Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast was first published in 1978, written by American children's book author Robin McKinley. It was her first book, retelling the classic French fairy tale "La Belle et La Bete". The book was the 1998 Phoenix Award honor book. It was the 1966 -1988 Best of the Best Books for Young Adults. An unabridged audio-book recording was released by Recorded Books in 2013, narrated by Charlotte Parry, and is currently available via Audible.com. Roderick Huston, a wealthy merchant and
Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) from filmmaker Jean Cocteau's 1946 film adaptation of the fairy tale into their own version of "Beauty and the Beast". Gaston, a character who does not exist in the original fairy tale, was among several elements borrowed from the live-action version of the story, based on a character Cocteau himself had created specifically for his film: Avenant, portrayed by French actor Jean Marais who also plays the Beast in a dual role. Similar to Cocteau's addition of Avenant, Gaston was created for the animated adaptation because Disney felt that the story could potentially benefit from a legitimate villain, which the