Beauty and the Beast (franchise) Beauty and the Beast (franchise) Beauty and the Beast is a Disney media franchise comprising a film series and additional merchandise. The success of the original 1991 American animated feature, "Beauty and the Beast", directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, led to three direct-to-video follow-up films, a live-action spin-off television series, a Disney World stage show, a Disney World restaurant, several video games, merchandise, and the 9th longest-running musical in Broadway history, which was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning for Best Costume Design. In March 2017, Disney released a live-action remake of the film. Belle was also added
Beauty and the Beast (musical) accepting a new version of such an immensely popular work. "Beauty and the Beast" became Disney's first Broadway venture, although "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", a stage adaptation of Disney's animated film of the same name, had premiered in New York in 1979, produced by Radio City Music Hall Productions, Inc. Theatre Under the Stars' executive director Frank Young campaigned heavily to have the show open in Houston, Texas even getting Governor Ann Richards involved in order to secure the stage rights. Roth summarized "Beauty and the Beast" as a story about "seeing past the exterior of a person