Beauty and the Beast (Disney franchise)

Beauty and the Beast is a Disney media franchise comprising a film series and additional merchandise. The success of the original 1991 American animated feature, Beauty and the Beast, directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, led to three direct-to-video follow-up films, a live-action spin-off television series, a Disney World stage show, a Disney World restaurant, several video games, merchandise, and the 9th longest-running musical in Broadway history, which was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning for Best Costume Design. In 2017, Disney will release of a live-action remake of the film.

Belle was also added to Disney Consumer Products' Disney Princess franchise.

Cast

Main cast

• Paige O'Hara (1991–2011) and Julie Nathanson (2011-present) as Belle
• Robby Benson as the Beast
• Richard White as Gaston
• Jerry Orbach (films, House of Mouse) and Jeff Bennett (Kingdom Hearts II, theme parks) as Lumiere
• David Ogden Stiers as Cogsworth
• Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts
• Bradley Pierce (first film), Haley Joel Osment (second film), Gregory Grudt (Belle's Magical World), Tress MacNeille (four episodes of House of Mouse), and Nikita Hopkins (one episode of House of Mouse) as Chip
• Rex Everhart as Maurice
• Jesse Corti as Lefou

Titles

Animated films

Beauty and the Beast is the original film of the franchise. It was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released in 1991. Beauty and the Beast is the 30th Disney animated feature film and belongs to an era known as the Disney Renaissance.^[1] The plot of the film is based on the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont.

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is the first direct-to-video installment of the film series and served as a holiday special. It was directed by Andy Knight, and released on November 11, 1997. The film is set within the events of the first film, taking place after the fight with the wolves and before the Beast gives Belle the castle library.

Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World is the second direct-to-video installment of the film series. It was directed by Cullen Blaine, Daniel de la Vega, Barbara Dourmashkin, Dale Kase, Bob Kline, Burt Medall, and Mitch Rochon. It was released on February 17, 1998, and is also set during the original film, taking place after Christmas, but before the fight against Gaston.

Belle's Tales of Friendship is a live-action/animated direct-to-video installment of the film series. It was directed by Jimbo Mitchell, and released on August 17, 1999. It is set during the original film, and was released in part to help promote Disney Channel's television series, Sing Me a Story with Belle.

Live-action film

On March 17, 2017, Disney will release of live-action remake of the film, which will be directed by Bill Condon.^[2] The movie will star Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Kevin Kline as Maurice, and Josh Gad as LeFou.

Television series

Sing Me a Story with Belle was a live-action spin-off series created by Patrick Davidson and Melissa Gould. It featured Belle, who now owns and manages the bookshop in the village. The show ran for 65 episodes on The Disney Channel from September 8, 1995 to December 11, 1999. Two episodes from the first season were released with an episode of an abandoned Beauty and the Beast cartoon series and were released direct-to-video as Belle's Tales of Friendship.

Broadway musical

A musical, based on the original animated film, debuted April 18, 1994, on Broadway at the Palace Theatre. The musical was directed by Robert Jess Roth, produced by Disney Theatrical, and written by Linda Woolverton. Beauty and the Beast ran on Broadway for 5,461 performances between 1994 and 2007, becoming Broadway's eighth longest-running production in history. The musical has grossed more than $1.4 billion worldwide and played in thirteen countries and 115 cities. The stage version included many songs not included in the musical, such as the deleted songs Human Again (whose demo was 9 minutes long) and Gaston (Reprise), a Beast number - If I Can't Love Her, and a Maurice number - No Matter What. The song "A Change in Me" was kept in the production after being written for Toni Braxton during her stint as Belle.

Games

Beauty and the Beast is an action platformer developed and published by Hudson Soft for the NES. It was released in Europe in 1994.^[3] Gaston, logically, is the final boss of the game because he wants to kill the Beast and marry Belle

Disney's Beauty and the Beast is an action platformer for the SNES. It was developed by Probe Entertainment and published by Hudson Soft in North America and Europe in November 1994 and February 23, 1995, respectively. The game was published by Virgin Interactive in Japan on July 8, 1994.^[4] The entire game is played through the perspective of the Beast. As the Beast, the player must get Belle to fall in love so that the curse cast upon him and his castle will be broken, she will marry him and become a princess. The final boss of the game is Gaston, a hunter who will try to steal Belle from the Beast. There is even a snowball fight scene in the middle of the game and cutscenes between stages that tells the story of Beauty and the Beast.

Beauty & The Beast: Belle's Quest is an action, platformer for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Developed by Software Creations, the game was released in North America in 1993.^[5] It is one of two video games based on the film that Sunsoft published for the Genesis,^[3] the other being Beauty & The Beast: Roar of the Beast. Characters from the film like Gaston can help the player past tricky situations. As Belle, the player must reach the Beast's castle and break the spell to live happily ever after. To succeed, she must explore the village, forest, castle, and snowy forest to solve puzzles and mini-games while ducking or jumping over enemies. Belle's health is represented by a stack of blue books, which diminishes when she touches bats, rats, and other hazards in the game. Extra lives, keys and other items are hidden throughout the levels. While there is no continue or game saving ability, players can use a code to start the game at any of the seven levels.^[6]

Beauty & The Beast: Roar of the Beast is the title of a side-scrolling video game for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. The game was one of two games based on the film released for the Sega Genesis, the other game being Beauty & The Beast: Belle's Quest, both of which were produced by Sunsoft and released in 1993. As the Beast, the player must successfully complete several levels, based on scenes from the film, in order to protect the castle from invading villagers and forest animals and rescue Belle from the evil Gaston.^[7] Intermission screenshots between each level help to move the story along, as do mini-games. The Beast can crouch, jump, swing his fists, and use a special roar attack that will freeze the on-screen enemies for a brief period. He can sometimes locate items within a level to restore some of his health, and the game provides unlimited continues. It was often described as having a high difficulty level.^[8]

Disney's Beauty & The Beast: A Boardgame Adventure is a Disney Boardgame adventure for the Game Boy Color. IGN gave the game a rating of 6.0 out of 10.^[9]

Disney's Beauty and the Beast Magical Ballroom

Other media

A Broadway-caliber short-form stage musical named Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage is performed live in Sunset Boulevard, at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World. It was also performed at Tomorrowland, Disneyland Park (Anaheim) and Discoveryland, Disneyland Park (Paris). Originally, the show was more like a revue, and not a condensed version of either the film or Broadway show. However it changed considerably from the original version to the currently running version, causing it to more closely resemble 1991 film of the same name. Because the show is condensed to approximately 25 minutes, many cuts and edits are made. The show features the award-winning music from the first film.

Be Our Guest Restaurant is a quick service and table service restaurant in Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort. The restaurant has the theme and appearance of the Beast's Castle from Disney's 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast. The name of the restaurant is a reference to "Be Our Guest", the classic song from that film.

Common elements

Plot and themes

The Beauty and the Beast universe encompasses two main locations: a French village and a castle, which are linked by woods. As the three spin-off films all take place within the time period of the original film, the plot of the Beauty and the Beast franchise is encompassed in the original 1991 film, which the other films serving to give added insight to certain parts of the story that were skimmed over (such as when Belle is living in the castle with Beast).

Cast and characters

Development

History

A 1995 article by the LA Times regarding the then-new Broadway musical adaption of the 1991 movie (the first Disney film to be adapted for the stage), asked if the property was "Disney's Newest Franchise".^[10]

Reception

The original Beauty and the Beast film, as well as the stage musical, have both received critical acclaim. The various other aspects of the franchise, such as the direct-to-video sequels, have received mixed to negative reviews.

Box office performance

Critical reaction

References