, but decides against this, providing he leaves the castle. Beast climbs up the castle to be reunited with Belle, but Gaston, still jealous and enraged, stabs Beast in his side. Belle holds onto Beast and pulls him to safety; Gaston falls to his death. As the Beast lays dying, Belle finally realises her love for him, saying the words out loud just as the last petal falls. All looks lost for Beast and the servants, but suddenly, magic seems to fall from the sky, and the Beast is transformed back into his prince form. The curse is broken and the two stay together forever, living happily ever after. Aww.
CHARACTERS & CAST
The characters in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast are particularly likeable and memorable. Belle, along with Ariel, is one of the first modern princesses that Disney created, making her proactive in her story, instead of just waiting for something to happen to her as some of the earlier Disney fairy tales had done. Unlike Ariel, Belle is looking for adventure, not love, which makes her even more progressive, however, just like Ariel, Belle doesn’t feel like she fits in in her community; Belle prefers to read and dream, instead of just marrying and becoming a wife. Mark Henn and James Baxter were the main animators who worked on Belle, making sure she had heart and soul, and not focusing on making her the most beautiful character ever. I like Belle because she doesn’t follow the crowd; she was inspiring to me for not just doing what everyone else was doing, and not caring what people think.
Belle is voiced by actress Paige O’Hara, who started out her career on Broadway, playing the role of Ellie in Show Boat in 1983 and Ado Annie in Oklahoma! in 1986. After the success of Beauty and the Beast, O’Hara returned to the stage to portray Fantine in Les Misérables in 1995. Since 1991, she has returned to voice Belle for Disney. It makes such a difference to the movie by having a Broadway actress, instead of a “big name” like movies tend to do these days, in the voice cast. You really feel that this film is like a Broadway show, with the people involved knowing exactly how they should convey that atmosphere.
Beast was animated by Glen Keane, who successfully made him articulate without needing any words, as he managed to show signs of love and feelings of guilt and emotion purely through his eyes. Keane used inspiration from many animals he’d seen at London Zoo, while production was based there, and made Beast a combination of multiple animals, including wolf, bear, buffalo, and lion. The Beast, although having to seem menacing and terrifying at the start, goes through the most development in the story, gradually becoming kinder and less angry. It’s a clear journey that we see throughout the film, and he had to be the complete opposite to Gaston. Beast is voiced by actor Robby Benson, who began his career as a “teen idol” in movies such as the sports films One on One (1977) and Ice Castles (1978). I have only seen him as Sabrina’s father in Series 1 of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-97). I was so surprised to find he was the voice of the Beast; he’s so soft-spoken in real-life! Like O’Hara, Benson has also returned to Disney to voice Beast.
Andreas Deja worked on Gaston, and he said it took a while to find his look, as Gaston needed to look like a prince, but have this evil quality within him. Gaston is a good villain; he’s not particularly scary or menacing, but he becomes the way he does purely through jealousy at having lost Belle to the Beast. At the same time, he’s also completely clueless that he’s even the villain of this piece, because how could someone as handsome as him possibly be the bad guy? As much as I like him as a character, he definitely deserved to die for stabbing the poor Beast in the side. Gaston is voiced by another theatrical star, Richard White. White appeared as a performer in regional performances of musicals like Show Boat and Carousel in 1985, and Oklahoma! in 1992. On Broadway, in 2013, he appeared as Sir Danvers Carew in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. White has also returned to Disney to voice Gaston. I think White’s singing voice is particularly impressive in this movie, and I’m glad that, again, Disney avoided hiring a famous actor, because it makes Beauty and the Beast seem much more like a Broadway production.
The magical objects were the most fun to animate, as the animators got to figure out how each character would walk and talk without human limbs, as well as matching their personality, and job title, to the type of object they are. For example, Cogsworth, voiced by David Ogden Stiers, is the Head Butler, so naturally, he’d be a nervous, anxious clock, always wanting things done precisely and correctly. David Ogden Stiers had a long history with Disney, having voiced not only Cogsworth, but Governor Ratcliffe and Wiggins in Pocahontas (1995); the Archdeacon in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996); and Dr. Jumba Jookiba in Lilo & Stitch (2002) amongst others. He also starred as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III in the series M*A*S*H from 1977 to 1983. He died in 2018. I like Cogsworth, and I think him and Lumière are a great duo together, bouncing off each other constantly with their differing, often conflicting, personalities.
Speaking of Lumière, he is maître d’ of the castle, so he’s quite personable and eager to please the guests, even if that means going against the Beast’s orders. He gets a great song to show off his talents with “Be Our Guest”, and is entirely at odds with Cogsworth over both the song and giving the dinner to Belle, as the Beast has forbidden it. Jerry Orbach voices Lumière, perhaps best known amongst younger audiences as being Baby’s father in Dirty Dancing (1987) but he was also well-known for being a Broadway and stage actor before starring in movies, having appeared as Billy Flynn in Chicago from 1975 to 1977 and as Julian Marsh in 42nd Street from 1980 to 1985. I don’t think any other iteration of Lumière has ever, or will ever, come close to Orbach’s brilliant accent. Orbach returned to voice the character up until his death in 2004.
Then there’s Chip and Mrs. Potts, the mother-son duo, who are a cup and teapot, respectively, as Mrs. Potts is the cook and housekeeper. She’s the motherly, kind figure of the movie, making sure Belle gives Beast a chance and that Beast controls his temper. She is voiced by Angela Lansbury, who brings typical British vibes to her role. Well, she is a teapot after all! Lansbury has appeared on both stage and screen, winning numerous Tony awards for her roles in musicals and plays, such as Gypsy (1975), Sweeney Tood (1979), and Blithe Spirit (2009). On screen, she is well-known for her performance as Jessica Fletcher in the long-running crime drama series Murder, She Wrote (1984-96). Lansbury later voiced the character of the Dowager Empress in 20th Century Fox’s Anastasia (1997), but returned to Disney to introduce a segment in Fantasia 2000 (1999) and made a cameo in Mary Poppins Returns (2018). Lansbury sadly passed away in October 2022.
A final note on the voice cast, not for any particular reason, is that Tony Jay voiced the character Monsieur D’Arque, the warden of the Asylum. Jay would go on to voice Judge Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).
PRODUCTION
The idea for a Disney version of Beauty and the Beast actually goes back to Walt Disney’s era. Beauty and the Beast had been attempted by Disney animation in both the 1930s and the 1950s, however, they hadn’t managed to do much with it, as it was a challenging story to adapt, so it never went any further – until it was found again in the 1980s, during a time when Roy E. Disney, Walt’s nephew, wanted animation to be reinvented and revitalised with fairy tales like The Little Mermaid. They kept going back to Beauty and the Beast to fit this new direction, even though it was daunting for this team of animators who thought: if Walt’s team couldn’t do it justice, then how could they?[1]
Disney’s version of Beauty and the Beast is very different to the source material, La Belle et la Bête, a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in 1756. This story follows a merchant and his daughters, the youngest and most beautiful being called “Beauty”. The merchant, struggling with debts from his cargo ships, becomes lost on his return from a voyage and seeks shelter in a castle. When trying to get a rose for Beauty as a present, the Beast threatens to kill him for stealing from his garden. The Beast allows him to take the rose if he returns with one of his daughters to take his place at the castle. Beauty agrees to do this, and the Beast caters for her every whim for months, giving her good food, fine clothing, and other luxuries. Every evening, he’d ask her to marry him, only for her to refuse. She dreams of falling in love with a handsome prince, and even when a fairy appears to tell her “not to be deceived by appearances”, she doesn’t change her mind. After months of this, Beauty asks to return home to see her family. The Beast allows this, providing she returns in two months. Beauty does not, only to have visions of the Beast dying alone in the castle, so she returns to him to find the visions were true. At this point, Beauty realises she does love him, and agrees to marry him that night. The next day, she finds the Beast has transformed into the prince of her dreams. Disney were very right when they said they had to make the story more interesting and exciting because it is mostly just about someone going to dinner and being asked to marry each time! We also find that the prince was turned into a beast in this version of the story because he refused the advances of an evil fairy…Um, ok…
Disney’s original version of the story, in the 1980s, was to be quite true to the original source, set in 18th Century France, quite dark, and a non-musical. This was being worked on with Don Hahn as producer, and Richard Purdum as director in London. The first twenty minutes of the film was shown to Jeffrey Katzenberg and Peter Schneider, the heads of Disney animation at the time, who told them to scrap it and start again. Don Hahn relayed this back to the team, with the news that they were to go to France for a research trip to soften the blow! The production was moved back to Burbank from London, and the leadership was changed up, with Purdum leaving the project and Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise coming on as directors, after their latest work on the pre-show of the now-defunct Epcot attraction, Cranium Command. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, off the back of their musical success on The Little Mermaid (1989) were also persuaded to join the team to take over the music. It was good to be given a fresh start, however, one year of the three-year production deadline had already been taken up with the first attempt, so they only had two years to complete it. Katzenberg brought in these release schedules, which hadn’t really existed before, as motivation.
A scriptwriter, Linda Woolverton, was brought in by Katzenberg with the animators being told just to animate Woolverton’s script. The animators had never worked that way before; Walt Disney had always gone off storyboards, not scripts, so it took a while for the two sides to mesh, with Woolverton becoming annoyed at her scenes being constantly changed from one day to the next, and the animators not informing her of changes. In the end, Woolverton knew she had to work more closely with the animators, and from then on, the process was much more harmonious[2].
In terms of the actual animation, Beauty and the Beast was technically ahead of its time as it was only the second Disney film to use the Computer Animation Production System (CAPS). It had first been used for Rescuers Down Under (1990), however, the investment in this technology had not proved itself with that movie. CAPS was designed by Pixar and allowed digital inking of hand-drawn cells and automation of a depth effect without the need for a multi-plane camera. The ballroom scene is the most obvious example of this technology use in Beauty and the Beast. The success of the scene gave Disney the motivation to continue to try out this new animation technology in their later films[3].
The look of the movie is beautiful. The prologue starts with charming animation of a forest before telling us the Beast’s backstory through colourful stained glass. I think this gives the scene more of a story-telling quality, and more historical feel, to show that this event happened away from Belle and her village, and a few years previous. The backgrounds are impressionistic, resembling paintings, which I like, whether they are dawn, dusk, night, or day scenes. The use of colour was important too, with the ballroom scene using a lot of gold and blue to create the right emotion for the romance of the scene. Belle is also dressed generally in blue for the very specific reason of making her stand-out against the townspeople in her opening scenes, to show that she doesn’t fit in. “Be Our Guest” was an opportunity to show more colour and fun, even though it is set within quite a cold, dark castle[4]. It’s in complete contrast to the scene that follows of Belle within the West Wing, with its blackness, and torn and broken furnishings. The final scene of Belle and the prince – who I thought was called Adam, but apparently not officially – is also lovely, with the two dancing in the ballroom with many people watching, though I did think it looked very familiar. It is actually the exact same sequence that ends Sleeping Beauty (1959) with Princess Aurora and Prince Philip dancing together. This was apparently done to save time as the film was nearing the end of its production deadline.
MUSIC
Ashman and Menken proved to be a vital component of the film-making process here. Ashman was key to the idea that Beast could be a kind of “anti-hero” with flaws, and that as he goes through the most development in the movie, it has to be his story[5]. The duo was able to comment on the story and characters being created, as well as write terrific music, because they understood how the music had to be, and brought their love for both animation and Broadway musicals into it. The music ties the whole story together in Beauty and the Beast. The songs are catchy, and very Broadway-esque.
“Belle” was the first song to be written and not only does it encapsulate some background to the story, but it introduces both Gaston and Belle to the audience, as well as their wants and dreams. It is an ensemble number, with solo moments for Paige O’Hara and Richard White as Belle and Gaston. Belle’s particular hopes and dreams are expressed by herself through the reprise of “Belle” just a few minutes later. Ashman and Menken were originally concerned that Disney would not be happy with the length of “Belle”, especially as an opening number, as it is around six minutes long. I really like it, and I feel it gets the viewer involved in the story right away.
On the opposite side, we have the song “Gaston”, another ensemble piece with solo moments for Gaston, which, although about the villain of the piece, is not the villain’s song, in my opinion. “Gaston” is really just a love letter to him from all of his sycophantic hangers-on. I do like “Gaston”, mostly for its ridiculous lyrics – “and every last inch of me is covered with hair” being one of them. Menken apparently laughed-out-loud at some of these lyrics when he first heard them. “Gaston” also shows that the villain doesn’t have a clue he’s evil, because he looks like a prince. This was a first for Disney. “Gaston”, like “Belle”, was also reprised just a few minutes later by the song’s title character, with his own “want” song; the reprise details Gaston’s devious plan to have Maurice imprisoned at the asylum so that Belle will have to marry Gaston to ensure Maurice’s release.
The actual villain’s song in my opinion is “The Mob Song”, where Gaston rallies all the villagers to go and attack the Beast. To the villagers, this seems to be a song of strength and bravery, but in reality, Gaston just wants to have the Beast killed so that the object of Belle’s affection can be eradicated; it’s all about jealousy, and also works as an ego boost for Gaston, as it proves that people will do whatever he tells them to without question. Well, everyone, except Belle and Maurice. I do like it a lot; it’s one of the better Disney villain songs, because it’s so dark and dramatic. There is even a reference to Shakespeare buried in the lyrics, a line from Macbeth: “Screw your courage to the sticking place”.
Now to the love songs. The most well-known and celebrated song is “Beauty and the Beast”, though I don’t like it all that much, probably because it’s been overused by Disney in so many shows and productions! I like the ballroom scene that goes along with it though, as well as the scene just after when Beast and Belle are talking on the balcony, because the scene is so romantic and elegant, with the night’s sky full of stars. Plus, no real-life version of Belle’s gold dress has ever come close to looking as lovely as the animated one. “Beauty and the Beast” is sung by Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts. It was recorded in New York, and on the way there, Lansbury’s plane had been forced to make an emergency landing for a bomb threat, but she arrived later that day for the recording after some delay! Lansbury recorded the whole song in one take, which she was pleased with, as she had not expected the first take to have been accepted[6]. But before this, we have another love song, “Something There”, which isn’t openly romantic, but talks of Belle and Beast’s developing feelings for each other. This is the best of the two love songs for me, because it clearly expresses the awkwardness and uncertainty of the early stages of a relationship. It’s also funny to see the two at this point having snowball fights and slurping on porridge together!
The final song to mention is the fun “song-and-dance” number “Be Our Guest”. As well as enjoying all the images of different dishes, I like how Lumière transforms into a proper showman, with everyone else, apart from Cogsworth, being there to back him up. Again, Disney do use this song a lot in their shows, but I still enjoy it, particularly when it builds to the big finale at the end. It feels like a whole Broadway show in just a few minutes.
But as well as the songs, Beauty and the Beast has a particular good score. “Transformation” is my favourite instrumental within the score, and one of my favourite Disney instrumentals in general, as well as the scene that accompanies it. When we think the Beast is dead, the music seems so hopeless, but then, all of a sudden, something magical happens and the Beast is lifted into the air and transformed into a prince. And then there’s the necessary happy ending back in the ballroom with everyone back to their human forms just to top it off. The prologue is great too, wonderfully narrated by David Ogden Stiers. It sounds so mysterious and almost haunting. Menken based the prologue on a riff of sorts on “The Carnival of the Animals” by Saint-Saëns[7].
The soundtrack was well-received and won numerous accolades, including Best Original Song for “Beauty and the Beast” and Best Original Score at the 64th Academy Awards; “Be Our Guest” and “Belle” were also nominated in the Best Original Song category. The score and “Beauty and the Beast” also won at the Golden Globes. The soundtrack received eight Grammy nominations, and won five awards, including Best Album for Children, Best Instrumental Composition, and Best Song Written for Motion Picture.
RECEPTION
The marketing was a big help to Beauty and the Beast being such a big success. A press event was help in New York to show some clips and play some songs from the movie. It was such a high for the Disney team working on the movie, however, after the event, some of the team rushed to see Howard Ashman in the hospital. He had been ill during the whole production of Beauty and the Beast, and would unfortunately die from complications related to HIV in March 1991, never having seen the full finished movie. He was wearing a Beauty and the Beast sweatshirt in the hospital and said he’d always known the movie was going to be a success[8]. The movie was dedicated to him.
To cement Beauty and the Beast’s future, an unfinished version of the film was screened at the New York Film Festival on 29th September 1991. This was an incredibly risky move, not only because the film was only about 70% finished, and included some coloured footage, some black-and-white scenes, unfinished drawings, and storyboard sketches, but also because this was a prestigious showcase of movies, with a highbrow film enthusiast crowd to match, who would not have expected to see a “children’s cartoon” within the programme. The directors of the festival got a lot of flak for agreeing to do this, but it was to be the big test for Disney to see if the resurgence that had started with The Little Mermaid in 1989, and had slumped with The Rescuers Down Under in 1990, could really stick. Surprisingly, the response was overwhelming, and showing the inner workings of animation was a good move for this film-literate audience. The audience applauded multiple times, like they were watching a Broadway performance, and even gave the film a full ten-minute standing ovation at the end. This was such an iconic event to happen in the New York Film Festival’s history[9].
As well as grossing almost $430 million worldwide, Beauty and the Beast was met with critical acclaim, receiving some of the best praise for a Disney animated film since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The film was awarded multiple awards, including the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature, where Glen Keane also received an award for his animation, and the Golden Globe for Best Picture, the first full-length animated film to win this accolade. It was even nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, which made Beauty and the Beast the first animated feature film to be nominated in the category – only Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010) have equalled that since. It showed that Disney films were no longer considered just children’s cartoons, but could be enjoyed by adults without kids in tow. Unfortunately, Beauty and the Beast lost the Best Picture Oscar to The Silence of the Lambs (1991), a very different sort of film.
LEGACY
Beauty and the Beast has become a huge part of Disney history, and created its own legacy. This includes three direct-to-video sequels: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997), Beauty and the Beast: Belle’s Magical World (1998), and Belle’s Tales of Friendship (1999), all of which take place within the timeline of the original film. The best of all of these is The Enchanted Christmas which I make sure I watch every year. I love the songs “Stories” and “As Long As There’s Christmas”. Many of the voice actors, including Robby Benson, Paige O’Hara, Jerry Orbach and David Ogden Stiers returned to voice their characters; Angela Lansbury only returned for The Enchanted Christmas. There was also a live-action television series called Sing Me a Story with Belle, which ran from September 1995 to March 1997. Disney animated shorts were inserted into each episode.
Then, there was the live-action, heavily CGI-reliant, remake of Beauty and the Beast in 2017, which starred Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens, and Harry Potter’s Emma Watson, as Beast and Belle respectively. I didn’t like this much at all, and didn’t like some of the casting. I also did not like the CGI look of the Beast, but it did very well at the box-office.
Beauty and the Beast celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021, and a special was aired on ABC in December 2022 called Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration. The show itself was a bit confused, with a mixture of storyboard images and scenes from the animated movie, as well as some scenes with a real-life cast. A particular highlight for me was Josh Groban singing “Evermore”, which, yes, was a song written for the live-action film, but I don’t even remember it in there, and Martin Short singing “Be Our Guest” as Lumière. As well as these two, the special starred H.E.R. as Belle and Shania Twain as Mrs. Potts. In 2018, a live concert celebration of the film took place at the Hollywood Bowl, with some of the cast including Zooey Deschanel as Belle, Rebel Wilson as LeFou, Taye Diggs as Gaston, and Kelsey Grammer as Lumière.
Beauty and the Beast has also been re-released multiple times, including being re-released in theatres in 2002 with a song cut from the original film, “Human Again”, where the enchanted objects sing about how they can’t wait to be human again; I’m not a fan of this song. The movie was also re-mastered in 3D in 2012, with another theatrical release.
Beauty and the Beast was adapted to a Broadway musical in 1994, with its premiere taking place at the El Capitan Theater. The musical included six new original songs, as well as the favourites from the original film; “Human Again” was revised and put in the Broadway show. The Beast in particular was given more struggle and sensitivity with his own songs, including “If I Can’t Love Her”. Susan Egan, who would later go onto voice Megara in Disney’s Hercules (1997), played the original Belle. Beauty and the Beast ran on Broadway from 1994 until 2007, but has also toured and been revived in many other countries, like the UK, where I had the pleasure of seeing it twice as two separate productions, Spain, Australia, Japan, and Canada, as well as many others[10].
Then, there are the number of references to Beauty and the Beast in the Disney theme parks. At Disneyland, there are two quick-service restaurants named for Beauty and the Beast. The first is Red Rose Taverne which resides in Fantasyland. This food location features murals of the characters from the film on the walls, as well as some props from the live-action movie, and the area has a vaguely French feel. The food is mostly just standard theme park fare, nothing very special, other than it sells “the grey stuff”. The other is a snack cart called Maurice’s Treats, named after Belle’s father, which sells pretzels and pastries.
Surprisingly, that it is for the Beauty and the Beast-themed areas of Disneyland. However, at Disneyland Paris, as part of Le Pays des Contes de Fées attraction, their version of the Storybook Land Canal Boats, you do go past miniature recreations of Belle’s village and Beast’s castle, something that is missing from Disneyland’s version. There is also a fine dining restaurant at Disneyland Paris named after Lumière, La Table de Lumière, which is at the Disneyland Hotel. The interior is inspired by The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles but also includes some touches that reference Beauty and the Beast. This is also a character dining experience, where you can see royal couples including Belle and her Prince, who may or may not be called Adam, it’s never been confirmed… Regardless, it is rare to see him as a human and not as the Beast. It seems strange to me to have a fine dining restaurant with character meet-and-greets, the two probably shouldn’t co-exist, but there you go.
At Shanghai Disneyland, at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, Lumière gets another restaurant, this time it is a character dining buffet named Lumière’s Kitchen. There is also Be Our Guest Boutique, a shop in Fantasyland which seems to sell mostly clothing and accessories. At Hong Kong Disneyland, there is only a Beauty and the Beast section within their Fairy Tale Forest walkthrough attraction, which shows the Beast’s castle in amongst some perfectly manicured gardens, with a couple of moving displays.
At Tokyo Disneyland, there is the only Beauty and the Beast-themed dark ride, housed within the Beast’s castle in Fantasyland, which opened in September 2020. Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast is a trackless dark ride, which takes guests through the story of the movie as they sit within huge teacups. It features some very impressive animatronics, with the dancing Belle and Prince at the end of the ride and the transformation scene being particular highlights. It does look like an incredible ride. Around this attraction, there is also a whole area themed to Belle’s village from the film and includes La Taverne de Gaston, a quick-service restaurant, and shops, with one even being themed to Belle’s favourite bookshop.
But the Disney theme park with the most references to Beauty and the Beast is Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, with Disney’s Animal Kingdom being the only one of the four parks to not have anything themed to the film or its characters. So, at Magic Kingdom, as part of the New Fantasyland expansion which took over the area that used to be Mickey’s Toontown Fair, a whole Beauty and the Beast area opened in December 2012. This area includes the shop Bonjour! Village Gifts and Gaston’s Tavern, a quick-service location which sells the iconic warm cinnamon roll, with a fountain of himself outside, much like at Tokyo Disneyland. More excitingly, the restaurant Be Our Guest allows guests “inside” Beast’s castle to dine on a quick-service breakfast or lunch, or a table-service dinner. The Beast even makes an appearance, parading into each of the three dining areas to welcome guests to his castle. These three dining areas are themed to different areas of the castle, with the main area being The Grand Ballroom, then The West Wing on one side, which houses the Enchanted Rose, and finally The Rose Gallery, which has artwork of Belle and Beast on the walls and a dancing figure of the two in the middle of the room. It is a great restaurant that everyone who visits Disney World should eat in at least once.
Also at Magic Kingdom, within Belle and Maurice’s cottage, you can take part in your own retelling of Belle and Beast’s love story in Enchanted Tales with Belle. As guests arrive in the cottage, they are soon taken into Beast’s castle via a magical mirror; it’s an impressive effect. Then they meet the Enchanted Wardrobe, who assigns certain guests different roles in the story. Then inside the library, Lumière directs everyone to reenact the tale with Belle appearing at the end to meet everyone. This experience is definitely more for children, but again, even adults should see it at least once, even if only for the magic mirror effect. Beast and Belle also appear during the Festival of Fantasy parade.
At Epcot, Belle has a dedicated meet-and-greet location at the France pavilion in World Showcase. During the holiday season, you may even see her in her dress from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997). You can also sing-along to a slight retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story within the cinema at the France pavilion. This used to house Impressions de France throughout the day, however, Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along now runs here for the majority of the day.
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, since 22nd November 1991, the general release date of Beauty and the Beast in the US, there has been a live Broadway-style show called Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage. Since 1994, it has been housed within The Theater of the Stars down the Sunset Boulevard area of the park. The show has changed slightly throughout the years, with the reopening of the show in 2021 after its closure from the COVID-19 pandemic being the biggest one, however, the show continues to be popular with guests. There was a version of this show at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, running from April 1992 to April 1995 at Disneyland, and from 1993 to 1996 in Paris.
Finally, at Walt Disney World’s Grand Floridian Resort hotel, you can further be immersed in Beauty and the Beast theming at The Enchanted Rose Lounge, as you enjoy vaguely French-themed snacks and drink fancy signature drinks.
Generally, during Mickey’s PhilarMagic, a 3D show showcasing some of Disney’s biggest hits as Donald tries to return Mickey’s sorcerer’s hat, the song “Be Our Guest” is played. Mickey’s PhilarMagic exists at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Disney California Adventure. At the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique locations, one of which exists in some form at each of the six Disney theme parks, children can choose to be made up to look like Belle, amongst other princesses. Belle and Beast are likely to be featured in shows and parades outside of the ones I have mentioned. Gaston is likely to appear in any show or parade featuring villains.
In terms of character meet-and-greets, apart from the ones already mentioned, Belle, Beast, and Gaston have been seen at Special Events and randomly in the parks. Belle is most easy to find, as she is one of the Disney Princesses, so has been spotted at each park recently, but Beast may also appear with her on occasion. For Gaston, him and Belle have been known to be seen together at times, at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, for example, and Gaston also meets guests by his tavern at Magic Kingdom. He is also likely to be part of the Disney Villains line-up at Halloween events. Human Prince “Adam” seems to only have ever been seen at Disneyland Paris.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Beauty and the Beast touched a generation and cemented itself within movie history as not just a “good” Disney film, a “good” animated film, but as a genuinely brilliant movie for everyone to enjoy. Not too many Disney Animated Classics can claim to be a part of that history. I believe those that can include The Lion King (1994), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), The Little Mermaid (1989) and Frozen (2013).
Along with these films, Beauty and the Beast is an incredibly special film to many, for the huge impact it had on its audience and the legacy it has built.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Disney, Tale As Old As Time: The Making of Beauty and the Beast (2002).
[2] Credit: Disney, Beyond Beauty: The Untold Stories Behind the Making of Beauty and the Beast (2010).
[3] Credit: Stephanie Shuster, ‘Disney History: Beauty and the Beast’, WDW Magazine (online), 10th March 2017.
[4] Credit: Katie Strobel, ‘Beauty and the Beast at 30: From Production to Classic’, D23 (online), 22nd November 2021.
[5] Credit: Disney, Tale As Old As Time: The Making of Beauty and the Beast (2002).
[6] Credit: Skyler Caruso, ‘Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About ‘Beauty and the Beast’ In Honor of the 30th Anniversary’, People (online), 22nd November 2021.
[7] Credit: Disney, Menken & Friends: 25 Years of Musical Inspiration (2016).
[8] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).
[9] Credit: Bilge Ebiri, ‘The Story of the 1991 Beauty and the Beast Screening That Changed Everything’, Vulture (online), 14th November 2019.
[10] Credit: Stephanie Shuster, ‘Disney History: Beauty and the Beast’, WDW Magazine (online), 10th March 2017.
The Disney Purist 