The Beauty Is Back

In 1991, Walt Disney Pictures changed the course of film history by releasing the animated movie Beauty and the Beast, which went on to be a box office smash; earn four Oscar nominations — including Best Picture — as well as the golden trophy for the songwriting team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken for the title tune; and provide the basis for the 1994 Broadway musical, which ran for over 13 years. On October 5, Disney is releasing a special DVD-Blu Ray package of the film, allowing a new generation of youngsters to appreciate its many charms.

Making the film proved to be a particularly special experience for stars Robby Benson and Paige O’Hara, who voiced the leading roles of the Beast and Belle, the plucky young woman who finally breaks the spell which allows the Beast to revert to his former princely form. “I think there’s a beautiful sophistication to the film that appeals to daddies and mommies,” says Benson. “While we were making it, it didn’t feel like we were making a film, but like we were doing a Broadway show.”

Both stars give credit for the film’s success to its many creators, including book writer Linda Woolverton. But the lion’s share of the glory, they say, belongs to Ashman, who died shortly after the film’s completion and just prior to its release. “Howard was really the ringleader,” says O’Hara, who continues to record the voice of Belle for many related projects. “He was also the film’s co-producer and the person who most wanted to see this kind of animation done again in the Broadway style. He was very hands-on with everyone — he worked 24-7 on this — but I think that’s because he knew it was going to be his final project.”

“Howard really knew how to move the narrative with his songs,” adds Benson. “He understood every character, and he did it all with such wit and cleverness. Nothing he did seems false.” Yet Ashman suffered one major disappointment, says O’Hara; his favorite song, “Human Again” — in which the household staff express their longing to return to human form — didn’t make it into the movie (although it resurfaced for the Broadway show). “Disney had a rule that the movie could only be 90 minutes,” she notes. “It was the only battle Howard ever lost on the film. I can’t listen to the song now without crying, because I know it was so personal to him.”

Unlike with other animated films, Benson and O’Hara actually recorded their work in the same room. “They kind of let Paige and I go and then they would finesse us. But it was so open; I remember how great it was hearing the people on the other side of the glass, laughing.” Adds O’Hara: “They also videotaped us through the whole process — we worked on the film on and off for about two years — and I think a lot of Robby’s expressions are there in the Beast. It’s definitely Robby’s eyes you see on screen.”

As for O’Hara, whether or not Belle resembles her, the more important issue for the actress was that Belle does not like any other previous Disney heroine. “When I first saw the original sketches, she looked like a cross between Angelina Jolie and Elizabeth Taylor, which is a lot to live up to,” she says with a laugh. “But then they decided to make her a bit quirky, which was wonderful. After all, she was the first Disney ‘princess’ who was more interested in having an adventure than searching for a husband. And it may sound silly, but she was also the first brown-eyed Disney princess — and even today, I still got so much fan mail from young girls that say ‘Belle looks a lot like me.'”