Film | 15 Things You Might Not Know About Beauty And The Beast (1991)

The teaser trailer for Disney’s live-action reimagining of Beauty and the Beast features a snow-sprinkled castle, a twinkling piano version of a very familiar theme, an enchanted red rose, and a brief glimpse of Emma Watson as Belle. However, with a total of 298 days until we can watch the re-telling of the beloved tale (as old as time) on the big screen, I’ve put together a list of 15 facts about the original animated classic to help to pass the time:

1. Walt Disney attempted to develop Beauty and the Beast into an animated feature during the 1930’s and then again in the 1950’s, but after finding it too difficult to adapt the story, the project was shelved until after the release (and subsequent success) of The Little Mermaid in 1989.

2. Bambi’s mother makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance, drinking from the stream, in the opening shot of the film.

Image Credit: disneyscreencaps.com

3. Belle is the only character in the village that wears the colour blue, which is meant to symbolize how different she is from everyone else, until she later encounters the beast (another misfit), who is also fond of the primary colour.

4. When Belle’s father, Maurice, finds himself lost in the woods towards the beginning of the film, one of the sign posts faintly reads: Valencia, Anaheim, and Burbank – which are all places of importance for the film’s animators, directors, and producers.

5. Glen Keane, the supervising animator on the Beast, created a hybrid of several animals for the character’s appearance. He drew inspiration from the mane of a lion, head of a buffalo, brow of a gorilla, tusks of a wild boar, legs and tail of a wolf, and the body of a bear.

Image Credit: images5.fanpop.com

6. The majority of the sculptures that are seen inside the castle are actually early concept versions of the Beast. Simply terrifying!

7. The role of Cogsworth was originally written with John Cleese in mind, but Patrick Stewart was later selected to articulate the voice of reason. However, due to scheduling conflicts with Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), the actor was forced to decline the offer too, leaving David Ogden Stiers to take the part.

8. Originally, the ‘Be Our Guest’ song was supposed to be performed for Maurice but the scene was rewritten as producers felt that the song was too good to waste on a secondary character.

9. Julie Andrews was reportedly the first choice to voice Mrs. Potts, but Angela Lansbury ended up with the role. She recorded one take of the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ ballad and that single recording made it into the final film.

10. In the beginning, Chip only had one line of dialogue, but the producers liked Bradley Pierce’s voice work so much that extra dialogue and scenes were scripted and storyboarded to expand the character’s part.

11. The name of Gaston’s sidekick, LeFou, is pronounced in the same way as the French words meaning “the idiot”, “the fool”, or “the insane” – three (arguably) suitable descriptions.

12. When Gaston is falling to his presumable death at the end of the film, tiny skulls flash in each of his eyes during a close-up of his face, serving to further confirm the character’s fate.

Image Credit: images5.fanpop.com

13. Paige O’Hara, who provided the voice for Belle, sobbed REAL tears while recording the character’s mourning of the Beast, following his supposed death.

14. The famous ballroom sequence between Belle and her Prince comprises of reused animation from the finale dance between Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty (1959). The sequence was reportedly reused because animators were running out of time during production.

Image Credit: thedisneyprincess.tumblr.com

15. Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to earn more than $100 million at the box office, making it the third highest-grossing film of 1991, behind Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Source: IMDB

What do you think of the Beauty and the Beast (2017) teaser trailer?

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