Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) Gaston is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 30th animated feature film "Beauty and the Beast" (1991). Voiced by American actor and singer Richard White, Gaston is an arrogant hunter whose unrequited feelings for the intellectual Belle drive him to murder his adversary, the Beast, once he realizes she cares for him instead. Gaston serves as a foil personality to the Beast, who was once as vain as Gaston prior to his transformation. An original character who is not present in the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film) "Beauty and the Beast" set in 19th-century France. At the behest of Disney CEO Michael Eisner, "Beauty and the Beast" became the first Disney animated film to use a screenwriter. This was an unusual production move for an animated film, which is traditionally developed on storyboards rather than in scripted form. Linda Woolverton wrote the original draft of the story before storyboarding began, and worked with the story team to retool and develop the film. Upon seeing the initial storyboard reels in 1989, Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg ordered that the film be scrapped and started over from scratch.