Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)

***Beauty and the Beast*** is the thirtieth full-length animated feature film in the Disney Animated Canon and the third film in the Disney Renaissance. The film is based on the fairy tale La Belle et la Bête by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, (which was based on a more detailed story of the same name and plot, written by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve) and uses some ideas from the 1946 film of the same name. The film tells the story of a prince who is transformed into a Beast and a young woman named Belle whom he imprisons in his castle. To become a prince again, the Beast must love Belle and win her love in return, or he will remain a Beast forever.

## Synopsis

An arrogant young prince (Robby Benson) and his castle's servants fall under the spell of a wicked enchantress, who turns him into the hideous Beast until he learns to love and be loved in return. The spirited, headstrong village girl Belle (Paige O'Hara) enters the Beast's castle after he imprisons her father Maurice (Rex Everhart). With the help of his enchanted servants, including the matronly Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), Belle begins to draw the cold-hearted Beast out of his isolation.

## Plot

An enchantress, disguised as an old beggar, offers an enchanted rose to a young prince in exchange for shelter in his castle from the bitter cold, but he refuses. For his arrogance, the enchantress transforms him into a beast and inflicts a spell on the castle. She gives him a magic mirror that enables him to view faraway events, along with the rose. To break the spell, the prince must learn to love another and earn her love in return before the rose's last petal falls on his 21st birthday. If he fails, he will remain a beast forever.

Ten years later, a young bookworm girl named Belle is bored of her village life and seeks excitement. Because of her nonconformist ideals, she is ridiculed by everyone except her father Maurice (an odd inventor), the town bookseller, and a vain muscular hunter named Gaston. Despite being popular with the townsfolk, Gaston is determined to marry Belle but she repeatedly rejects his advances.

Maurice and his horse Phillipe get lost in the forest while traveling to a fair to present his newest invention, a wood-chopping machine. When Phillipe abandons Maurice, he comes across the Beast's castle. Inside, he meets Lumière the maître d’/candelabra, Cogsworth the majordomo/mantel clock, Mrs. Potts the head cook/teapot, and her son Chip the teacup. They offer him their service; however, the Beast discovers and imprisons Maurice. After Phillipe leads Belle to the Beast's castle, she offers to take her father's place. Over her father's objection, the Beast accepts Belle's offer. While Gaston sulks over Belle's rejection, Maurice returns to town but is unable to convince the others to rescue Belle.

The Beast sulks in his room when Belle refuses to have dinner with him that night. Despite this, Lumière offers her a meal. While he and Cogsworth also give her a tour of the castle, she wanders into the forbidden West Wing. When the Beast frightens her out into the forest, Belle 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 he delights her by showing his extensive library. While the two bond in the Beast's castle, Gaston pays Monsieur D'Arque to send Maurice to the town's insane asylum if Belle refuses Gaston's proposal again.

Sharing a romantic evening dance together, Belle tells the Beast she misses her father. He lets her use his magic mirror to see him. She sees Maurice dying in the woods trying to reach the castle. The Beast lets her go out to save him and he gives her the mirror to remember him by. Chip stows away; Belle finds Maurice and brings him home. As Gaston is about to forcibly bring Maurice to the asylum, Belle proves Maurice's 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.

With Chip's aid, Maurice and Belle escape 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, but spares his life and orders him to leave. However, when the Beast turns to Belle, a mad Gaston fatally stabs him, but then loses his footing and falls to his death. Belle professes her love for the Beast, who dies before the last rose petal falls. With the spell broken, the Beast reverts to his true form alive. The servants resume their human forms and the castle is restored to its former glory. Belle dances with the prince in the ballroom as everyone watches in delight.

## Cast

* Paige O'Hara as Belle
* Robby Benson as Beast
* Richard White as Gaston
* Jerry Orbach as Lumiere
* Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts
* David Ogden Stiers as Cogsworth
* Bradley Michael Pierce as Chip
* Jesse Corti as LeFou
* Rex Everhart as Maurice
* Hal Smith as Philippe
* Jo Anne Worley as Wardrobe
* Kimmy Robertson as Fifi
* Frank Welker as Footstool, aka Sultan, Wolves
* Mary Kay Bergman, Edie McClurg and Kath Soucie as the Bimbettes
* Tony Jay as Monsieur D'Arque
* Jack Angel as Tavern Man
* Christopher Curry as Tom
* Alec Murphy as Baker
* Bill Farmer as Stanley
* Alix Korey as Singer
* Mickie McGowan as French Peasant Woman
* Patrick Pinney as Walter
* Phil Proctor as Dick
* Ron Faber as Wolves
* Clive Revill as Narrator

### Additional Voices

* Bruce Adler
* Scott Barnes
* Vanna Bonta
* Maureen Brennan
* John Cygan
* Debi Derryberry
* Liz Callaway
* Teresa Ganzel
* Cree Summer
* Philip Clarke
* Jennifer Hale
* Tress MacNeille
* Margery Daley
* Laraine Newman
* Peter Cullen
* David Cowgill
* Colleen O'Shaughnessey
* Greg Proops
* Thea White
* Hynden Walch
* Michael Bell
* Susan Silo
* Jennifer Darling
* Albert de Ruiter
* George Dvorsky
* Jan Rabson
* Will Ryan
* Gregg Berger
* Greg Berg
* Bruce Fifer
* Johnson Flucker
* Danny Mann
* Larry Hansen
* Randy Hansen
* Lionel Wilson
* Mary Ann Hart
* Chuck McCann
* Jess Harnell
* Phyllis Kubey
* Hearndon Lackey
* Sherry Lynn
* Larry Moss
* Dana Hill
* Panchali Null
* Wilbur Pauley
* April Winchell
* Jennifer Perito
* Caroline Peyton
* Michael Donovan
* Cynthia Richards-Hewes
* Jim Ward
* Stephani Ryan
* Gordon Stanley
* Stephen Sturk