Beauty and the Beast

***Beauty and the Beast*** is a 2016 live-action fantasy adventure-musical film directed by Bill Condon.

It is a remake of the 1991 animated film of the same name, which centers around a young woman in Rococo-era France whose father becomes the prisoner of an arrgoant prince who is turned into a Beast. To save his life, she takes his place as prisoner, and eventually sees the Beast as a cursed individual who is in search of love.

The film stars Emma Watson as Belle, and Dan Stevens as the Beast. It was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, produced by Mandeville Films, and written by Evan Spiliotopoulos, with a script rewritten by Stephen Chbosky.

It was released on March 17, 2017.

## Synopsis

‪In a vast castle of grandeur, a young Prince is having a party of lovely women as Madame de Garderobe sings. The party is interrupted when an old hag arrives at the palace and offers the prince a rose. However, the Prince declines the rose and the hag transforms herself into an Enchantress. The Prince begs for forgiveness, but the Enchantress does not forgive him and she transforms the Prince into a Beast and all his workers into Enchanted objects, and she removes the villagers' memories of the Prince and the castle. She turns the rose into an Enchanted rose, and says that if the Prince hasn't learned to love by the time the last petal falls off the rose, he would be a Beast forever, and the Enchanted objects would become antiques.‬

‪Years later, in June 1760, in the village of Villeneuve, a young bookworm inventor named Belle is bored of her village life and seeks excitement. Gaston the village hero and former soldier seeks to make Belle his trophy wife. Belle lives with her father Maurice, an inventor and tinkerer. On day, Maurice and his horse, Philippe, gets lost in the forest while traveling to a market. While lost in the forest, they enter a part of the forest that is covered in snow and are attacked by wolves, causing them to flee to the Beast's castle. Phillipe abandons Maurice when the Beast discovers him taking a rose from the castle's garden and detains him. Phillipe trots back to the village to find Belle. When Phillipe leads Belle to the castle, she offers to take her father's place; the Beast accepts and sets her father free. Belle is released by Lumiere, the first footman who was turned into a candelabra as a result of the enchantress's curse. Belle also meets the other castle residents that were transformed by the curse: the castle's majordomo, Cogsworth, a mantel clock; Mrs. Potts, a teapot; her son Chip, a teacup; court composer, Maestro Cadenza, a harpsichord; Maestro Cadenza's wife and opera singer, Madame de Garderobe, a wardrobe; and the maid and Lumiere's girlfriend Plumette, a feather duster.‬

‪After the staffs offer Belle a meal, she wanders into the forbidden West Wing. The Beast frightens Belle and she flees into the woods and encounters a pack of wolves. The Beast rescues Belle but he gets injured in the process. He begins to develop feelings for her while she nurses his wounds and the servants reveal to her that they believe she may be the one who can love the Beast and break the curse. The Beast allows Belle access to his library and the two begin to develop feelings for each other. While the Beast has fallen in love with Belle, Belle is uncertain of her feelings due to her imprisonment.‬

‪Meanwhile, Maurice returns to Villeneuve but is unable to convince the others to rescue Belle. Gaston, a hunter and former soldier who is trying to woo Belle, agrees to help to earn Maurice's approval, but when Maurice refuses Gaston leaves him in the forest to die. Maurice is rescued by a villager named Agathe and he returns to the village accusing Gaston of attempting to kill him. Gaston convinces the villagers to send Maurice to the town's insane asylum. Using the magic mirror, Belle sees Maurice being captured and the Beast allows her to leave to save him, letting her keep the mirror to see him again. At Villeneuve, Belle rescues Maurice and proves his sanity by showing the Beast with the magic mirror. Realizing that Belle loves the Beast, Gaston convinces the villagers that the Beast is a man-eating monster and leads them to the castle to kill him. However, Maurice and Belle escapes from confinement.‬

‪While the villagers are fended off by the servants, Gaston fights the Beast. The Beast initially is too depressed to fight back, but perks up after seeing Belle return to the castle. He corners Gaston and spares his life; however, Gaston shoots the Beast in the back before the footbridge crumbles beneath his feet and he falls to his death. The Beast dies as the last petal falls from the rose and Belle professes her love to him. While watching the scene, Agathe reveals herself as the enchantress and undoes the curse, returning the Beast and his servants to their true forms alive and restoring the castle to its former glory. The village inhabitants return to the castle with their memories of it restored, and the Beast and Belle host a ball for the kingdom at which they dance.‬

## Cast

* Emma Watson as Belle
	+ Daisy Duczmal as infant Belle
* Dan Stevens as Beast/the Prince
	+ Adam Mitchell (miscredited in the cast list as Rudi Goodman) as young Prince
* Luke Evans as Gaston
* Kevin Kline as Maurice
	+ Jolyon Coy as young Maurice
* Josh Gad as LeFou
* Ewan McGregor as Lumière
* Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza
* Audra McDonald as Madame de Garderobe
* Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette
* Hattie Morahan as the Enchantress/Agathe
	+ Rita Davies as the Enchantress's disguise: an old woman
* Nathan Mack as Chip
* Ian McKellen as Cogsworth
* Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts
* Thomas Padden as Chapeau
* Gizmo as FrouFrou
* Clive Rowe as Cuisiner
* Adrian Schiller as Monsieur D'Arque
* Jimmy Johnston, Dean Street and Alexis Loizon as Tom, Dick, and Stanley
* Sophie Reid, Rafaëlle Cohen and Carla Nella as the Village Lasses
* Zoe Rainey as Belle's Mother
* Gerard Horan as Jean Potts
* Tom Turner (miscredited in the cast list as Henry Garrett) as the King
* Harriet Jones as the Queen
* Ray Fearon as Père Robert

## Differences between ***Animation (1991)*** and ***Live-Action (2017)***

* ‪The Enchantress plays a much larger, less defined, role in the 2017 film.‬
* Unlike the animated film, Maurice was an artist rather than an inventor. Instead, Belle is now an inventor.‬
* Belle's backstory was explained on the film. This reveals why she and her father moved to a small town.‬
* Aside from Belle, the Beast's backstory was also explained on how he became heartless towards the people.‬
* ‪Cadenza was a new character added for the 2017 film. He is the husband of the wardrobe.‬
* Sultan is renamed as Fru Fru in the 2017 film.‬
* ‪Chip was an only child of Mrs. Potts. In the animated film, Chip had numerous brothers and sisters who were minor characters.‬
* Unlike the animated film, the Enchantress gave the Beast not only the enchanted rose and the mirror but also a book that enables him to transport on a particular place.‬
* Whenever a petal falls, parts of the castle will collapse and the staff gradually lose their humanity and become more inanimate. This is not present in the animated film.‬
* Maurice was imprisoned in the castle only because of the rose he picked for Belle. This is a similar scene from the original fairy tale.‬
* ‪Belle did not take off the glass cover of the bell-jar when the Beast caught her.‬
* LeFou was taller in this film. He was not bisexual in the original (however, he dances with a woman at the end, only to get accidentally paired up with a man when it comes time to change dance partners; the two look at each other in shock and are not seen again after this).‬
* Unlike the original film, LeFou reformed at the end when he felt betrayed after Gaston left him to be beaten by the enchanted objects while Gaston left to find and kill the Beast during the battle.‬
* Gaston was not muscular and had a mustache in this film. He was also known for being a soldier who fought during the war rather than just a hunter.‬
* The Beast did not take Belle to a bedroom but it was Lumiere instead.‬
* Fifi is renamed as Plumette in the 2017 film.‬
* ‪In the 2017 film, Gaston shot the Beast using a pistol instead of an arrow. And before his death, Gaston shot the Beast in the back with his pistol instead of stabbing him with a dagger.‬
* The Enchantress appears to revive the Beast and reverse the curse she planted on him, watching as Belle tearfully confesses her true feelings. She does not, however, reveal herself to Belle nor speak to her. (She doesn't actually speak in the film at all, she remained a silent role, like in the animated film)‬
* Majority of the characters' physical appearance as the enchanted objects inside the castle were changed: Mrs. Potts' face was now on the right side of the teapot instead of at the spout, Lumiere somewhat appears to be a golden sculptured human figure candlestick but when he transforms; his figure of a candlestick with three branches still remains, Madame de Garderobe's face was inside the wardrobe instead on the top and Plumette resembles a miniature swan rather than an ordinary feather duster.‬
* During *"Something There"*, Belle and the Beast did sing unlike in the animated film where their singing voices are only non-dietetic during the scene.‬
* In the 2017 film, Gaston falls to his death when a footbridge in which he was standing breaks apart.‬
* In the 2017 film, Gaston was planning to murder Maurice when he reveals that Gaston will never marry Belle. As a result, he ties Maurice up to a tree hoping for the wolves to devour him.‬
* ‪Maurice has a much bigger role than in the animated film.‬
* Belle did not save Maurice but it was the Enchantress, under the guise **Agathe**, instead.‬
* Chip didn't use a wood chopper to save Belle and Maurice, rather Maurice uses something long and pointy to unlock the lock on the wagon.

* ‪When the servants are revived as humans, Cogsworth's human name, **Henri**, is revealed by a female villager who recognized her husband.‬

* Three new songs were written and composed for the film, in addition to the original songs featured in the animated version, except for the reprise song of Gaston.

* None of the Broadway songs were present, not even "Human Again", which was present for the 2002 Special Edition of the animated film although the instrumental version of the Broadway song "Home" was featured in this film.

* In both films, LeFou inadvertently starts the battle with the servants. In the live-action film, it is because he mistakes Mrs. Potts for Chip's grandmother, while in the animated film, it starts when he picks up Lumière.
* After Belle and Maurice break out of the carriage in the animated film, Maurice comes with her back to the castle but she goes alone in the 2017 film.

* The Bookstore owner is changed into the character Père Robert, the village chaplain, and is given a slightly more significant and heroic role in terms of helping Belle pick up her laundry when was she treated unfairly by the town headmaster and the townsfolk.

* Several characters have different designs due to the medium of live-action:

* The Beast's physical appearance had minor changes: Instead of a combining features of various animals, he resembles more explicitly an anthropomorphic lion and his pair of horns features like an antelope instead of a buffalo. Also, his wild boar-like tusks and wolf-like tail are completely omitted in the 2017 film.
* Many of the enchanted objects inside the castle are changed: Mrs Potts' face is now on the right side of the teapot instead of on the spout (they were originally going to have it at the spout, but the teapot ended up looking like a pig); Lumière somewhat appears to be a golden sculptured human figure candlestick but when he transforms, his figure of a candlestick with three branches still remains; Cogsworth's designs particularly the frontal base features a variety of weapon and object figures such as cannon, cannonballs, sword, spear, blunderbuss rifle, pistol, quill, amulets and a pocket watch that covers the frontal base instead of a glass cover though the pendulum remains intact but hidden and also has Roman numerals on his face and when he transforms back into a human, they are on his coat buttons; Froufrou retains the figure of a footstool but somehow resembles the form of a piano bench and upon transforming in his normal self, he resembles as a Yorkshire Terrier breed; Garderobe's face is inside the wardrobe instead of on the top; and Plumette resembles a miniature swan/peacock rather than an ordinary feather duster.
* Gaston has a light mustache in this film. He is also known for being a former soldier, an army captain, who had once fought off Portuguese marauders (according to Luke Evans in an interview) and saved the village during the war, rather than as just a local hero, hunter and tavern owner. Unlike the animated film, his muscular figure is removed.
* The triplets were depicted as having dark curly hair as well as very dolled-up appearances, bonnets, and lavish pink dresses. In the original film, the triplets were depicted as being blonde, voluptuous, and wearing simple yet revealing dresses.

## Gallery

***Beauty and the Beast wiki*** has a has a collection of images and media related to ***Beauty and the Beast***

## Trivia

* This is the first live-action adaptation of a Walt Disney Animation Studios movie that is from the Disney Renaissance.
* The Blu-Ray/DVD features several deleted scenes, all of which are included in the junior novelization.
	+ The first is where Gaston is defending Belle from the villagers while she is doing her laundry and teaching a little girl to read (although his main intent is of course to show off for Belle, the villagers nonetheless listen to his directions because of how respected he is).
		- The scene also notes that Gaston's war days were 12 years ago, while the finished film implies that his time in the army was more recent.
	+ Many scenes from the mob battle were cut. These include Clothilde trying to suffocate Lumière and Cogsworth coming to his rescue, Lumière saving Plumette from LeFou, LeFou being doused by Monsieur Toilette, and Froufrou luring the Villages Lasses into the kitchen where the stove drenches them with treacle and feathers.
* Cadenza is a new character created for this remake. He is the husband of the Wardrobe. He was transformed into a harpsichord, and was separated from his wife while the castle was under its spell.
* This is Kevin Kline's first role for a Disney film since he played Phoebus in *The Hunchback of Notre Dame*(which was directed by the same two directors who previously directed the original *Beauty and the Beast*) and *The Hunchback of Notre Dame II*.
* LeFou is Disney's first canonical gay character in a feature-length film.
* Bill Condon had actors sing *The Lion King*'s "Hakuna Matata" at the auditions to measure their singing voices. This was how he chose the final cast for this film.
* This is the fifth of many live-action re-imaginings of Disney animated films released in the 21st century, following *Maleficent*, *Cinderella*, *The Jungle Book* (*Pete's Dragon* doesn't count as it is considered a remake of a live-action movie). Following this remake is *Christopher Robin*, *Dumbo*, *Aladdin*, *The Lion King* and *Mulan*. Many others are in development, such as *Cruella* and *The Little Mermaid*.
* This is the first live-action remake of a Disney classic to be composed and scored by the same composer as the original animated film (After this remake, Alan Menken will also return to score the following remakes for *Aladdin* and *The Little Mermaid* while Hans Zimmer will reprise his scoring for *The Lion King*).
	+ Additionally, both Alan Menken and Danny Elfman are the only composers to have scored several Disney live-action adaptations of animated films in a recurring role: (Menken for *Beauty and the Beast*, *Aladdin*, and *The Little Mermaid*; Elfman for *Dumbo*).
* The teaser includes the opening music from the animated film and a piano sample of the title song.
* This is the fourth time that Emma Thompson does a role for a Disney film, after playing Captain Amelia in *Treasure Planet*, Queen Elinor in *Brave* and P. L. Travers in *Saving Mr. Banks*.
* This film marks Bill Condon's second collaboration with Dan Stevens and Stanley Tucci after *The Fifth Estate*, and with Ian McKellen after *Gods and Monsters* and *Mr. Holmes*.
* This is Ewan McGregor's second movie-musical that takes place in France, the first being *Moulin Rouge!*.
* This is the second movie collaboration between Emma Watson, Stanley Tucci and Kevin Kline following *The Tale of Despereaux*. Tucci and Kline previously worked in the 1999 version of *A Midsummer Night's Dream*.
	+ The Shakespeare play that Belle is reading to the Beast while he recuperates is "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
* This is the fourth movie collaboration between Ewan McGregor and Stanley Tucci following *Jack the Giant Slayer*, *Robots* and *A Life Less Ordinary*.
* Ewan McGregor and Emma Thompson previously worked on *Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang*.
* Actors Luke Evans who played Gaston and Ian McKellen who played Cogsworth previously collaborated in *The Hobbit* trilogy, in which Evans played as a bowman named Bard, while McKellen played as the wizard Gandalf; however, their characters did not interact until the finale of the trilogy. Ironically; in the trilogy they played as allies whereas in this film, they played as enemies. In addition, both of the characters (Gaston and Cogsworth) in this film do not interact.
* Actors Stanley Tucci, who played Cadenza, and Dan Stevens, who played the Beast, previously worked together in Bill Condon's thriller film *The Fifth Estate*.
* Actresses Emma Watson, who played Belle, and Emma Thompson, who played Mrs. Potts, previously worked in the *Harry Potter* franchise as Hermione Granger and Sybill Trelawney, respectively.
* The production cultivated a total of 1500 "enchanted" roses for the movie.
* All of the wardrobe was made of sustainable materials that were eco-friendly.
* Interestingly, the actors Emma Watson (Belle), Luke Evans (Gaston), Emma Thompson (Mrs Potts) and Nathan Mack (Chip) share the same birth date, April 15th.
* Emma Watson revealed that she wanted to play Belle instead of Cinderella, explaining that her personality associated much more with the former than the latter.
* The name of the village, Villeneuve, is a reference to Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, who was the original author of the book *Beauty and the Beast* (or "*La Belle et la Bête*"), which was first published in the mid-1700's.
* Unlike the past three live-action remakes (*Maleficent*, *Cinderella* and *The Jungle Book*), this remake has no characters that are good in their debut, but changed into villains in the remake (King Stefan for *Maleficent*, the Grand Duke for *Cinderella* and King Louie for *The Jungle Book*). All of the characters that are good in the animated version of their debut are also good in the remake.
	+ Although in a way the Bimbettes could have that role, as they are more malicious than in the animated film.
	+ After Maleficent, LeFou is the second original Disney villain redeemed in the live-action adaptation as he had more heroic qualities than his animated counterpart, such as turning on Gaston for his constant mistreatment towards him, something the original LeFou would never do.
	+ The Prince's cruel father is introduced in this remake as the root cause behind the events of the film. This makes the third time a Disney villain is a king in the live-action remake series besides King Stefan from *Maleficent* and King Louie from *The Jungle Book*.
* The line where Belle suggests that the Prince should grow his beard was originally an idea from Paige O'Hara when recording for the animated film. It was eventually cut.
* Cogsworth's line "So much for true love." which he uttered during castle siege scene is the same line uttered by Ursula in *The Little Mermaid*.
* Chip's movement particularly the matching saucer which he uses in moving around freely bears a resemblance of BB-8 from *Star Wars: The Force Awakens*.
* During Belle and Beast's waltz, the letters WD can be seen in the coat of arms design on the floor of the Ballroom. This is a nod to Walt Disney.
* The padlock on the asylum carriage that Maurice and Belle are imprisoned in has a shape of a Hidden Mickey within its design.
* The scene in which Belle singed parts of its reprise in a green meadow hills scenery bears a similarity from the opening title song in *The Sound of Music* (1965) which pays an homage to it.
* The scene during the "Gaston" song number, when Gaston chases LeFou while saying about sneaking up with his quiver in the tavern bears a similarity to the opening of the "Let's Get Married" number from *Sunshine on Leith* (2013). Both are set in taverns and both involve a character chasing another character and then standing up on the bar itself. There's also similarities to the Over and Done With number from *Sunshine on Leith* and the "Oom-Pah-Pah" number from *Oliver!* with characters dancing on tavern tables.
* Some of the scenes in the "Be Our Guest" song number that was featured in this film pays an homage of tributes to other musicals such as:
	+ At "culinary cabaret" there is a musical snippet of "Wilkommen" from the musical *Cabaret*.
	+ When the feather-dusters create a fountain which Lumière dances underneath it while holding the Bouillon spoon as an umbrella, features the iconic scene from *Singin' in the Rain* (1952) in its title song.
	+ When Lumière is saying that "life is so unnerving for a servant who's not serving", he performs a shadow dance routine through the use of a handkerchief as a cover in homage to the Cell Block Tango sequence from *Chicago* (2002), which Bill Condon wrote the screenplay for.
	+ The finale contains an Indian-style setpiece (and a brief musical tone), in homage to the musical film *Moulin Rouge!* in which Ewan McGregor also starred and which features an Indian number.
* Also unlike the past two live-action remakes of Disney Movies, there is no gender difference in any character in this remake (Jaq is a male mouse in the animated *Cinderella* film, but is female in the live-action remake of *Cinderella* and Kaa is a male snake in the animated version of *The Jungle Book*, but is female in the live-action remake). Also, the coat rack's gender was not specified in the original.
* Two iconic landmarks from two Disney animated movies made a cameo in this film:
	+ The Sultan's Palace of Agrabah from *Aladdin*in which the animated version of the Beast makes a cameo appearance as one of Sultan's toys. Appears twice, first in a form of a replica model in the music boxes and second as a posh model featured during the "Be Our Guest" song number.
	+ Notre Dame Cathedral from *The Hunchback of Notre Dame*in which Belle from the animated film makes a cameo appearance.
		- Belle's childhood in Paris can be seen as a nod to her cameo appearance in *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* during the song "Out There".
* Mrs. Potts portrayed by Emma Thompson, also played Mrs. Lovett at the Lincoln Center performance of *Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street* in 2014. Her predecessor, Angela Lansbury who portrayed Mrs. Potts in the 1991 animated version played Mrs. Lovett in the original theater production of *Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street* in 1979. Additionally, Thompson and Lansbury also collaborated in *Nanny McPhee* (2005).
* Dan Stevens is the fourth actor from the *Downton Abbey* drama series to have a featured role in Disney. His co-stars, Lily James and Sophie McShera previously appeared together in another Disney film, Kenneth Branagh's *Cinderella* as Cinderella and Drisella Tremaine while Ed Speleers plays as James Harcourt in 2016 Disney film *Alice Through the Looking Glass*. Coincidentally, Lily James also worked with Emma Thompson in 2015 drama film *Burnt*.
* This is the first Disney live-action remake to gross over $1 billion (Tim Burton's *Alice in Wonderland*doesn't count, for that film portrays a different version of the story, rather than a direct remake).
* It is also the first movie of 2017 that grossed over $1 billion, and is the second highest-grossing film of the year in which *Star Wars: The Last Jedi* took over as the top highest-grossing film of 2017.
* It is the highest grossing female-led movie domestically for 2017, after *Star Wars: The Last Jedi* and next to *Wonder Woman* which supplanted 1958 as the highest grossing year for female-led movies.
* Since Lucasfilm was bought by Disney in 2012, this film makes Ewan McGregor his third role in a Disney film after playing the title character in *Valiant* followed by the *Star Wars* prequel trilogy (Episodes I to III) and Episode VII (as Obi-Wan Kenobi) and *Christopher Robin* (as the titular character).
* It is the second-highest grossing major Disney Movie, the first being *Frozen*.
* This is Disney's second musical film to be released in 2017 within the same year next to Pixar's *Coco*.
* Emma Roberts, Kristen Stewart, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, and Emmy Rossum were considered for the role of Belle, before Emma Watson was cast.
* Emma Watson (Belle) was offered the lead role in *La La Land* but she turned it down because she really wanted to play Belle. Coincidentally, Ryan Gosling was offered the role of Beast, but turned it down because he'd rather be in *La La Land*.
* This is the second time that Josh Gad does a role for a Disney film, after playing Olaf from Frozen.