Beauty and The Beast (1991 Film)

Beauty And The Beast (1991 film)

Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The 30th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance, Beauty and the Beast is based on the fairy tale La Belle et la Bête by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont. Featuring the voices of Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, and Angela Lansbury, the film tells the story of a handsome prince who is transformed into a hideous beast as punishment for his selfish ways. To become human again, the Beast must earn the love of a beautiful and young woman whom he has imprisoned in his castle, or else remain a beast forever.

Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, and produced by Don Hahn, the film was written by Roger Allers, Brenda Chapman, and Chris Sanders, with a screenplay by Linda Woolverton. Originally, the film was to have been by directed by English director Richard Purdum, but he resigned following the studio's decision to turn Beauty and the Beast into a musical. Howard Ashman and Alan Menken wrote the film's songs, while Menken composed its score. Ashman, who also served as an executive producer on the film, died of AIDS-related complications six months before its premiere; the film is dedicated to him in his memory.

Beauty and the Beast was released on November 22, 1991 to positive reviews. The film was a significant commercial success during its initial release, and has since garnered over $424 million in box office earnings. Beauty and the Beast was nominated for several awards, winning a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Famously, Beauty and the Beast was the first-ever animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, remaining the only animated film to hold this honor until 2009, when Pixar's Up was nominated for the award. Beauty and the Beast received five additional Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Score, Best Sound, and three separate nominations for Best Original Song. Ultimately, Beauty and the Beast won for Best Original Score, and Best Original Song went to its title song. In 2002, Beauty and the Beast was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

In April 1994, Beauty and the Beast became Disney's first animated film to be adapted into a Broadway musical. The success of the film spawned two direct-to-video midquels: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, released in 1997, and Belle's Magical World, released in 1998. This was followed by a spin-off television series, Sing Me a Story with Belle. An IMAX special edition version of the original film was released in 2002, with a new five-minute musical sequence included. After the success of the 3D re-release of The Lion King, the film returned to theaters in 3D on January 13, 2012.