The title is Beauty and the Beast. Belle is the oldest Disney princess

This sweet lady is the housewife of the castle. The good-natured woman was turned into a teapot by a spell. And her a large number of children - in tea cups. Such a kind of family tea service. Madame Pott, like the rest of the Beast's servants, is trying to help Belle adapt to the new environment, because she can help them all remove the spell.

Lefou (Le Fou)

A friend of Gaston, or rather his "six". A frail, undersized boy. Not smart, stupid. Often commits rash acts, for which Gaston swears at him, giving him "pretzels". Translated from French (and our heroes live in a French town) "le fou" means "fool".

Maurice (Maurice)

This good-natured old man is actually the father of our heroine - Belle. Behind the small growth of Maurice hides huge talent he is an inventor. How good parent The old man loves his daughter very much. Maurice tries to support all her hobbies and interests. For some non-standard and extraordinary inventions, the inhabitants of this small French town consider the old man strange, and some even crazy. He has a dream to create a good invention and become rich. He really hopes that the new invention will be able to turn his life with Belle for the better.

In some interpretations, you can hear that this heroine is called Babette. She serves the Beast like a maid. A spell cast on all the inhabitants of the castle turned her into a duster. Fifi is the lover of Lumiere, the castle's French maitre d'. This beautiful couple, like no other, pleases the eye. Despite the fact that Fifi appears to the viewer in the form of a panicle, she has a white cap and a flirty mole above her lips.

Miss Potts' son, was turned into a cup when the spell took effect. In every possible way he tries to help Belle brighten up loneliness and supports her as best he can. Kind and mischievous, as a boy of his age should be, he became very friendly with the heroine of the cartoon.

Cogsworth

Butler of the Beast's castle. He loves order very much and always tries to keep it: everything should be in its place. Constantly trying to please his master. By nationality, Cogsworth is German, in addition to being an actor, this is also manifested in pedantry. After casting a spell, it was turned into a mantel clock.

Lumiere

Works for the Beast as the head waiter of the castle. When the spell began to take effect, it turned into a chandelier. Lumiere is very hospitable. He is recognizable in the cartoon by his thick French accent. Likes to arrange beautiful shows. Can turn an ordinary meal into a whole Broadway production on the table.

"Beauty and the Beast", authored by Charles Perrault, is known throughout the world. And not in vain! A beautiful story about love, loyalty and devotion makes every reader dream that real feelings do exist. The tale carries a very important meaning, which contains the basic principles of morality necessary for every person associated with someone with a tender feeling.

The plot of the fairy tale

In the center of the plot of "Beauty and the Beast" is a girl named Belle, who, by chance, ended up in an enchanted castle. She was distinguished by her kindness and soft heart. Belle was the youngest of three sisters, but at the same time the most meek and affectionate. The older sisters of the girl measured everything in money, while not knowing their price. Belle's father was engaged in his business for a long time, and the family lived quite richly.

One day, the old father's enterprise failed, and the family had to leave their house in the city, exchanging it for a small but cozy one outside the city. My father earned his living exclusively by physical labor. None of the daughters, except for Belle, helped him. The younger girl understood how difficult it was for her father to feed his family on his own, so she supported him in the household.

Unexpected letter

The author of "Beauty and the Beast" continues his tale. Suddenly, the father of the main character receives a letter saying that perhaps the old businessman's enterprise can still be saved. The old man goes to the city to find out if there really is a chance to improve all the financial affairs of the family. As he leaves, he asks his children what they need to bring from the city. The older daughters, hoping that the father's fortune will still return, ask the old man for expensive jewelry. Belle says that she does not need any gifts, she will be glad if her father brings her a red rose, because roses do not grow in their area.

false hope

Reaching the city Old man finds out that part of his fortune, which could be saved, was withdrawn for debts. Realizing that he will not be able to fix family affairs, he is extremely upset. In addition, his daughters will be very sad that he could not purchase jewelry.

As a result of all these troubles, the old man simply falls into anguish and heads home. Choosing a path through the dark forest, he returns through the darkness, but loses his way and begins to wander through the forest. For a long time not finding the right way, the old man suddenly sees a huge old castle in the distance. It is there that he turns, hoping that there he will be offered an accommodation for the night, and he will be able to go home at dawn with new forces.

Mysterious castle in the forest

The author of "Beauty and the Beast" brings a little horror and mysticism to the fairy tale. Having reached the huge doors of the castle, the old man tries to knock several times, but no one opens the door for him. With surprise, the tired traveler notices that it is not locked. He enters the castle and sees that from the inside its architecture is very old and beautiful. At the same time, the castle is very dark and damp, as if no one has lived in it for a long time. Having called the owner several times, the old man realized that the castle was probably abandoned. He decides to walk on it to make sure of it. Entering one of the huge halls, he sees that it is completely filled with tables, and on the tables there is an unprecedented number of various treats. The old man is very surprised, but he is so hungry that he decides to take the opportunity and have dinner. Having eaten well, the weary traveler stays overnight in the castle with the firm intention of continuing the journey home in the morning.

Waking up at dawn, the man left the castle and saw that a huge bush was growing nearby, strewn with beautiful flowers. Coming closer, the old man saw that they were roses. He plucked one flower, the largest of all, thinking that at least his youngest daughter She will receive the gift she asked for. Just before leaving, the traveler is suddenly attacked by a huge and terrible beast. The monster says that roses are the most valuable thing he has in the castle, and the old man will have to pay with his life for the plucked flower. The frightened man explains to the beast that these flowers are very beautiful, and one of his daughters really wanted to see a rose. Then the beast sets its own condition: after the old man gives his daughter a rose, he will be obliged to return to the castle himself or send the very girl who asked for the flower to the monster. The traveler has no choice but to agree to these conditions.

A Father's Promise

Upon returning home, the old man gives Belle that beautiful rose that he plucked from a mysterious castle owned by a terrible beast. The father did not want to tell his daughter about what had happened, but the young girl still elicits everything from her father. Having learned what promise he made to the monster, Belle sets off without hesitation.

New life in a magical castle

The author of "Beauty and the Beast", Charles Perrault, continues his fairy tale with extraordinary, magical events that happen to the main character. Having reached the castle, Belle meets the same monster. He informs the girl that now she is the mistress in his castle, and he is her obedient servant. The Beast offers Belle a huge variety of beautiful rich dresses, invites her to dinner every evening, to which the girl agrees.

In addition, the monster every day offers Belle to marry him, and every evening the girl refuses. At night, she dreams of a handsome prince who asks her why she does not marry the beast, and the girl meekly replies that she loves him only as a friend. Belle sees no connection between that terrible monster and the prince. The girl has only one thought: the beast somewhere keeps that prince locked up. She repeatedly tried to look for the protagonist of her dreams in the castle, but each time the search was fruitless.

Mutual agreement of the beast and the girl

Belle lives in the castle for several months. She misses her father and sisters very much. A yearning girl asks the monster to let her go home for a while so that she can see her loved ones. The Beast understands her sadness and gives her permission. But at the same time, he sets a condition: the girl must return to the castle exactly in a week. In addition, Belle receives a magic mirror and a ring from the beast. With the help of a mirror, she will be able to see what is happening in the castle in her absence, and with the help of the ring, she can return to the castle at any time if she twists it on her finger three times. Belle agrees to all terms and happily heads home.

Traveling home and returning to your loved one

Belle arrives home in a very beautiful and rich dress. She tells her father and sisters, who burn with envy, that the beast is actually very kind. Therefore, the day before her departure, the older sisters suddenly begin to ask Belle to stay one more day, explaining that they will miss her very much. Believing and moved by the words of the sisters, Belle decides to stay another day. In fact, envy pushed the sisters to such words. They really hoped that if their little sister, who managed to arrange her life so well, was late for the monster, then on her return he would eat her alive.

Waking up in the morning, Belle felt very guilty before the beast. She decided to take a look in the mirror to see how he reacted to her not returning by the due date. The girl saw that the monster was lying barely alive near the rose bushes. Belle immediately went to the beast with the help of the ring.

Seeing that the beast was barely breathing, Belle leaned over him, began to cry heavily and begged him not to die, saying that she loved him and could not bear such a loss. At the same moment, the monster turned into a handsome prince, who so often dreamed of a girl. The prince told Belle that he was once bewitched old witch, and this witchcraft could only be removed real love. Since then, the prince and Belle lived a long and very happy life.

Fairy tale analysis

"Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale, which is one of many other similar works. To date, many variations of this story are known. Who wrote Beauty and the Beast? As mentioned above, the author of this masterpiece is Charles Perrault. Despite this, there are older works that convey the same idea. For example, one of the first versions of this story was a fairy tale published in 1740 by Madame Villeneuve. The most important thing to note when analyzing this work, is how the urban population is represented in the fairy tale. The townspeople act as the protagonists of Beauty and the Beast. It usually happens that the main characters are representatives of the nobility and the peasantry.

Despite the fact that, as mentioned above, the fairy tale has a huge number of variations, we still answer the question of who wrote "Beauty and the Beast", we will answer that, of course, Charles Perrault. After all, it is his version that is considered the most interesting and famous today.

Screen adaptation of a fairy tale

"Beauty and the Beast" is a story that has been repeatedly filmed under the direction of various directors. You can find adaptations as films, cartoons, musicals and even theatrical productions. The very first film adaptation of the fairy tale was the film "Beauty and the Beast", which appeared on the screens in 1946. This project was directed by french master Jean Cocteau. Perhaps the most famous film adaptation fairy tales became the cartoon of the same name by the Walt Disney film company, which was released in 1991. A well-drawn cartoon began to be a success not only among children, but also among adult viewers. A lot of people watch it multiple times.

We cannot reveal all its secrets before the release of the tape in Russian distribution, but we can tell a lot about the film, in which Emma Watson and computer-drawn characters sing, dance and act out the events of the fairy tale, which we in Russia know as "The Scarlet Flower".

Influenced by the success of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast was also made into a Broadway-style cartoon musical. The songs were again pored over by poet Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken. Ashman already knew that he was dying of AIDS, but kept it from everyone except his closest friends and employees. Many Disney people did not suspect that the author of witty songs, in which there was not even a bit of depression, might not live to see the premiere.

Frame from the cartoon "Beauty and the Beast"

When drawing a cartoon, the Disney people were inspired both by real French landscapes and castles (artists were specially brought to France for sketches), and by their sometimes unbridled imagination. So, the design of the Beast was the creation of Chris Sanders, who combined the features of a bison, bear, lion, gorilla, deer, wolf and wild boar in the monster prince. However, in the end, the Beast turned out to be similar to the mask worn by Jean Mare in the film Cocteau.

Beauty and the Beast was the second Disney film after The Rescuers in Australia to be created using Pixar's CAPS computer animation system. Back then, it was just a matter of computer manipulation of hand-drawn images and the abandonment of laborious work with transparent sheets of plastic that had been used for decades to produce animation. Nevertheless, there was a significant fragment in the picture, created using three-dimensional animation calculated on computers - that is, computer graphics in modern understanding this word. It was a ballroom scene, and the programmers were responsible for the movement of the walls in the frame, against which Beauty and the Beast were dancing. The episode turned out to be so successful and spectacular that the studio decided to continue investing in computer graphics. Over time, this led to the birth of the Pixar we know and love today.

The cartoon was released on November 22, 1991. It cost $ 25 million - one and a half times less than The Little Mermaid, the creation of which was largely an experiment. However, Beauty and the Beast's animation was more refined, its plot was more gripping, and its songs were more sweeping. And the audience understood it. The film earned $425 million worldwide, and few critics dared not call it an outstanding painting or a masterpiece. Only feminists found fault with the picture, who reproached the tape for glorifying the "Stockholm Syndrome". But their opinion did not carry much weight.

A few months later, Beauty and the Beast became the first cartoon ever to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture category. It is clear that the award did not go to the tape (“ Silence of the Lambs"was not to be bypassed), but it was still an amazing honor. Menken won an Oscar as a composer and shared with Ashman the Oscar for Best Song for Beauty and the Beast. Of the five songs nominated that year, three were taken from the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack. Unfortunately, Ashman had died by that time - he did not even have time to see the final version of the film, the songs of which the poet wrote literally on his deathbed.

The backstory of the new "Beauty and the Beast"

Admiring the Wise and Truesdale cartoon, American critics have repeatedly noted that they would love to watch a Broadway musical based on the songs of the picture. At first, then-head of the Walt Disney Studios, Michael Eisner, was against the idea, but he quickly became a fan of it when he realized that the company could make good money by reusing its intellectual property.

Linda Woolverton personally worked on a new version of the script, adapting the plot to the possibilities musical theater. English poet Tim Rice, who also worked with Alan Menken on Disney's Aladdin, was brought in to compose new songs (Ashman began writing songs for this cartoon, but died before the project was completed).

Premiere new production took place in April 1994. The play ran first at one and then at another New York theater until July 2007, making Beauty and the Beast one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history. Clearly, it was a huge success. The show could have gone on, but in 2007 the Disney people presented the Broadway version of The Little Mermaid to the public and felt that the old performance would take viewers away from the new show from the Disney princesses cycle. Foreign productions of "Beauty and the Beast" in London, Paris, Madrid and other megacities were also successful.

Michael Eisner loved the show so much that he wanted to keep it for posterity. He thought about filming a television version of the play, but at a certain moment he got the idea to make a full-fledged feature film with the removal of the actors to France and filming in historical baroque interiors and against the backdrop of real French landscapes. Eisner did not realize this idea until his departure from Walt Disney in 2006, but the studio did not forget about this plan, although Eisner was forcibly "survived" from the company after the studio's crisis in the first half of the 2000s.

In the second half of the decade, Eisner's vision grew into a massive plan to film live-action versions of famous Disney cartoons. Although the studio had plenty of original ideas, Walt Disney sought to ensure its financial stability by squeezing the best out of time-honored brands. It was important that the game remake does not replace and does not obscure the drawn fairy tale, as sometimes happens with successful remakes of game pictures (who now watches The Fly in 1958 instead of The Fly in the 1980s?). It becomes next to the cartoon on the shelves of video stores, and its release reminds the public of the classic canvas that little viewers might not have seen.

The first film in the new cycle was Alice in Wonderland directed by Tim Burton. IN artistically it was a weak movie (written by Linda Woolverton, by the way), but it grossed a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, and this gave the Disney people reason to plan future blockbusters based on a cartoon.

In 2014, Maleficent was released, the development of which began while working on Alice. In the same year, it became known that the Disney people were preparing a new Beauty and the Beast. Initially, the film was supposed to use only a couple of songs from the cartoon, but the success of Frozen in 2013 proved that the audience has not lost interest in full-fledged Disney musicals. So the project was reimagined as an almost exact copy of the original cartoon, albeit with a lot of new material (the new picture is 40 minutes longer than the original).

Working on the new "Beauty and the Beast"

Apparently, Spiliotopoulos was trying to make Beauty and the Beast a more "masculine" story, with references to Gaston's participation in the war and other plot aspects that would be more interesting for boys (Disneys do not really like to release romance films that are mainly aimed at girls and girls ). But the billion-dollar fees of Frozen persuaded the studio to abandon this concept, and to return the script to a “feminine” channel, writer, screenwriter and director Stephen Chbosky was invited, the author of the film “ It's good to be quiet" - a school psychological melodrama, which became one of the first acting work Emma Watson after completing the Harry Potter series. Nevertheless, the mention that Gaston was at war remained in the film.

Emma Watson and Bill Condon on the set of Beauty and the Beast

Bill Condon, an Oscar winner for the script for the drama Gods and Monsters, which Condon himself directed, was invited to stage the new Beauty and the Beast. He also worked as a screenwriter on the musical "Chicago", and as a director - on the biopic "Kinsey", the musical drama "Dream Girls" and the dilogy "Twilight. Saga. Dawn ". This is one of those directors whose name immediately comes to mind when producers think about who can make a musical melodrama with an abundance of special effects.

Before proceeding with the detailed artistic solution film, Condon spent six months at the London-based special effects studio Framestore. Together with production designer Sarah Greenwood ("", "", "") and the staff of Framestore, the director experimented with various visual approaches to the film (primarily fantasy characters) and searched for ideas that seemed to him the most successful. Eventually Condon decided to dance from real Baroque interiors. In particular, Cogsworth's butler clock and Lumiere's maitre d' candelabra were inspired by authentic French baroque utensils, with their extremely ornate design and abundance of gilding.

As for the plot of the new tape, its main difference from the original was the greater attention paid to the past of Belle and the Beast. The creators of the tape decided to show that the hero and heroine lost their mothers early and that the realization of this becomes a romantic moment that brings the characters closer. In one of the scenes associated with this part of the story, the authors of the film used a magical artifact that was in the original fairy tale, but was not useful to the cartoon. This is a magical book that takes the owner to wherever he pleases. As you can see, the scriptwriters bothered to return to the original source and draw an idea or two from it. Although they were mostly based on the script of the cartoon.

Condon hoped to be able to include songs written specifically for the stage musical in the film, but regretfully found that they did not fit into his vision for the picture. So Menken and Rice were hired to write three new songs for the main narration and the song How Does A Moment Last Forever, which plays over the end credits. This song was performed by Celine Dion - the one who at one time buzzed everyone's ears with her song for Titanic. By the way, Dion sang Beauty and the Beast in a duet with Peabo Bryson for the end credits of the 1991 cartoon. Their recording won a Grammy. Ariana Grande and John Legend sang the title duo Beauty and the Beast for the new film.

After the director understood what kind of picture he wanted to make and what kind of picture he could create with a budget of one and a half hundred million dollars, he was able to start casting. The creators of the 1991 cartoon could afford to hire Broadway performers and focus on vocal abilities, and not world fame actors. Condon had to look for his performers among famous stars - those whose names and faces made sense to put on the poster. We have already written that the Disney concept of game remakes requires the involvement of celebrities, since this is the key feature of these films: “Want to see how Angelina Jolie played the evil sorceress Maleficent? Of course you do!” Vocals also mattered to Condon, but he was in second place. The director asked candidates to sing "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King to gauge what he and the sound engineers would have to work with.

On the set of "Beauty and the Beast"

In January 2015, Emma Watson announced on Twitter that she had been cast as Belle. It was a natural decision, since Watson made a name for herself playing the charming "bookworm" Hermione in "Potteriana" and since the actress had dreamed of playing Belle in some version of "Beauty and the Beast" since childhood. Incidentally, although Watson was born in English family and was educated in Britain, she was born in Paris, where her parents lived and worked at that time. So "Beauty and the Beast" for her is somewhat of a "native" fairy tale. Other contenders for the role were Emma Roberts from Scream Queens and Lily Collins from Snow White: Revenge of the Dwarves.

The Englishman Dan Stevens, the former hero of the Downton Abbey series and the current hero of the eccentric superhero show Legion, became the prince and the voice of the Beast. Condon brought Stevens with him from the biopic thriller The Fifth Estate, where the actor played a supporting role. You may also have seen him in the blockbuster Night at the Museum: The Secret of the Tomb, where Stevens portrayed Lancelot. The actor looks "sweet" and romantic enough to portray the prince, but he can also play ambiguous and strange characters, which he demonstrates with brilliance in "Legion". Therefore, "Beauty and the Beast" he quite approached. Before Stevens was invited, the studio hoped to get Ryan Gosling, but he chose to star in La La Land. In contrast, Watson turned down a role in this musical to play Belle.

Inventor Maurice, Belle's elderly father, was played by film and musical theater actor Kevin Kline, Oscar winner for the comedy A Fish Called Wanda. He was one of the voice actors Disney cartoon"The Hunchback of Notre Dame".

The role of Gaston, a hunter, former mercenary and self-proclaimed pretender to Belle's hand, was given to Welsh actor Luke Evans, Bard from The Hobbit, Dracula from Dracula 2014 and main villain"Fast and Furious 6". His stellar career began with the image of the divine handsome Apollo in the Battle of the Titans. In real life, Evans would never lay claim to Watson's heart because he prefers men.

Luke Evans and Josh Gad on the set of Beauty and the Beast

Film, TV and Broadway comedian Josh Gad, who voiced the snowman Olaf in Frozen, played Lefa, Gaston's hanger-on, in Beauty and the Beast. In the cartoon, this is a purely comic character who only does what he sings of his friend, while in the movie this role is expanded, and Lefou not only follows Gaston's lead, but also expresses doubt in his most vile deeds. In addition, in the interpretation of Condon (like Evans, the director is openly gay), Lefou is in love with Gaston, although he does not really realize this.

Other key stars of the film mostly worked in recording studio, creating the voices of living castle utensils. Former Star Wars hero Ewan McGregor has rocked out as candelabra head waiter Lumiere, who loves to throw dinner parties. He was invited when French Oscar winner Jean Dujardin could not be hired. The former Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, Ian McKellen, voiced the cowardly and pompous butler Cogsworth, who was turned into a mechanical clock. At first, the actor did not want to act, but in the end he agreed.

Two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson played and sang the role of Mrs. Potts, the head cook who looks like a teapot. The black British actress with South African roots Gugu Mbatha-Row from Jupiter Ascending portrayed Plumette the whisker maid. American black actress and singer Audra MacDonald, winner of six Broadway Tony awards, sang the part of the castle singer Madame de Wardrobe, which the curse turned into wardrobe. Finally, Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci played Maestro Cadenza, a castle composer turned into a harpsichord.

Promo frame for the film "Beauty and the Beast"

Contrary to Michael Eisner's long-standing plans, Condon did not travel with the band to shoot in France. Beauty and the Beast was filmed in England, predominantly at Shepperton Studios. Large-scale scenery was built there, which became even grander thanks to computer additions. Scenes where nature was to be shown in bloom (the action of the picture takes place simultaneously in summer and winter, since the enchanted castle has its own, cold weather) were filmed in the picturesque surroundings of the Berkhamsted Golf Club. For Watson, these were familiar places - she starred there for the "Potteriana".

Filming took place from mid-May to the end of August 2105. At the same time, the premiere of the film was scheduled for 2017 from the very beginning. The producers gave the film such a long post-production period that Condon had time to finish numerous CGI scenes.

Of all the "impossible" characters, the Beast was the most difficult to implement. During filming, it was assumed that Stevens' head would be on the screen, covered with the most complex plastic make-up, the actor's real torso and "non-human" body parts like hooves drawn on a computer. So the actor was present on the set and acted in all his scenes. He had to do this on stilts, since the Beast is taller than the Prince before the transformation.

Later, however, it was decided that the Beast's makeup was not good enough and that the actor's head would be replaced with a computer-generated muzzle drawn from Stevens' facial expressions. So the actor played his entire role again, in a chair for capturing facial expressions, counting on computer processing.

For Watson, the main test was singing. The actress specifically took music lessons to cope with her role. Since the star's vocal range is off-Broadway, Belle's part was simplified so that Watson could sing it without embarrassment.

Beauty and the Beast characters

belle - main character paintings. This is a smart, kind and well-read girl from a small French city. Belle feels like a stranger among not book lovers townsfolk, and she hopes to travel the world one day. Belle becomes the Beast's prisoner when she agrees to replace her father in the castle dungeon. Belle was played by Emma Watson.

Monster- the main character of the picture. The Beast was once a heartless prince who lived in a luxurious castle. A powerful sorceress punished the Prince for his insensitivity by turning the young man into a terrible monster, and his servants into utensils. If the Beast does not start an affair with a girl before the last petal falls with the rose sorceress left behind, then the former prince will forever remain a monster. The monster does not even hope that the curse will be lifted until Belle enters his castle. The monster was played by Dan Stevens.

Gaston- the main villain of the picture. This is a selfish and narcissistic former mercenary turned hunter. Gaston is very fond of the city girls, but he wants to marry Belle, although she does not reciprocate. For him, it is not a matter of love. Gaston is simply sure that he deserves marriage to the city's first beauty, which, despite her "weirdness", is considered Belle. Gaston was played by Luke Evans.

Maurice Belle's father. This is an inventor who received a Parisian education, but lives in the outback. Maurice is supportive of Belle in her love of reading, and he does not consider Gaston a worthy match for his daughter. Maurice incurs the Beast's wrath when he plucks a rose for his daughter in the garden of an enchanted castle. The law requires Maurice to spend his entire life in prison, but Belle convinces the Beast that she should replace her father. Maurice was played by Kevin Kline.

Lefou- hanger-on and constant companion of Gaston. He often praises a friend, even if there is no reason for it. Nevertheless, he is not devoid of conscience, and he does not like Gaston's crimes. Lefou was played by Josh Gad.

Lumiere- the head waiter of the Beast's castle that looks like a chandelier. Lumiere loves to arrange lavish receptions, and he gladly receives Belle in the castle as a dear guest. He does not hesitate to disobey the orders of the Beast in order to please the heroine. Lumiere was played by Ewan McGregor.

Cogsworth- The butler of the Beast's castle, who looks like a mechanical watch. Cogsworth is executive and cowardly. Subjugation to the Beast is the most important thing for him, even more important than breaking the spell. Therefore, Cogsworth does not like the way Lumiere for the sake of Belle violates direct orders. Cogsworth was played by Ian McKellen.

Mrs. Potts- The Beast's castle cook who looks like a teapot. Like Lumière, Mrs. Potts is very kind and friendly, and she takes care of Belle as own daughter. Missy Potts was played by Emma Thompson.

Plumette- The maid of the Beast's castle, who looks like a duster. Plumette loves Lumiere, and she is with him in everything. Plumette played Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Madame de Wardrobe- The Beast's castle singer who looks like a wardrobe. She loves to dress everyone who asks for it and who doesn't. Madame de Wardrobe was played by Audra MacDonald.

Maestro Cadenza is the composer and pianist of the Beast's castle, which looks like a harpsichord. The maestro writes music for Madame de Wardrobe and accompanies her with pleasure. Cadenza was played by Stanley Tucci.

expectations

Judging by the collections of past Disney remakes and Hollywood analysts, the new Beauty and the Beast is going to be a big success. The picture will easily pay back the $160 million that was spent on it. The only question is whether not too favorable reviews and reviews will affect the fees, which reproach the picture for offering little new in comparison with the 1991 cartoon and spoiling a lot of the old. Let's see if Emma Watson as Belle can beat the bad press the film has already received and will continue to receive.

In Russia, the film may be additionally hindered or helped by the scandal that erupted due to Condon's statements that Lefou is gay. The film was suspected of gay propaganda, and although it was not found (you need to carefully watch the picture to catch a couple of directorial hints at comical homosexuality, so this is not propaganda at all), the tape was assigned a rating of "16+", which means that children should not watch movies without parents. However, Disney films are already a family spectacle, and therefore only teenagers who go to the movies themselves can interfere with the age rating. How will this affect fees? We'll all know soon.

Plot

A wealthy merchant lived in a city mansion with his three daughters, who were all very beautiful, but only the youngest, fourteen years old, was named Belle (in French Belle - "beauty") for being sweet and pure in heart, unlike their sisters, who are evil and selfish. It happens that a merchant loses all his wealth in a storm at sea, because of which he and his daughters are forced to move from the city to a small rural house and earn their living by physical labor. A few years later, the merchant hears that one of his merchant ships, which he sent with goods, has arrived back at the port, avoiding the fate of his associates, so he returns to the city to find out if the ship is worth anything in terms of money. Before leaving, he asks his daughters what gift to bring them. Both of his eldest daughters asked for precious jewelry and fine dresses, thinking that their wealth had returned, and Belle limited herself to asking for a rose, since this flower did not grow in the part of the country where they settled. Arriving in the city, the father, to his horror, discovers that the cargo from his ship was confiscated in payment of debts, and there was no money left for the promised gifts.

Returning home, he gets lost in the forest, where he finds a magnificent palace with tables filled with food and drinks, which the invisible owner of the palace apparently left for him. The merchant satisfies his hunger and thirst and stays for the night. The next morning, when the former merchant was about to leave, he saw a rose garden and remembered that his youngest Belle wished to have a rose. After the merchant chose the most beautiful rose, he came face to face with the disgusting "Beast" (fr. Bête), who tells him that he stole the most valuable thing that was in the whole possession, despising the hospitality of the owner of the palace, and for this he must pay with your life. The merchant asks for mercy, claiming that he only took the rose as a gift for his youngest daughter. The monster agrees that the merchant gives the rose to his daughter, with the only condition that either the merchant himself or his youngest daughter return.

The merchant is upset, but accepts this condition. The beast shows him the way, endowing him with precious stones and beautiful clothes for his daughters, but emphasizes that Belle must come to the palace of her own free will. The merchant, having come home, tries to hide the incident from Belle, but she extorts the whole truth from him and willingly goes to the castle of the Beast. The monster takes the girl very kindly and informs that from now on she is the mistress of the castle, and he is her servant. The owner gave her rich clothes and delicious food, and has long conversations with her. Every evening at dinner, the Beast asks Belle to marry him, but is refused each time. Each time she refuses, Belle dreams of Prince Charming, who begs him to tell her why she doesn't want to get married, and she tells him that she can't marry a monster because she only loves him as a friend. Belle doesn't juxtapose the prince and the beast, thinking that the Beast must be holding the prince prisoner somewhere in the castle. She searches for him and discovers many enchanted rooms, but none contain the dream prince.

For several months, Belle lives luxurious life in the palace of the Beast, where invisible servants serve, among endless wealth, entertainment and many exquisite outfits. But in the end, she became homesick, wanting to see her relatives, which she told the Beast about. He allows her to visit her father's house, but with the condition of returning exactly one week later. Belle agrees to this and goes home with a magic mirror and a ring. The mirror allows her to see what is happening in the Beast's castle, and thanks to the ring, she can instantly return to the palace if she scrolls it three times around her finger. Her older sisters were surprised to find the younger well-fed and smartly dressed; they envied her happy life and upon hearing that Belle has to return to the Beast on the appointed day, they ask her to stay another day - they even put an onion to their eyes to look like weeping. Their true deepest desire was for the Beast to get mad at Belle for being late and eat her alive. Belle's heart is touched by the sisters' ostentatious love, and she agrees to linger.

The next day, Belle begins to feel guilty about breaking her promise to the Beast and uses a mirror to see him. The mirror shows that the Beast lies half-dead from grief near rose bushes from which her father took the flower. Dejected, she immediately uses the ring to return to the palace. The beast is almost dead, and the girl cries over him, saying that she loves him. Belle's tears drip onto the monster and it turns into Prince Charming. The Prince informs Belle that in the old days, an evil fairy turned him into a hideous monster, and that the fairy's curse could only be broken if some girl would love him for who he is.

The prince and Belle got married and lived happily ever after.

Origin and analysis of the plot

The first edition of the version of the tale was made by Gabriel-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve; was printed in « La jeune americaine, et les contes marins» in 1740. The most widespread, abridged version of de Villeneuve, published by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1757 in « Magasin des enfants, ou dialogues entre une sage gouvernante et plusieurs de ses éleves» ; English translation appeared in 1757.

Variants of the tale are known throughout Europe, the oldest of the close plots recorded in Europe is the tale of Apuleius about "Cupid" and "Psyche". In Russia, the plot is best known for the fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower", written down by the Russian writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov from the words of the housekeeper Pelageya.

On one of the versions of the plot in France, the comic opera-ballet Zemira and Azor written by Marmontel and Gretry in 1771 was staged. She was a huge success in XIX century.

Madame Villeneuve's tale includes several elements that Madame Beaumont omitted. Basically, this is a backstory about the life of Belle and the Beast before they met. The monster was a prince who lost his father in childhood, and his mother was forced to wage war to protect her kingdom. The queen left him in the care of an evil fairy who tried to seduce him when he grew up, but when he was refused, she turned the prince into a beast. As for Belle, she was not actually the daughter of a merchant, but a descendant from the relationship of the king and the good fairy. The evil fairy tried to kill the girl so that no one would prevent her from marrying Belle's crowned father, so Belle was placed in the merchant's family for safety reasons in place of the dead youngest daughter. In addition, Madame Villeneuve gives an elaborate description of the magic hidden in the palace of the Beast. Madame Beaumont greatly reduced the characterization of the characters and simplified the tale to an almost archetypal simplicity.

What is unusual in the tale is that the characters are the townspeople as a class, and not the nobility or peasants, as is usually the case in such stories. This fact may reflect social change occurring during the first recording of the tale. In the arrangement of Leprince de Beaumont, such a social transformation can be explained by the fact that in her collection, intended for the education of noble girls, the tale has an edifying meaning and explains to readers that it is not the ugliness represented by the Beast that should be feared, but the evil heart that the sisters of Beauty possess. Consequently, the heroes of the tale are the image of virtue or vice.

Screen adaptations

The fairy tale was repeatedly filmed, served as an inspiration for pop, prose and television:

• "Beauty and the Beast" - a film by Jean Cocteau (1946) starring Jean Marais.
• "The Scarlet Flower" (1952)" - a cartoon (directed by Lev Atamanov), "Soyuzmultfilm", based on the fairy tale by Sergei Aksakov.
• "Beauty and the Beast (film, 1976)" - studio film hallmark hall of fame.
• "The Scarlet Flower" (1977) "- a feature film-tale based on the fairy tale by Sergei Aksakov (director Irina Povolotskaya), Film Studio. M. Gorky.
• "Beauty and the Beast" (film,  1978)" - Czechoslovak film, in the original "Panna a Netvor".
• Beauty and the Beast (film, 1987) is an American film musical.
• "Summer Garden and Winter Garden  (episode of the animated series, 1988)" - the third episode of the second season of the Japanese animated series "Tales Brothers Grimm" (October 21, 1987 - March 26, 1989).
• Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990 TV series) is an American television series starring Linda Hamilton.
• The tale about the merchant's daughter and the mysterious flower (1991) - a film by V. Grammatikov
• "Beauty and The Beast (cartoon, 1991)" - American cartoon

USA

84 minutes (original version)
90 minutes (special edition)

$20 million

"The beauty and the Beast"(English) Beauty and the Beast) is the thirtieth animated film by the Walt Disney Company. It premiered on November 22, 1991 in US theaters. The film is an adaptation of the fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont about a beautiful girl imprisoned in a castle by a terrible monster. The film is the first animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The film was shot in the traditional Disney style.

Review

Linda Woolverton's film is based on a screenplay by Roger Allers, which is an adaptation of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (uncredited). Film directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Weiss. Music by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.

Cash receipts amounted to 146 million dollars. The film became the third most successful film of 1991 after Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It is also the most successful animated Disney film of its time.

The animated film was awarded an Oscar in the nominations "Best selection of music for a film", "Best Song" (Alan Menken and Howard Ashman "Beauty and the Beast", sounding at the end of the film performed by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson). Two other songs by Menken and Ashman from the film were also nominated for Best Music and Best Song ("Be Our Guest" and "Belle"). Beauty and the Beast was also nominated for Best Sound and Best Film.

Plot

One day cold winter night an ugly old woman came across the prince's castle. She asks the prince to let her warm up, even though she only had one rose to give him as a thank you. Being selfish and heartless, the prince drives her away, simply because she is unpleasant to him. The old woman warns him that true beauty hidden in the depths of the heart and not visible. The prince refuses her again, and the woman takes on her real appearance as a beautiful and powerful sorceress, and as punishment for the cruel and selfish prince, she turns him into a monster. The servants in the castle are also bewitched; they become teacups, candles, pieces of furniture, and other household utensils. The castle becomes scary; cherubs become gargoyles. This spell will last until he is 21 years old, until the monster learns to love and someone loves him. However, this must happen before the last petal of the magical rose withers and falls, otherwise he will remain a monster forever. He is almost 21 years old, the monster is in despair and every time he instantly becomes furious, wondering who will be able to love the disgusting monster.

"Beauty" is the name of a girl named Belle who lives with her father Maurice in a small French town. Maurice is known for his extravagant inventions; the townspeople notice Belle's beauty, but consider her strange because of her passion for books (as it was believed at the time, most women must be a little stupid, as Gaston, one of the inhabitants of the town, said in his phrase, "Reading is not good for a woman. She's starting to think about it." Her beauty caught the attention of local hunter and strongman Gaston, but Beauty finds him "rude and arrogant" and ignores him.

Fragment from the cartoon "Beauty and the Beast".

One day, Maurice decides to showcase his latest invention at a fair in the village. On the way, he got lost in the forest. The wolves are chasing him, his horse, Philip, does not obey and, frightened, flees. Maurice runs blindly through the forest and eventually finds the monster's castle. Servants of the castle, still in the form of a different household utensils take care of him. And so on until the monster returns. The Beast holds Maurice as its prisoner, believing him to be a "trespasser".

Meanwhile, Belle politely but firmly resists Gaston's proposal to marry her. Gaston explains to Beauty that she will be his "little wife", having 6 or 7 handsome boys(by character - "real men", like himself), and makes many other compliments that are humiliating from her point of view. She is very surprised when she sees that her father's horse has returned without a master. With the help of her father's horse, she finds her way to the castle. There, she offers the Beast to take her as a prisoner instead of her father; The monster agrees and sends Maurice back to the village. Back in town, Maurice tries to tell the people what happened to Beauty, but the villagers, including Gaston, think he's crazy and refuse to help him, so Maurice decides to get his daughter back on his own.

The Beast, realizing that his captive could break the spell, allocates Belle her own room and allows her to walk around the castle wherever she wants, except for the West Wing - the Beast's old room, where everything hints at his past as a person. Of course, he has not learned anything good since his transformation: for example, he orders that none of the servants feed the Beauty if she does not dine with him. Beauty yearns, thinking that she will never see her father again, she has not the slightest desire to do anything for the Beast.

Left to right: Mrs. Potts, Chip, Cogsworth.

The castle is full of miscellaneous utensils and fixtures, including a Lumiere candlestick and a Cogsworth mantel clock, entertaining guests with fine French dining and providing the most comfort a team of servants can provide (despite the fact that the Beast forbids them from doing so due to their failed attempt force Beauty to come to dinner). Of course, everyone wants Beauty and the Beast to love each other so that they can all regain their human form. Unfortunately, Beauty and the Beast can't find common language because of the arrogance with which he treats her, and the constant bickering with each other.

During a tour of the castle, a curious Beauty enters a corridor she has never been before, the forbidden West Wing. Everything in the room - broken mirrors and especially a torn picture of his human form - reflects the sadness of the Beast. Fascinated by the beautiful rose, Beauty comes to take it, but the suddenly returned Beast becomes enraged and drives her away. She quickly leaves the castle, and is immediately confronted by a pack of wolves in the forest; The monster turns out to be her only protector. Over time, Beauty and the Beast fall in love with each other, and over the course of several days, the Beast becomes more human, showing more kindness. Thus, Beauty "sees him in a way she's never seen him before." One day, he gives her a magic mirror that can show anything she wants to see. She asks to see her father and sees that he is sick and dying as he foolishly tried to find a castle to bring her back. The monster, sincerely loving, makes the only right decision, frees her, and she and her father return to their house in the village. However, Gaston arrives with an angry mob and threatens to take Maurice to an insane asylum if Belle does not agree to marry him. She desperately tries to prove that her father is normal, and shows the audience the image of the Beast with the help of a magic mirror.

Enraged, feeling betrayed, Gaston convinces the crowd that the Beast is a terrible menace to society and provokes the crowd into sacking the castle, urging them to "kill the Beast". The enchanted inhabitants of the castle fight against a large crowd and drive it away. Gaston finds the Beast and attacks him. The Beast, who is in anguish, certain that Beauty will never return again, does not resist until Belle appears in the castle again. However, at the very moment when the Beast is about to kill Gaston, it realizes that it can no longer do this to anyone and lets the latter go. As soon as the Beast and Beauty are reunited again, Gaston treacherously inflicts a mortal wound on the Beast with a dagger, but breaks off the roof and falls down, breaking to death. IN last moment Belle tells the dying Beast that she loves him and the sorcery is broken. The monster turns back into a prince, the scary castle becomes beautiful again, the enchanted utensils of the castle are returned to human form. A beautiful and touching tale ends with the wedding of the prince and Belle.

Characters

belle

belle(voiced by Paige O'Hara) - a girl who just got out of adolescence she is about twenty. Belle is the prettiest girl in town. She has brown hair, large brown eyes, a thin, straight nose, and delicate scarlet lips. She is very fond of reading books (a quality that Gaston dislikes). Belle is smart, brave and independent, desperate to escape the dull atmosphere of the poor town she lives in. Apart from her father Maurice, she has no relatives. She really stands out from the rest, which is noticeable by her favorite activities (reading) and clothes ( Blue colour, while everyone else is dressed in red and brown). The French word "belle" means "beauty". According to the film's artists, when creating the image of Belle, they wanted to get away from the classic Hollywood super-blonde beauty stereotype so that Belle would not be associated with Princess Aurora from the Sleeping Beauty cartoon. Therefore, the face of Vivien Leigh was chosen in the role of Scarlett O "Hara. The cartoon has a direct reference to the image of Scarlett: in the scene where Belle examines the torn portrait of the prince, she raises one eyebrow - like Scarlett in the initial scenes of the film "Gone with the Wind".

Monster

Monster(voiced by Robbie Benson) - seemingly a kind of anthropomorphic hybrid with the features of a wolf and a bull. In fact, this is a prince who was turned into a monster by a sorceress due to his lack of compassion and the ability to love (and, according to some viewers and fans, for displaying discrimination against women based on gender). Loving someone and being loved in return is the only way to break the spell, so the Beast desperately wants to fall in love with the first girl he comes across and have her love him too; thus, according to the condition of the spell, he would be restored to human form. When he finally finds a suitable person, it turns out that haste and excessive perseverance only hinder his goal. In the cartoon, the Beast's real name is not mentioned.

Gaston

Gaston(voiced by Richard White) - The villain of the film. He is tall, strong and possesses manly beautiful appearance. Gaston considers himself irresistible and desirable, and has an inflated self-esteem, boosted further by the opinion of many young girls in town, including three blonde dolls, of him. Though he's scheming, amoral, and brash (and a misogynist and chauvinist as well), he doesn't look like the typical Disney villain. He is far more attractive than most other Disney villains, and besides, unlike the typical villains in Disney fantasy, he has no supernatural powers. According to Roger Ebert, Gaston "goes from chauvinist pig to sadistic monster over the course of the film."

Other

Cogsworth(voiced by David Ogden Steers) - The castle's butler, always trying to keep things in order, and very eager to please his master, the Beast. Was turned into a mantel clock when the spell was cast.

Lefou(voiced by Jess Corti) - Gaston's puny, undersized sidekick, more specifically his "errand boy". Stupid, for his stupid antics he regularly receives "pretzels" from Gaston; "le fou" is French for "fool".

Songs

• Belle(French for "Belle") is the film's opening song, which Belle sings on her way to the local bookstore, and the whole village picks up the song, describing Belle's strangeness.
• Belle Reprise(English "Belle. Reprise") - Belle sings after Gaston proposes to her, Beauty repeats her deepest desire "I want something more than this provincial life" many times.
• "Be Our Guest"(eng. "Be our guest") - a table cabaret of the castle's servants, such as crockery, cutlery, etc., who entertain Belle.
• "Gaston LeFou"(French "Our Gaston") - Gaston's friend and local drunkards sing Gaston's praises in a village tavern.
• "Gaston Reprise"(eng. "Our Gaston. Reprise") - after Maurice has escaped from the Beast's castle, he enters the tavern and begs for help, but only receives taunts from the townspeople. It is here that Gaston gets the idea to blackmail Beauty by threatening to send her father to an insane asylum if she does not marry him.
• "Something There"(eng. "Something Ahead") – sung by Beauty and the Beast when they realize that mutual feelings have developed between them.
• "Beauty And The Beast (Tale As Old As Time)"(Eng. "The Girl and the Prince") - Mrs. Potts sings while Beauty and the Beast dance in the castle hall.
• "The Mob Song"(eng. "Song of the Crowd") - sung by the villagers as they walk towards the castle to kill the Beast.

• Robbie Benson, who voices the Beast in the English dub, is the older brother of actress Jodi Benson, who voices the little mermaid Ariel in The Little Mermaid.
• Since the famous musical Notre Dame de Paris appeared later than the cartoon "Beauty and the Beast", when the English version of the single was released Belle had to lengthen the title to Belle (is the only word) so that the listener does not get confused in songs about "beauties".
• Chip, the calyx, originally had only one line, but the producers liked his voice so much that they added a few extra lines for him.
• Tiny Toon Adventure screenwriter Sheri Stoner was used as a model for Belle, from her Belle inherited the habit of fixing her hair, and Ariel (The Little Mermaid) - the habit of biting her lower lip.
• The signs Maurice comes across in the woods show the names of California cities Anaheim and Valencia ( English); the first is the location of Disneyland, while the second sign, pointing down an ominous dark path, bears the name of the city where Disneyland's rival Six Flags Magic Mountain Park is located. The third sign says "Glendale" - also the city in California where Walt Disney Imagineering is located.
• Gaston was supposed to be short and old, but the authors decided to remake him and made him absolutely look like the actor who voiced him - Richard White.
• Belle is translated from French as a beauty, Gaston is a handsome man, Lefou is a fool, Lumiere is a light, Cogsword is a sentry.
• Belle and Prince's last dance is a step-by-step replica of the same dance in Cinderella because the Cinderella sequence was used in Beauty and the Beast.
• The Beast can't read, originally there was a scene in the film in which Belle teaches him to read, but it was cut out and only the frame where Belle and the Beast look at the book together remained from it. Also, a character was cut from the cartoon - a music box, which was supposed to calm the Beast when he was angry, but when the animators decided to increase the role of Chip, he replaced the Box in many scenes and can only be seen episodically.
• The illustration in Belle's book, which she leafs through while sitting on the fountain, is from Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book, and is an illustration for the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.
• Gaston shoots at the bird and kills it. Lefoux picks it up in a hunting bag and runs up to Gaston. When Lefou picks up the bigger trophy, the bag with the bird disappears and doesn't reappear.
• Cogsworth falls onto the stairs trying to stop Maurice from invading the castle and scatters all his nuts and gears. A moment later, there is nothing on the stairs.
• A cart passes through Cogsworth with Mrs. Potts, Chip, and two other crockery. But only Mrs. Potts and Chip drive up to Maurice, the dishes have evaporated. But after a moment, a spoon appears on the cart.
• Lefou conducts the musicians playing Wagner's "Wedding March" (in the West it is called "Here comes the bride"). By the way, this march was invented in the middle of the 19th century, while the action of the cartoon takes place a century earlier. By the way, until the beginning of the 20th century, this march was performed only in Germany.
• In rare cartoons, there are no blunders with doors. That's Belle she opens in different sides. For example, when she sees Gaston out, the door opens outward, and when she puts his shoes out of the house, it opens inward.
• Gaston, after flying out of Belle's house, lands in a muddy puddle. It is not known where he found it, if there is nothing like it in front of the house. The door of the house generally opens onto the porch.
• When Belle rides to the enchanted castle for the first time to save her father, she is not wearing a hood. In a moment, the hood is already on her.
• When Belle runs to her father in the castle dungeon, Maurice first extends his hand to her from the second left gap between the bars in the door. After a moment, it turns out that the hand protrudes from the leftmost hole.
• In the tavern where Gaston and his comrades are walking, the number of visitors varies greatly from frame to frame. For example, now we see people at the bar and at the back wall. When Lefoux sings a song of praise to Gaston, the people in the background disappear into the air and reappear in the midst of the song.
• Gaston says he ate dozens of eggs as a child, which is why he's so strong. As proof, he grabs eggs from the counter and swallows them. Lefu, imitating him, destroys the last eggs on himself. But as soon as Gaston begins to turn the gun in his hands, the eggs reappear on the counter.

Links

• The Big Cartoon DataBase entry for Beauty and the Beast