Beauty and the Beast

## Stats

**Beauty and the Beast** is the eleventh episode of the first season of Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child, and the eleventh in total. It aired on May 21, 1995.

## Summary

Once upon a time in an African village, there lived a wealthy merchant widower who had three children, that he loved so much that it could be said that he even spoiled them. Their names were Tree, the only son who got his name because he was rooted in only one spot - in his hammock under a tree, and two daughters named Precious and Beauty, the former getting her name because her precious style is her only care, and the latter getting her name because her father thought she was beautiful, even when she was born. All was well for this family until one day where the merchant's ship of spices and fabrics was robbed by pirates, and his storage of gold and silver was burned and looted, now leaving him and his three children with little money left.

Beauty talks to him that he should be happy that the house and his family are still safe, but Precious and Tree are dismayed that there is no money for what they need. Their father does say that with friends in the east loaning him money, he should be back on his feet in no time. Precious asks him that when he comes back from the east, if he could get her a new perfume that smells "expensive", and Tree also asks for a new hammock. The merchant asks Beauty what she would like, and she prefers a rose. The merchant sets out on his adventure into the desert, when a bad sand storm sweeps in. He has no choice but to lay down and wait until it clears out. When it did, he wakes up at a castle in the night, so he goes in. The castle is empty, but he finds a table of food which he decides to help himself to. He then sees a garden of roses behind a gate, and reaches in to get one for Beauty. A scary beast appears and scolds him for taking a rose from his garden, but the merchant apologizes and just wanted one for his daughter. The beast lets him go, but gives his punishment - he, or Beauty, must come back to the castle in two days so either of them can live with him forever.

He goes home and tells his children. Beauty decides that she can take his place, because after all, it was her fault because she wanted a rose. Her father did not want Beauty to go, but thinking it through he decided to take her to the castle, seeing her one final time. The beast doesn't want to show himself at the time to Beauty, and tells her that his servants, purple dragon creatures holding torches, will show Beauty to her room, which is rather nice looking, even Beauty is impressed. She gets some sleep and wakes up the next day, and decides it's time to meet the beast. She goes downstairs to his room and unlocks the door with a key that a sleeping dragon is holding, where inside, the beast tries to figure how to impress Beauty when he spots her in the mirror. He snarls at her and asks if she finds him scary, to which she answers yes, particularly with how he growled. The beast just knows that she is scared of his beastly body and features. Beauty comments that he doesn't really act much like a beast just the same, and the two become friends. As the days pass, Beauty sees the beast and really concludes that he doesn't behave like a beast at all. Also during those days, the beast asks her if she wants to marry him, but Beauty can't say.

The beast couldn't help but notice how sad Beauty was getting, too. Beauty says that she really loves being in his palace and spending time with the creature, however, she also thinks about her family. She requests to go home for a short time, so the beast, looking sad too, tells her that she can fill up some trunk chests in his store room with treausres for her family, and he also gives her a ring that she must turn twice before she goes to bed on her finger, to go home. The beast tells her to be back in four weeks, or he'll disappear. Doing all what he said, Beauty teleports back home the next morning, and Tree and Precious are thrilled to see her again. Their father had been feeling ill ever since her departure, but he reheals once more when he sees his beloved daughter again. With the treasure too, his business is up and running once again and the family now has money. But Beauty is feeling sad, this time missing the beast. Her other family members are dismayed, and after saying that she must leave tomorrow as four weeks flew, her father requests she stays one more day. Beauty turns the ring that night and returns in the beast's castle, but the beast is on the floor, presumably dead. Beauty's tears wake him up and he is alive. She says that she only came back because he loved the beast, and agrees to become his wife only if he agrees to become her husband. She kisses the beast and he turns into a handsome prince, getting rid of a spell that he was cursed with. Beauty's family moved into the castle, and they all lived happily ever after.

## Songs

* Could She, Would She, Will She
* Wave Goodbye

## Trivia

* Actress/singer Vanessa WIlliams voices the female lead.