Beauty and the beast 17 enchanting facts you should know

Beauty and the beast tale as old as time
Beauty and the Beast is not quite as old as time after all. It may be very old but Fans are still looking forward to Disney's Beauty and the Beast Live-action remake. It is without a doubt that with its timeless story, catchy songs and all-star cast, the animated film still holds many precious memories for those who saw it in the 90's. Image Credit: DisneyMovies

Beauty and the Beast is not quite as old as time  after all. It may be very old but Fans are still looking forward to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Live-action remake. It is without a doubt that with its timeless story, catchy songs and all-star cast, the animated film still holds many precious memories for those who saw it in the 90’s.

Here are 17 enchanting facts you surely need to know about the origin of Beauty and the Beast.

Beauty and the beast Origin

  1. It was written by a French Novelist

Beauty and the beast is a traditional fairy tale written by a French Novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneueve and was then published in 1740. The lengthy version was published, edited and rewritten first by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756 in Children’s Collection and by Andrew Lang in the Blue Fairy Book of his first Fairy Book Series year 1889.

  1. It was influenced by Cupid and Psyche, and Pig king

It was then influenced by some earlier stories such as Cupid and Psyche written by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensi and the Pig King by Giovanni Francesco Straparola.

Beauty and the Beast Animated Musical Romantic Fantasy

  1. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation (1991)

It became an American animated musical romantic fantasy film in 1991 produced by the Walt Disney Feature Animation and was released by Walt Disney Pictures. The Walt Disney first attempted unsuccessfully to adapt beauty and the beast to an animated film during the 1930s and 1950s. Meanwhile, the Disney decided to adapt the fairy tale that Richard Purdum originally conceived as a non -musical. Eventually, the Disney Chairman, Jeffrey Katzenberg discontinued the idea and ordered the film to be musical similar to  The Little Mermaid. It was then directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, Screenplay by Linda Wooverton story first credited to Roger Allers. Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Composer Alan Menken wrote the film’s songs. The film was then dedicated to Ashman who served as the film’s executive producer that died of AIDS-related complications eight months before the film’s released.

  1. Premiered as an unfinished film at New York Film Festival

On September 29, 1991 beauty and the Beast was premiered as an unfinished film at the New York Film Festival followed by its theatrical released as a completed film at the El Capitan Theatre on November 13. It became the box office hit, grossing $425 million worldwide. It received positive reviews and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture- Musical or Comedy and it also became the first animated film to be nominated for Academy Award for Best picture. Aside from all of it, it also won Best original Song for its title song. And in year 2002, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”

  1. It became the First animated film to be adapted into a Broadway Musical

The film also became the first animated film to be  adapted into a Broadway Musical in April 1994. Thus,  the success of this spawned two direct-to-video follow-ups: Beauty and the Beast: the Enchanted Christmas in 1997 and Belle’s Magical World in 1998. Then, was followed by a spin-off television series, Sing Me a Story with Belle.  While in 2002, an IMAX version was released which included Human Again, a new five-minute musical sequence. The film was reissued in 3-D in 2012 after the success of the 3-D release of The Lion King. And now, a live-action (computer animation) remake was released on March 17, 2017.

The Real Story behind beauty and the beast

  1. It didn’t involve a curse

The real story behind beauty and the beast didn’t involve a magical spell placed on a price due to his arrogance. Originally, the real “Beast’ in the story was a man named Petrus Gonsalvus who suffered from a genetic condition which was known as hypertrichosis or Ambras Syndrome defined by an abnormal amount of hair growth on any part of the body. However, it did not cause Gonsalvus to have an oversized body with huge muscles like the beast in the Disney movies.

  1. It didn’t happen the same time period as the Disney movies

It was year 1500s in when Petrus Gonzalvus met in France. The story was then thought to have inspired Gabrille-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve’s 1740 French fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. The basis of the films was written 16 years later by Jeanne-Marie Le prince de Beaumont and was geared more toward young ladies than adults.

  1. The real beast was not a Prince

The real prince in the original story was not a Prince but he have connections to French royalty. He was treated as an uncivilized curiosity because of his appearance. He was then captured and put into cage. He was also given raw meat and animal feed. And then he was shipped to King Henry II of france as a gift for the king’s coronation in year 1547. Luckily, he did not see Gonsalvus as a freak and beacuse of this he decided to try an experiment. He educate and transform him to a gentlemen, the king also allowed him to keep his birth name, he was given clothes taught how to speak , read and write. That’s why his social status rose but most of the people still viewed him as less than a human.

  1. Belle and the beast first met on their wedding day

Belle and Gonsalvus first met after King Henry II was killed in a jousting match on July 10, 1559. King Henry II widow, Catherine de Medici became the ruler  of Gonsalvus and she then decided to make en experiment. She wondered what would happen if the beast married a beautiful woman. And there she found a wife for Gonsalvus, a young maiden also named Catherine and was a daughter of a royal court servant.

Gonsalvus firt met his wife Catherine for the first time on their wedding day and after that they has seven children but four of the seven also suffered from their father’s condition.

  1. Their Children were taken away from them and given away as pets

The family went to European countries and cities and they eventually settled down in Parma, Italy where they were owned by Duke Ranuccio. Farnese. Several paintings of the family were commissioned but none featured the three unaffected children since they were not considered as curiosities. Unluckily, the four were exploited by the duke and sent away as gifts, becoming pets of the upper class.

Catherine and Gonsalvus were married for more than 4o years. Catherine passed away in 1623 but there were no records Gonsalvus death possibly because he was not considered a human being. HHe was last mentioned in the year 1617 at the christening of his grandson and was then believed to passed away around 1618. The family’s story was then spread throughout the region and eventually become the inspiration as one of the most popular love stories in literature, subsequently in modern cinema


Beauty and the Beast Disney film (2017)

  1. Choosing the Caracters
  • Sir Ian McKellen originally turned down the voice of Cogsworth in the original Beauty and the Beast (1991).
  • Emma Watson(Belle), Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts), Luke Evans’ (Gaston) and Nathan Mack’ (Chip) all share the same birthday, April 15, which was also the date of the first cast read through.

You may also read Beauty and the Beast Movie trivia 

  1. 3 New songs added to the animated classical soundtrack

The Oscar winning composer Alan Menken wrote the original soundtrack and Tim Rice was the Lyricist. “Days in the Sun”, “Evermore” and “How does a Moment Lat Forever” was performed in the movie and Celine Dion performed “How does a Moment last forever” in the end credits.

  1. Director Bill Condon revealed that the Movie have an “exclusive gay moment”

In an Interview with Attitude magazine, Director Bill Condon said that there will be a small subplot in the film about LeFou’s sexuality.

“LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston,” Bill told Attitude.


This is the first time happened in the Disney film. And taht moment on the film was initially censored out in a cut for Malaysia because homosexuality is illegal for them however, Disney rejected the censorship and chose not to released it in the country.

Meanwhile, in Singapore the Christian clergy spoke to out against Disney for going against wholesome mainstream values.

  1. 27 large -scale practical sets were built at Shepperton Studios outside London

All sets were built at the studios including the village and the ballroom. It took fifteen weeks to complete Luke’s personal favorite and included real trees, a frozen lake, hedges, a set of 29-foot high ice gates and approximately 20,000 icicles.

  1. Dan Steven’s character was created digitally

For the physical performance capture portions, Dan had to wear stilts and a prosthetics muscle suit with a gray body suit on top. Dan also wore a fractal gray bodysuit with visual effects indicator for scenes when he had to interact with the animated household.

  1. Costumes were designed to be ethical, sustainable and made with fair-trade fabrics

The designer of the costumes for the movie, Jacqueline Durran and her team started working on the costumes three months before the principal photography, since they all wanted to make it ethical and sustainable. They even used natural and low impact dyes and printed with traditional wood blocks.

  1. New character was added to the new version of Beauty and the Beast

Maestro Cadenza, now a harpsichord and Madame de Garderobe, his Italian wife opera diva, now a wardrobe in Belle’s room were performing for the prince in his castle when the spell was cast.

There you have it! Those are just some of the enchanting facts you should know about the “old as tale as time” Beauty and the Beast.

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