By Alexander Rannie Few moments in animation linger in the mind as vividly as the ballroom sequence in Beauty and the Beast. The seamless combination of music (“Beauty and the Beast,” sung by Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts), hand-drawn animation (Mrs. Potts, Chip, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Belle and the Beast), and computer technology (the ballroom environment) …
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By William Keck “To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful.” This dedication in the closing credits of Beauty and the Beast pays homage to the film’s lyricist, Howard Ashman, who never lived to see the final print. Were only real life as just …
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By William Keck In real life, sidekicks (usually our little brothers and sisters) can be, well, let’s face it—super annoying. But in Disney animated films, they are the characters who provide the biggest laughs and one-liners. There’s Ariel’s calypso-singing crab. Anna’s buck-toothed snowman. Peter’s jealous pixie. But it’s Beauty and the Beast’s Belle who really …
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By D23 Team Oh, isn’t this amazing? Watch some of your favorite scenes from Beauty and the Beast transform from pencil to picture. For more fun Beauty and the Beast stories and activities, click here. Lumiere From black and white to full of light! Belle Little town, it’s a quiet village… Ballroom This revolutionary scene is stunning from start to …
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By Alexander Rannie In hindsight it seems a no-brainer that Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s 30th animated feature, would have begun life as a musical. But as many folks know, this wasn’t the case. Songwriters Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, fresh off their success with The Little Mermaid, immediately began working on songs for Aladdin. …
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By Max Lark One of the many reasons that Beauty and Beast continues to live on in the hearts of generations of Disney fans is its incredibly realized characters. We all know that writers, actors, and animators played pivotal roles in bringing these characters to life; less well-known are the contributions of former Disney animation …
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By Courtney Potter We here at D23 love Beauty and the Beast! And what’s not to enjoy, right? The charming love story; the fantastic music; the colorful, memorable (not to mention technologically advanced) animation… But just when we thought we knew all there was to know about Belle, Beast, Gaston, and all their cohorts, we …
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By William Keck Most every little girl dreams of one day growing to be a Disney princess. But Paige O’Hara—the melodic voice behind Beauty and the Beast’s Belle, actually managed to make her Disney dream come true—and without an ounce of Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo! How’d she do it? By drawing inspiration from classic Disney characters and working her …
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By D23 Team Without doubt, Beauty and the Beast is one of the most majestic movies in the Disney animated film canon. In honor of the film’s 25th anniversary, we asked our friends at the Animation Research Library to share some of the magnificent story sketches, concept art, and drawings that served as inspiration for …
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By Jim Fanning A beastly leading man, a bookworm princess, a brittle brood of supporting characters in a story confined to a dark castle. These unlikely elements make up one of the most well-known yet unlikely fairy tales ever—and only the magic of Disney animation could bring it to the screen with such unforgettable enchantment. …
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