Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
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| Beauty and the Beast | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Gary Trousdale Kirk Wise |
| Produced by | Don Hahn |
| Written by | Linda Woolverton |
| Narrated by | David Ogden Stiers |
| Starring | Paige O'Hara Robby Benson Richard White Jerry Orbach Angela Lansbury David Ogden Stiers Bradley Pierce Jesse Corti Rex Everhart |
| Music by | Howard Ashman Alan Menken |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures (USA) Warner Bros. (Spain, Finland) |
| Release date(s) |  November 13, 1991 |
| Running time | Original: 84 min Special Edition: 90 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20,000,000 |
| Followed by | Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated film, the thirtieth animated feature to be produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. The film was originally released to theaters on November 13, 1991 by Walt Disney Pictures. This film, one of the best-known of the Disney studio's films, is an adaptation of the well-known fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, about a beautiful woman kept in a castle by a horrific monster. It is the first and only animated picture to ever be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Heightening the level of performance in the era known as the Disney Rennaisance (1989-1996, beginning with The Little Mermaid), all animated films following its release have been influenced by its new use of 3D technology.
Beauty and the Beast ranked #22 on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals and #34 on its list of the best romantic American movies. On the list of the greatest songs from American movies, Beauty and the Beast ranked #62. In 2002, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. In October 8 of the same year, Disney released the film as a Platinum Edition DVD.
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[edit] Overview
The movie was adapted to an animation screenplay by Linda Woolverton, based upon the version of Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (uncredited in the English version of the film, but credited in the French version as writer of the novel). It was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, and the music was composed by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, both of whom had written music and songs for Disney's The Little Mermaid.
It was a significant success at the box office, with more than $171 million in domestic revenues alone and over $377 million in worldwide revenues. [1] [2] This high number of sales made it the third-most successful movie of 1991, surpassed only by summer blockbusters Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It was also the most successful animated Disney film at the time.
Beauty and the Beast won Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Score and Best Music, Song for Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's "Beauty and the Beast", sung in the film's most famous scene by Angela Lansbury, and at the end of the film by Céline Dion and Peabo Bryson. Two other Menken and Ashman songs from the movie were also nominated for Best Music, Song are "Be Our Guest" and "Belle" making it the first picture ever to receive three Academy Award nominations for Best Song, a feat that would be repeated by The Lion King. Beauty and the Beast was also nominated for Best Sound and Best Picture. It is the only animated movie ever to be nominated for Best Picture.
This film inspired a Broadway stage musical, which earned tremendous commercial success in its own right and a Tony Award, and became the first of a whole line of Disney stage productions. It will close in June to make room for another production, The Little Mermaid. There are also Disney versions of the story published and sold as storybooks and a comic book based on the film published by Disney Comics.
In 1995, a live-action children's series called "Sing Me A Story With Belle" started on syndication, running until 1999.
In November 11, 1997, a midquel called Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas was released directly to video. It was quickly followed by another midquel titled Belle's Magical World that was released on February 17, 1998.
[edit] Plot summary
In the movie's pre-credit prologue, the backstory is revealed: one cold winter's night, an old beggar woman stumbles up to a prince's castle. She begs the prince for shelter from the cold and offers a single rose to give him as payment. Being selfish and heartless, the prince refuses her simply because she is ugly. The old woman warns him that true beauty is within one's heart, not in one's appearance. After the prince refuses again, the woman reveals herself to be a beautiful and powerful enchantress. As punishment, the prince is transformed into a beast and a spell is laid on the castle, transforming the servants into anthropomorphic household items and the grounds into a dark, forbidding place. This spell can only be broken if the Beast learns to love another and receives the other's love in return before the last petal of the enchantress's rose withers and falls, or else he will remain the Beast forever. The beast's only window to the outside world is a magic mirror that shows the gazer whatever he wishes to see.
The main story starts ten years later. The "beauty" of the title is a girl called Belle who lives with her eccentric father Maurice in a small French village in Provence (Belle). Maurice is known for his Rube Goldberg-type inventions. Even though the townspeople note Belle's beauty and are friendly to her, they consider her odd because of her passion for books. Her beauty has attracted the attentions of Gaston, a local hunter and the hero of the village, but Belle considers him "rude and conceited" and therefore politely ignores him.
On a journey outside of the village, Maurice becomes lost in the forest. He is thrown from his horse and pursued by a pack of wolves. In trying to escape the wolves, Maurice discovers the Beast's castle. The servants of the castle welcome him, but when the Beast discovers him, he rapidly loses his temper and has him locked up in a tower dungeon, accusing him of trespassing and believing that he has come to laugh at the "beast".
Back in the village, Gaston proposes to Belle, who is disgusted by his chauvinistic behaviour. She throws him out, humiliating him in front of the entire village (Belle Reprise).
Maurice's horse returns home riderless. Belle, frightened for her father, uses the horse to trace her father's path through the forest, finally reaching the Beast's castle. Once there, she offers to take the place of her father as the Beast's prisoner. Realizing that Belle could break the spell, the Beast agrees to give Maurice back--much to the distress of Maurice, who believes the Beast will kill Belle.
The Beast allows Belle to have her own room and permits her to go anywhere in the castle except for the forbidden West Wing, where the Beast keeps the enchantress's magical rose. He invites Belle to dinner(in a rather forceful tone), but Belle doesn't want anything to do with the Beast and turns down his "invitation". At this, he rages to the servants that "if she doesn't eat with me, she doesn't eat at all!"
When Belle eventually leaves her room, the various household items, including Lumière the candlestick and Cogsworth the clock and head of the household, entertain their guest with a fancy French dinner and all the comforts a team of servants can provide (Be Our Guest). The household items all hope that Belle and the Beast will fall in love so that they can become human again.
Back in the village, Gaston is sulking in the village tavern over his rejection by Belle earlier that day. His lackey LeFou--along with a chorus of villagers, remind Gaston of what an amazing man he is (Gaston). Suddenly, Maurice bursts in and calls for help to save Belle. No one believes the man's wild story about a Beast, and he is thrown out. Gaston, however, comes up with a plan to force Belle to marry him by threatening to throw her father into a asylum (Gaston Reprise).
Maurice has decided that if nobody will help him, then he'll return to the Beast's castle alone. Shortly after he leaves, Gaston and LeFou come with the men from the asylum, only to find the place empty. LeFou waits for Maurice to return.
During a tour of the castle, Belle slips away on her own to explore the forbidden West Wing. There, she sees evidence of the Beast's rage and self-hatred: The room is littered with slashed furniture, broken mirrors, and a portrait ripped so as to be unrecognisable (although Belle notes the portrait's penetrating--and familiar--blue eyes). She also discovers the enchanted rose. Before Belle can touch the rose, the enraged Beast stops her. Frightened, she flees from the castle, only to come across more wolves in the forest. At the last moment, the Beast shows up and defends her, but is badly hurt after winning the fight. Grateful to him for saving her life, Belle takes him back to his castle, where they start to become friends.
Over the following days, Belle shows the Beast how to behave more like a a human. In return, the Beast is kinder to Belle, controlling his temper and causing her to become more fond of him (Something There)..Acting on Lumière's suggestion, the Beast gives Belle the castle's enormous library, which thrills her beyond belief.The objects then clean up the castle and sing about what they will do when they are finally human again (Human Again).. The relationship reaches its climax with an elegant dinner and ballroom dance while Mrs. Potts sings the movie's title song (Beauty and the Beast).
After the dance, the Beast nervously asks Belle if she is happy staying in the castle with him. She readily agrees, but tells him that she will not be completely happy unless she sees her father once more. The Beast offers Belle his magic mirror, but when Belle looks into it for her father, she sees that Maurice is lost and sick in the forest. The Beast, having fallen in love with Belle, does what he thinks is right and releases her to go rescue him.
Belle finds her father and takes him back to their house in the village. As Maurice recovers, a lynch mob arrives to take him to the asylum. Gaston offers to save Maurice if Belle agrees to marry him, but she still refuses. To prove that her father's story is true, Belle uses the magic mirror to show the villagers an image of the Beast. Even though Maurice's claims about the Beast's existence are now justified, many people question whether the Beast is dangerous or not. Belle tries to explain to them that the Beast is harmless, but Gaston, still angry at Belle's rejection, quickly rallies the crowd to "kill the beast" (The Mob Song) by convincing them that the Beast is a threat to the community. To prevent them from warning the Beast, Gaston has both Belle and Maurice locked in their cellar.
Fortunately, one of the enchanted servants from the castle--a teacup named Chip--has stowed away in Belle's pocket and is able to release them from the cellar. They rush back to the castle to stop the mob. By the time they reach the castle, the villagers are defeated by the enchanted objects and are forced to leave. The only person left is Gaston, who then reaches the West Wing and attacks the Beast. The Beast, disheartened by the belief that Belle will never come back, sadly refuses to defend himself. Gaston is on the verge of killing the Beast when Belle appears.
The Beast, re-energized at the sight of Belle, turns to fight Gaston. He manages to win, but as he is about to throw him from the castle roof into a deep chasm, Gaston pleads for his life. The Beast realizes that he no longer wishes to harm others and bitterly agrees to spare Gaston. In return, the Beast angrily tells Gaston to leave the castle immediately. While the Beast and Belle are reunited at the balcony, Gaston stabs the Beast in the back. The Beast roars loudly in pain, which startles Gaston into losing his footing. He tumbles from the roof to his death in the deep chasm.
The Beast, who is now badly wounded, is also about to fall until Belle saves him. She tells him that it's all her fault for having him stabbed and that everything is going to be fine, but the Beast doesn't believe her. Eventually he says that he's glad to have seen her again one last time, just before he dies. Belle becomes heartbroken and whispers that she loves him just before the last petal falls from the rose. This temporarily leaves the servants in despair, having lost both their master and their hopes of breaking the spell and regaining their original forms. Suddenly, the Beast's body is bathed in a glowing light, and he is returned to life in his human form. At first, Belle does not recognize this man, but then she sees that he has the Beast's piercing blue eyes. They embrace each other and kiss, breaking the spell. The gloomy castle becomes beautiful again and the enchanted objects of the castle turn back into people. The film ends with a scene of Belle and the Prince's wedding day (Beauty and the Beast Reprise).
[edit] Voice cast
| Actor | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| Paige O'Hara | Belle |
| Robby Benson | Beast |
| Richard White | Gaston |
| Jerry Orbach | Lumière |
| Angela Lansbury | Mrs. Potts |
| David Ogden Stiers | Cogsworth The Narrator |
| Bradley Pierce | Chip |
| Jesse Corti | Lefou |
| Rex Everhart | Maurice |
| Hal Smith | Philippe |
| Jo Anne Worley | Wardrobe |
| Kimmy Robertson | Babette The Feather Duster |
| Tony Jay | Monsieur D'Arque |
[edit] Non English versions
In the Chinese dubs of Beauty and the Beast, the voice of the Beast is provided by Jackie Chan. He provided both the speaking and singing voices in these versions.
[edit] Crew
| Crew Position | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Gary Trousdale Kirk Wise |
| Produced by | Don Hahn |
| Executive Producer | Howard Ashman |
| Screenplay by | Linda Woolverton |
| Songs by | Howard Ashman Alan Menken |
| Original Score by | Alan Menken |
| Associate Producer | Sarah McArthur |
| Art Director | Brian McEntee |
| Film Editor | John Carnochan |
| Artistic Supervisors | Roger Allers (Story) Ed Ghertner (Layout) Lisa Keene (Background) Vera Lanpher (Clean-up) Randy Fullmer (Effects) Jim Hellin (Computer Graphics) |
| Supervising Animators | James Baxter (Belle) Glen Keane (Beast) Andreas Deja (Gaston) Ruben A. Aquino (Maurice) Will Finn (Cogsworth) Nik Ranieri (Lumiere) David Pruiksma (Mrs Potts/Chip) Chris Wahl (Lefou) |
| Production Manager | Baker Bloodworth |
[edit] Awards
[edit] Academy Awards
| Award | Recipient | |
| Best Music, Original Score | Alan Menken | |
| Best Music, Original Song ("Beauty and the Beast") | Alan Menken & Howard Ashman | |
| Nominated: | ||
| Best Picture | Don Hahn | |
| Best Music, Original Song ("Belle") | Alan Menken & Howard Ashman | |
| Best Music, Original Song ("Be Our Guest") | Alan Menken & Howard Ashman | |
| Best Sound | Terry Porter, Mel Metcalfe, David J. Hudson & Doc Kane | |
[edit] Golden Globes
Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to win the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy. The only other animated films to win this honor were The Lion King and Toy Story 2.
[edit] Songs
- "Belle": The opening song of the movie, Belle makes her way to the local bookshop and the whole village erupts into song, describing Belle's eccentricities.
- "Belle (Reprise)": Sung by Belle after Gaston proposes to her, Belle repeats her plea of "wanting much more than this provincial life".
- "Gaston": LeFou (Gaston's sidekick) and the local drunkards sing Gaston's praises in a village tavern.
- "Gaston (Reprise)": After Maurice flees the Beast's castle, he enters the tavern pleading for help, only to be mocked by the townsfolk. It is here that Gaston thinks of the idea to blackmail Belle by sending her father to an asylum if she doesn't marry him.
- "Be Our Guest": A luncheon cabaret of the castle's servants as crockery, flatware etc. entertaining Belle.
- "Something There": Sung by Belle and the Beast when they realize they have feelings for each other.
- "Human Again": Sung by the castle's servants as they clean up the castle in preparation for the romantic dance they plan. (Only in the IMAX version and the Special Edition version of the DVD.)
- "Beauty and the Beast": Sung by Mrs. Potts whilst Belle and the Beast dance in the castle ballroom.
- "The Mob Song": Sung by the villagers on their way to the castle to kill the beast.
[edit] Symbols and meanings
The movie consisted of a lot of symbolism to describe the characters. For names, noted by a character in the "Belle" sequence, Belle is French for beautiful. Le Fou is French for "the fool." For the later Broadway production, the feather duster was named "Babette" and the wardrobe was named "Madame de la Grande Bouche" (translation: "Mrs. Bigmouth"). For physical symbolism, the majority of the statues seen in the castle are early versions of the Beast.
The color blue is also significant symbol throughout Beauty and the Beast. During the musical number "Belle", Belle is the only character in the village who wears blue. Later on she meets the Beast, who also dresses in blue. The idea is that both characters are social outcasts, so they can relate with one another and see the world in similar views.
In the theatrical release, as Gaston plunged to his death and his face filled the screen, two frames showed skulls in his eyes. For the VHS and laserdisc release, these frames were altered to remove the skulls from his eyes. However, no such alternation was made for the DVD release.
[edit] Work-In-Progress
The film was shown at the New York Film Festival in September 1991. Because the animation was only about 70% complete, the film was shown as a "Work-In-Progress" with storyboards and pencil tests filling out the remaining 30%. This version of the film proved so popular that it has been released on VHS, the September 1993 LaserDisc, and the October 8, 2002, Platinum Edition DVD.
[edit] Appearances
- In the video game Kingdom Hearts, its sequels Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II, Belle is one of the seven Princesses of Hearts central to the game's plot. All the voice actors for the characters reprise their roles with the exception of the late Jerry Orbach, who is replaced by Jeff Bennett as Lumière, and Richard White, owing to Gaston's absence.
- Belle makes a brief appearance in Disney's animated movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame, during Quasimodo's song "Out There". She can be seen walking across a town square reading her book.
- Beast makes an appearance in the Disney film Aladdin, where he is seen as a small glass toy amongst a pyramid of toys in a scene with the Sultan.
[edit] Cultural references
- When Maurice is lost in the forest and comes to a group of faded signs, the bottom one says Anaheim. This is a reference to Anaheim, California, where Disneyland is located. Another sign, pointing towards a more unpleasant part of the forest, reads "Valencia," a reference to Valencia, California and home of Six Flags Magic Mountain, and the California Institute of Arts, where animator Glen Keane learned the trade.
- In "The Mob Song", Gaston quotes Macbeth by William Shakespeare. "Screw your courage to the sticking place." (I, vii) Lady Macbeth's speech to Macbeth to tell him to kill Duncan.
- The song "Mountain Town" from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), is meant to be a parody of the opening song, "Belle".
- Belle was inspired by other great movie heroines. Her peasant dress was loosely based on Judy Garland's (Dorothy) attire from The Wizard of Oz. The scene where Belle runs to the hills singing is a homage to Julie Andrews and the opening scene of 1965's The Sound of Music. Also, towards the end of the film Belle holds the dying Beast in her arms. This is similar to the way Maria holds the slain Tony in West Side Story.
- In the final scene of the Dreamworks film Shrek, Princess Fiona's "transformation" is similar to the Beast reverting to his human form. Also, in Shrek 2, two of the factory workers are transformed into a clock and a candlestick, a reference to Cogsworth and Lumiere.
- When Belle goes up to the West Wing, the background music is a variation of Aquarium from Camille Saint-Saëns's Le Carnaval des Animaux.
- The design for the Beast is a composite of a bison, gorilla, lion, baboon and a wolf. Also, when the Beast is preparing for his dinner with Belle, he refers to his haircut as "stupid". The haircut he has is identical to that of the Cowardly Lion from 1939's The Wizard of Oz.
- The final confrontation between Gaston and the Beast is not unlike that of Rotwang and Freder from the Fritz Lang film Metropolis.
- The final animation of Belle and the Prince (Human Beast) dancing in the restored ballroom is recycled from Sleeping Beauty and re colored. This was stated in the commentary of the Special Edition DVD.
[edit] References to other Disney works
- In the opening sequence first showing the castle, there is a deer feeding in the forest. The drawings used for this deer were originally used in Bambi for Bambi's mother.
- When Gaston places his feet on Belle's table, the mud coming off the boots strongly resembles Mickey Mouse's head, following the long standing Disney tradition of having "Hidden Mickeys" in their movies.
[edit] Other releases
[edit] Worldwide release dates
- Canada
: November 22, 1991 - Philippines
: December 20, 1991 - Brazil
: December 1991 - Australia
: June 11, 1992 - Argentina
: July 9, 1992 - Peru
: July 9, 1992 - Hong Kong
: August 20, 1992 - Japan
: September 12, 1992 - U.K.
: October 9, 1992 - France
: October 21, 1992 - Denmark
: November 20, 1992 - Sweden
: November 20, 1992 - Germany
: November 26, 1992 - Netherlands
: November 26, 1992 - Spain
: November 27, 1992 - Italy
: December 2, 1992 - Finland
: December 18, 1992
[edit] IMAX release
The film was restored and remastered for its January 1, 2002 re-release in IMAX theatres. For this version of the film, much of the animation was touched up, a new sequence set to the deleted song "Human Again" was inserted into the film's second act, and a new digital master from the original CAPS production files was used to make the high resolution IMAX film negative.
[edit] IMAX release dates
- Australia : January 1, 2002
- France : January 1, 2002
- Hong Kong : January 1, 2002
- Japan : January 1, 2002
- Belgium
: January 2, 2002 - Poland
: January 4, 2002 - U.K. : January 4, 2002
- Iceland
: August 9, 2002 - Brazil : September 2002
[edit] Special edition DVD
Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition, as the enhanced version of the film is called, was released on a 2-disc Platinum Edition Disney DVD in October 8, 2002. It is expected to be re-released on DVD in October 2009. [3]
[edit] Video Games
[edit] Game Boy
- A Nintendo Game Boy Color game was released due to the popularity of the movie. It consisted of a mini-game featuring the characters of the film.
[edit] See also
- Beauty and the Beast (theatrical production)
- Beauty and the Beast (TV series)
- Direct to Video Films
- Films considered the greatest ever
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Green Card |
Golden Globe: Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy 1991 |
Succeeded by The Player |
| Preceded by The Rescuers Down Under |
Walt Disney Pictures 1991 |
Succeeded by Aladdin |
