The Continental (song) The Continental (song) "The Continental" is a song written by Con Conrad with lyrics by Herb Magidson, and was introduced by Ginger Rogers in the 1934 film, "The Gay Divorcee". "The Continental" was the first song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Major record hits at the time of introduction included Jolly Coburn and Leo Reisman. In 1952 Harry James released a recording on the album "Hollywood's Best" (Columbia B-319 and CL-6224) with Rosemary Clooney on vocals. A later version by Maureen McGovern reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart in 1976. Steve Howe recorded it
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film) that category. It also became the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards, where it won the Academy Award for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for its title song and received additional nominations for Best Original Song and Best Sound. 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 follow-ups: "" (1997) and "Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World" (1998), both of which take place in the timeline