BORN OUT OF LEGEND
CRAFTED FOR THE AGES . . .
HOW A TIMELESS CLASSIC CAME TO LIFE
The Beauty and the Beast story is rooted in ancient legends from Greece, India and Africa. Its popularity peaked in the French Court of the mid-18th century following publication of a celebrated version of the tale, written by Madame le Prince de Beaumont. Over the years, Beauty and the Beast has been adapted into children’s books, poems and plays.
In the late 1980s executives of the Walt Disney Company recognised the story’s enormous potential for adaptation into an animated film. It was, they believed, a natural successor to previous animated classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Screenwriter Linda Woolverton, lyricist Howard Ashman, composer Alan Menken, producer Don Hahn and directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale set to work. They made major revisions to the characters and story to bring them to life on screen. Most notable were the depiction of Belle as a strong, intelligent independent woman, and the transformation of the servants into household objects as a result of the enchantress’ spell.
The film premiered in 1991 to overwhelming critical acclaim. The musical score won an Oscar, as did the film’s haunting theme ballad “Beauty and the Beast”.
ON TO BROADWAY
The success of the film spurred Disney to explore the story’s possibilities as a stage production.
“For a long time we had been considering a theatrical presence on Broadway,” recalls Michael Eisner, the Walt Disney Company chairman. “Beauty and the Beast seemed the perfect choice for our first venture. Even when they were performed on their own, without staging or costumes, the songs held the attention of the audience.”
The story brought distinct challenges to the stage. The magical transformations of The Beast and the Enchanted Objects had to be presented convincingly. A creative team including illusion specialists who had worked with magicians David Copperfield and Doug Henning was assembled. Legendary lyricist Tim Rice was brought in to work on new songs with Alan Menken, following the death of original lyricist Howard Ashman. Creation of the elaborate set and costumes began.
Beauty and the Beast opened at the Palace Theatre on Broadway on 18 April 1994. It was a runaway success. To date the show has played to over 6 million people on Broadway alone. It is the longest currently running American musical on Broadway and the sixth-longest running musical in Broadway history. The original cast album was nominated for a Grammy.
Beauty and the Beast has been performed in 15 countries and in seven languages around the world. Over 24 million people have watched the show.
THE MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK OF THE NOW ANIMATED CLASSIC WON AN ACADEMY AWARD IN 1994.
WALT DISNEY CLASSICS
Beauty AND THE BEAST
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK
A CREATIVE DREAM-TEAM
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is the brainchild of some of the world’s most prolific and acclaimed creative talents.
ALAN MENKEN
MUSIC
Alan Menken is a widely celebrated and award-winning composer for stage and screen. Stage credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, A Christmas Carol, King David, God Bless You, Mr Rosewater, Real Life Funnies, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Weird Romance and Der Glockner von Notre Dame. Film credits include The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Newsies, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules.
Menken achieved a Billboard Number One album with Pocahontas and a Number One single with ‘A Whole New World’. His work has garnered eight Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, 10 Grammys, the London Evening Standard Award, the Olivier, the New York Drama Critics Award, the Drama Desk and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical.
TIM RICE
LYRICS
Tim Rice is known the world over for his enormously successful collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber – responsible for the musical sensations Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968), Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), and Evita (1976).
Rice first entered the world of popular music as the lead singer for a group called The Aardvarks. He went on to sing occasionally with other sixties rock groups. His first published song, ‘That’s My Story’, appeared in 1965 – the same year he met Andrew Lloyd Webber.
In the early 1980s, Rice began collaborating with ABBA members Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson on a project entitled Chess. Chess first appeared on record in 1984, and the album enjoyed massive international popularity. Two singles, ‘One Night in Bangkok’ and ‘I Know Him So Well’, topped the charts in America, Europe and Asia.
Rice received three Grammy Awards for his work on Disney’s blockbuster film Aladdin, written with Alan Menken.
HOWARD ASHMAN
LYRICS
Howard Ashman began his career as a writer in his mid-twenties, after moving to New York City. His work was well received by audiences and critics, which led to his appointment as artistic director for the WPA Theatre in 1976.
In 1989 Ashman received his first Academy Award for the song ‘Under the Sea’ from Disney’s The Little Mermaid. The film garnered a total of six awards and led to further Ashman/Menken collaborations on Beauty and the Beast (1991) and three songs for Aladdin (1992). A few weeks before the 1991 Academy Awards, Ashman passed away and his partner accepted the Best Song Oscar for ‘Beauty and the Beast’ on his behalf.
LINDA WOOLVERTON
BOOK
Linda Woolverton’s writing credits include the screenplay for the animated feature Beauty and the Beast (a Golden Globe winner and Academy Award Best Picture nominee), the screenplay (shared) for Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, the screenplay (shared) for the animated feature The Lion King, the book for the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast (Tony Award nominee for Best Book of a Musical, winner 1998 Olivier Award for Best New Musical) and the book (shared) for Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida.
She has also written two young-adult novels: Star Wind and Running Before the Wind. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from California State University, Long Beach, and a Master’s degree in Theatre from California State University, Fullerton. Linda continues to write for film, television and the theatre.
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