The film begins with voice-over narration by David Ogden Stiers, recounting how the “Beast” was once a spoiled, young prince who turned away a “beautiful enchantress” disguised as a beggar woman in need of shelter. According to the enchantress’s spell, the Beast was required to fall in love with someone, and win her love in return, before his twenty-first birthday, or he would remain a Beast forever.
       Production notes in AMPAS library files state the story of Beauty and the Beast originated in Greek mythology, with the first written account by Giovanni Straparola dating back to 1550. Walt Disney’s interest in producing an animated feature film based on the story was announced in a 25 Apr 1954 NYT news brief. The picture was expected to cost over $5 million and take four years to complete. The project went dormant, however, until the early 1980s, when a 3 Aug 1982 HR news item reported that Carroll Ballard was on board to direct what seems to have been anticipated as a live-action production. Ballard did not stay with the project and received no onscreen credit.
       In 1989, Beauty and the Beast went into pre-production, and was set to become Disney’s thirtieth feature-length animated film. A 17 Aug 1991 LAT item cited the budget as $15 million. Ten weeks of development took place in London, England, and the Loire valley in France, where producer Don Hahn traveled with several artists and animators.
       According to a 6 Oct 2010 LAT article, in Dec 1989, a year’s worth of development was scrapped when the decision was made to turn Beauty and the Beast into a musical. Screenwriter Linda Woolverton, who had been recruited by Disney in 1987, attributed the shift to the recent successful release of The Little Mermaid (1989, see entry). She also credited Howard Ashman, whom she referred to as a “creative genius” in the 15 Nov 1991 LAT, with helping her start over. Woolverton had originally been hired to write the non-musical version with help from Richard Purdrum. However, Purdrum was not credited in the final film. As stated in a 19 Jan 1992 LAT article, Woolverton took inspiration for the character “Belle,” intended to be a feminist and “woman of the ‘90s,” from Katharine Hepburn’s portrayal of “Jo March” in Little Women (1933, see entry). For the Beast, supervising animator Glen Keane incorporated “the mane of a lion, the beard and head structure of a buffalo, the tusks and nose bridge of a wild boar, the heavily muscled brow of a gorilla, the legs and tail of a wolf and the big and bulky body of a bear.”
       The 14 Aug 1990 HR production chart announced principal animation began 1 Jul 1990 in Los Angeles, CA.
       A 10 Feb 1993 LAT article noted that a directional signpost encountered by Belle’s father, “Maurice,” in rural France points to the towns of “Newhall,” “Valencia,” and “Anaheim.” The American town names, legible only in freeze frame, were “inside jokes” referring to Valencia, CA, where numerous Disney animators attended school at the California Institute of the Arts; Newhall, CA, where Disney’s Golden Oak Ranch is located; and Anaheim, CA, home of Disneyland.
       An unfinished version, with roughly thirty percent still in pencil test or story reel form, was shown on 29 Sep 1991 at Alice Tully Hall as part of the New York Film Festival (NYFF), making it the first animated Disney film to be included in NYFF’s program. The screening received a standing ovation, as noted in a 13 Oct 1991 LAT item, and inspired another showing, for AMPAS members, at Disney’s newly restored El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on 19 Oct 1991. In Jan 1992, after the mid-Nov 1991 theatrical release, the work-in-progress version was shown again at Glen Glenn Sound Studios, to raise money for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). According to a 25 Oct 1991 HR item, the final version was first shown on 24 Oct 1991 at ShowEast in Atlantic City, NJ, where exhibitors had an “overwhelmingly favorable” reaction.
       The film was a critical and box-office success, taking in $345.3 million worldwide in its original theatrical release, surpassing Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989, see entry) to become Disney’s highest grossing film in first-run release, and The Little Mermaid to become the highest grossing animated film in first release, as noted in 21 Apr 1992 LAT and 13 Jan 1992 DV items. The 6 Oct 2010 LAT listed the cumulative worldwide box-office gross, including subsequent releases, at $403 million.
       The home video version set records, as stated in 3 Dec 1992 DV and 12 Oct 1993 WSJ news items, becoming the best-selling home video release of all time with over 14.2 million copies sold, and the highest-selling international home video release, with over 10 million copies shipped overseas – two million more than previous record holder, Disney’s Cinderella (1950, see entry).
       Beauty and the Beast marked the first animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. The song “Beauty And The Beast,” with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, won an Academy Award for Music (Original Song), and the score won an Academy Award for Music (Original Score). The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Sound, and received Music (Original Song) nominations for the Menken/Ashman songs, “Be Our Guest” and “Belle.” The film was ranked #34 on AFI’s 2002 100 Years… 100 Passions list; #22 on AFI’s 2006 Greatest Movie Musicals list; #7 on AFI’s Top Ten Animated Films list; and the song “Beauty And The Beast” was ranked #62 on AFI’s 2004 100 Years…100 Songs list.
       Painted animation cels, based on scenes from the computer-animated film, fetched $1.25 million at a Sotheby’s auction, as reported in a 19 Oct 1992 NYT news item. The cel that brought in the highest bid, at $44,000, was painted by Disney artist Ron Dias, and depicted a ballroom scene with Belle and the Beast that did not appear in the film.
       As reported in the 5 May 1993 LAT, a stage production based on the film was set to debut at the Houston Music Hall in Houston, TX, in time for Christmas 1993, and would mark the first time Disney adapted an animated musical into “a full-fledged ‘legit’ production.” A 24 Feb 1994 WSJ article later reported the musical received “nightly standing ovations” during a six-week run. It went on to debut on Broadway on 18 Apr 1994 at the Palace Theatre. A 16 Sep 1996 Var item later reported the musical traveled to Los Angeles’s Shubert Theater, where it grossed over $56 million in seventeen months, making it the Shubert’s highest-grossing show to that time.
       A home video sequel, titled Beauty and the Beast: Christmas Belle, was produced by Walt Disney Animation’s Canadian arm. According to a 22 Apr 1996 LAT brief, the sequel was set for a Christmas 1997 release.
       An IMAX version of the film with an added sequence featuring the song “Human Again” – written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman for the original film but never animated – was set for a Mar 2002 release, as announced in a 15 Feb 2001 LAT item. Two months later, an 11 Apr 2001 LAT item reported the release date had been moved up to 1 Jan 2002. A 17 Jan 2012 LAT item noted the IMAX version grossed $23.5 million in its opening weekend.
       Disney sued French producer Proserpine and distributor Societe de Transactions Audiovisuelles (STA) for releasing a video titled La belle et la bête (French for “Beauty and the Beast”) before Disney was allowed to release its home video in France. A 29 Jun 1993 HR item noted the French companies were found guilty of “unfair competition and parasitism” and ordered to pay Disney 300,000 francs, the equivalent to $60,000 at that time. Disney had previously brought an unfair competition lawsuit against GoodTimes Home Video for releasing a home video collection of three animated short films under the title Beauty and the Beast, with a cover featuring a character said to resemble Belle, but who did not appear in any of the short films. The outcome of the lawsuit could not be determined as of the writing of this Note.
       End credits include “Special thanks” to the Los Angeles Zoo and Vance Gerry, and the following dedication: “To our friend, Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful. Howard Ashman 1950-1991.” Ashman died of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) related causes on 14 Mar 1991. He had recently completed songwriting work on Beauty and the Beast and Disney’s subsequent animated feature, Aladdin (1992, see entry).