Beauty and the Beast (franchise) song "A Change in Me" was kept in the production after being written for Toni Braxton during her stint as Belle. The Beauty and the Beast universe encompasses two main locations: a French village and a castle, which are linked by woods. As the three spin-off films all take place within the time period of the original film, the plot of the "Beauty and the Beast" franchise is encompassed in the original 1991 film, which the other films serving to give added insight to certain parts of the story that were skimmed over (such as when Belle is living in
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.