Lesson 3) Tale as Old as Time (Beauty and the Beast)
Today I have the pleasure of introducing your new Co-Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Jericho Penrose. Initially, Professor Silvers was set to write this lesson (and we have kept some of her original work) but she then had to leave for her honeymoon (Congratulations, again!), so I took it over for a short while (the introduction). However, I was, at the time, writing sections of multiple different lessons, which put this lesson on the back burner for a few weeks. When Professor Penrose was hired, he asked if there was anything he could do for Disney Lit Weeks and I gratefully took him up on the offer. And so, this lesson is a combination of all three of us, but I would like to thank Professor Penrose for going above and beyond the call of duty.
Today's lesson will include FOUR guest appearances: our HiH Librarians, Sarissa Greenwich and Danielle Starrs, Professor Kisha Wen of Magical Culinary Theory (https://www.facebook.com/groups/HiH.CULT/), Professor Aubrey Hackett of Muggle Studies (https://www.facebook.com/hihmugglestudy), and Professor Liv Rowan of Herbology (https://www.facebook.com/hogwartsishereherbology).
If you're interested in publishing a book in our HiH library, our librarians strongly encourage you to read the following: http://www.hogwartsishere.com/library/book/2901/read/.
EH
Lesson 3: Tale As Old As Time (Beauty and the Beast)
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast was originally released in 1991. It was Disney’s 30th film in their Animated Classic Series and the third in the Disney Renaissance period. Disney first attempted to adapt the tale into a movie in the 1930s following the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was discarded as it was thought to be too much of a challenge for the story team. It was brought up again in the 1950s, but it is thought that it was discarded again because the team was too discouraged due to Jean Cocteau having released his own version in 1946. However, by the late 1980s, the story found its way back into popular culture (Erb 50). In Henry Jenkin’s television series, “Beauty and the Beast” (1987-1990), the beloved fairy tale was modernized and set in the United States, each episode ending with a warm balcony scene” featuring the couple silhouetted against the Manhattan skyline at night.
Following the very successful release of the Little Mermaid in 1989, Beauty and the Beast was resurrected and the story team began working on it once again. Richard Purdum, an English animation director, was brought in to work on the film. His version of the movie was not a musical. However, Jeffrey Katzberg ordered the whole thing to be scrapped after seeing the initial storyboard reels. A few months later, Purdum quit and two new directors were brought in and they created the movie we know and love today. Even more recently, the Beauty and the Beast storyline was "revamped" and depicted in ABC's Once Upon a Time, framing Rumpelstiltskin as the "Beast" who holds Belle prisoner in his castle.
Beauty and the Beast was the first ever animated film to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy. It also received five Grammy’s: Best Album for Children, Best Pop Performance by a Group or Duo with Vocal, Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture, Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television, and Best Pop Instrumental Performance. In June 2008, the American Film institute released “Ten Top Ten” lists. These were lists of the top ten movies in ten different American Classic film genres. Beauty and the Beast was named number 7 in the animated film genre. Though these are the only awards the film won, it was nominated for many more.
The film was so popular it was turned into a Broadway musical which debuted on April 18th, 1994. The year prior it premiered in a joint production of Disney Under the Stars. The Broadway version of this movie ended its run on July 29th, 2007. Now, in 2015 it is still the ninth longest running show. Today, the movie is still very popular and a live action version is being filmed with Emma Watson to star as Belle. For many, this is a dream come true!
Distinguishing the Tale from the Film
Ending the narrated sequence with the question, "For who could ever learn to love a Beast?" and switching immediately to the image of Belle walking, pointedly attempts to foreshadow (a literary device you were introduced to in The Little Mermaid) the eventual meeting of the Beast and Belle.
As Belle (French for "beauty") goes to return a book she borrowed, she sings about how she feels like there must be more to life, while the townspeople add in that she is a beautiful girl, but she is also very "odd" and "doesn't quite fit in". Gaston, the most handsome man in town, has chosen Belle to be the “lucky girl [he’s] going to marry,” despite her obvious differences. Belle, unaware of all the intention, remains focused on more important things: like reading!
Belle ultimately rejects Gaston and everything he stands for. He clearly doesn't view Belle as a person, merely a "trophy" (like the ones mounted on his wall). Gaston possesses chauvinist ideas: he claims it isn't "right" for a woman to read as she'll start "getting ideas" and "thinking". Heaven forbid! He finds this behaviour to be unnatural; however, Belle's expression clearly demonstrates that she doesn't take him seriously. And because she doesn't, we shouldn't either. As you learned in yesterday's lesson, Disney may present characters that perpetuate patriarchal or sexist ideology, but these characters' backwards stances are soon "undermined" by the heroine of the story.
Belle acknowledges that Gaston is handsome, but asserts to her father that Gaston is "not for her". In a feel good moment (after we've seen an explosion from Belle's home), Maurice's invention finally "works" and he decides to leave to the fair, presumably to showcase his invention and potentially get it patented.
Gaston, in his conceitedness, organizes a wedding reception without having even proposed to Belle. Of course, she rejects him, publicly humiliating him in front of the entire town, which sets off a rather unfortunate chain of events.
Belle knows she wants more than this "provincial life". She dreams of adventure, far away, expressing an almost painful longing for her life to change. In what appears to be one of the most philosophical Disney Renaissance Princess moments, Belle sings:
"I want so much more than they've got planned."
While Snow White and Sleeping Beauty longed for a Prince, and Cinderella and Ariel ultimately desired a change of scenery, Belle (though also wanting "someone who understands" as well as a change), expresses an existential recognition of a life filled with meaning, rather than one of standard (and expected) customs.
Rejecting Gaston's proposal (and tossing him, literally, out on his face) Belle awaits her father's return. But Maurice never makes it to his intended destination.
A wrong turn and a run-in with wolves results in his taking shelter in a rather intimidating yet seemingly deserted castle. However, Maurice soon realizes that he's not alone: the furniture is alive!
Despite the magically charmed servants' efforts to make Maurice feel welcome, the "master of the castle" interrupts and Maurice comes face-to-face with a hideous Beast. In his anger, the Beast locks Maurice in his dungeon. Thankfully, Maurice's horse, Phillipe, finds his way back to Belle and she learns that something must have happened. Retracing her father's steps, she arrives at the castle to discover her father locked in the dungeon. Sacrificing her life for her father's, Belle agrees to become the Beast's prisoner in her father's place.Her first night in the castle, though, is certainly not the pleasant atmosphere that one might expect, even though she is a prisoner. She eventually gets a nice room, but refuses to come out. This makes the Beast angry and leads to the following scene: The Beast sure needs to work on his manners!
Although the Beast doesn't warm up immediately, the staff take an immediate liking to Belle (perhaps driven by their desire to be "human again" and offer her as much entertainment and comfort as they can.
Belle, in her characteristically curious nature (thanks to all this talk about "The West Wing"), finds herself in the Beast’s private room where he keeps a rose in a protective glass vase. When Belle goes to examine it, the Beast enters and loses his cool, becoming extremely protective of his rose.
Belle flees the castle in terror, but another run-in with the wolves results in two things: the Beast protecting Belle and becoming injured in the process. Belle, not wanting to abandon the Beast after he saved her life, returns his injured body to the castle. Over time, they develop genuine feelings for one another. The servants recognize that there is, in fact, "something there". Even Belle begins to see the Beast in an entirely new light. Of course, the wonderful library that the Beast offers her isn't too shabby either.
Disney showcases the Beast's and Belle's growing connection in one of the most beautifully animated songs of all time:
Belle is still sad that she cannot see her father, though, so Beast gives her a magic mirror that will allow her to see her father. When she sees her father is incredibly sick, she requests that the Beast let her go to his aid. Finally learning to love, the Beast allows her to leave the castle. When she arrives in town, her father is about to be taken off to a mental facility because of his allegations about the Beast. Belle, in a Hufflepuff-like display of loyalty, stands up for her father and uses the mirror to show the town that the Beast is real.
This ends up having the opposite effect that she wanted; instead of getting the town off her back, it sends the town into a panic. Gaston takes advantage of their panic and fury and leads them to the castle to kill the Beast. All of the residents of the castle, who have all been turned into household objects due to the curse the enchantress put on the castle, work together to defend the castle while the Beast has given up since he believes that Belle will never return to him. 
But, in a lesson that anticipates Disney's Hunchback, the real monster is the one who claims to have the best intentions, but acts monstrously towards everyone around them. Gaston, with no love for anyone but himself, attempts to lock Maurice in a mental institution, imprisons Belle for not agreeing to marry him, and sets off to kill the Beast, claiming "Belle is [his]." Talk about your flaming misogynist!
We see Gaston and the Beast duel, but the Beast only half-heartedly tries to escape Gaston's wrath, thinking that Belle does not return his feelings. The moment he sees Belle, he chooses to fight back, eventually sending Gaston off the edge of the castle where he falls to his death. However, the damage has already been done: Gaston's stab wound is a fatal blow. When Belle arrives at the Beast's side, the last petal falls from the rose just as Belle whispers, through tears, "I love you." Disney then works its magic over the scene: the Beast rises in the air and transforms back into a human, along with all the servants. Having learned to love, and earned love in return, the Prince's metaphorical transformation sparks the breaking of the enchantress' spell.
The Original Fairy Tale
Disney's version is fairly different from the original story. At the story's onset, as told by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont, Belle's father does have no wife, but instead of being poor and having a single child, he is described at the beginning as “a very rich merchant, who had six children, three sons, and three daughters…”. Over time, the family falls into hard times and they are forced to move to a cottage, which drives two of the three daughters crazy. They are spoiled children who have always enjoyed luxury, while Beauty (which was her name in the original), was fine with working hard. She had no desire to marry, but instead wanted to stay with her father.
Instead, he finds dinner laid out on the table for him and a bed for him to use. When he wakes, he finds his clothes laundered. The father roams the castle and finds a garden where there are roses growing. When the father takes a rose for Beauty, the Beast suddenly appears and remarks that the father is ungrateful. Unlike Disney’s version, where the Beast is protective of a single, magical rose, this Beast is protective of the everyday mundane roses that he grows.
As punishment, the father is told that he must bring one of his daughters back to the castle of her own free will to live with the Beast forever. If he cannot convince one of them to come in three months, the father must return to the castle to be killed. Before the father returns to his home, he is allowed to fill one gold trunk with whatever he desires in order to provide his family with a means to survive should he be killed.
Belle chooses to go to the castle to live with the Beast forever. She finds a room that is labelled as her own suite, concluding that she will not be killed. At 9:00pm, dinner is served and the Beast is present. That night, he asks for her hand in marriage. She refuses. This becomes a nightly routine for them, him asking for her hand in marriage during dinner at 9:00 and her refusing, but after three months of this, she “would often look on her watch to see when it would be nine, for the Beast never missed coming at that hour”. Unlike Disney’s Belle and Beast, these two start off with a civil relationship, but Beast wants to immediately marry Beauty. In Disney’s version, we see the Beast simply acting out of cruelty, because he cannot control his temper.
While Ariel's relationship with Eric in The Little Mermaid depicts their growing romance as they travel the kingdom, both Ariel (in her sighting of him on the boat) and Eric (in his blurred vision of her singing) fall in love with each other almost on sight. In Beauty and the Beast, although both Disney's and Beaumont's versions differ in their circumstances (for example, Disney invents the character of Gaston), both versions remain true to the story's central message: true love is built over a period of time. It does not happen overnight. But when it finally does, it certainly is a transformative experience.
The Story in Context
As you have already learned, and will continue to learn in my (Professor Hart) Magical Literature class in Year 4, fairy tales are plugged full of moral intentions that strongly influenced nineteenth century audiences. The Brothers Grimm certainly led the way in introducing morality to children through their Household Tales. Earlier writers, such as the Aristocrat Madame de Villeneuve in 1740, was less concerned with child audiences as her La Belle et la Bete portrayed the Beast as the victim of an ancient and malignant fairy who cursed him since he turned down her romantic advances. Overall, Villeneuve's version focuses on the corruption of court life and fortune-hunting, a far cry from the version we know and cherish.
Disney's version (based on Beaumont's), however, remains true to the romantic idealism of most fairy tales. Beaumont was a governess who worked for aristocratic families in England. She was a champion of women's rights: she encouraged her young charges to think and act. In fact, she published several manuscripts, including The Misses' Magazine, on the subject of educating women--all written in fable and fairy tale form.
When depicting the beast for nineteenth century audiences, writers either chose to be vague on details (merely describing the Beast as so monstrous that anyone beholding him was "struck down" with terror). In Disney's version, Belle is shocked by his appearance, yes, but is then "struck down" with anguish (mostly over the unfortunate situation). The roses depicted in the original version were ultimately converted into an "hour glass" symbol, marking the Beast as a character whose time was running out (Thomas, 146-47).
Linda Woolverton and the team of collaborators who researched the original tale in order to adapt it for modern audiences spent "prolonged and intense" hours in production meetings, turning over every detail of the narrative. While the writers certainly wanted to offer a a female heroine who was full of life, adventure, and intelligence, they also wanted to offer a fresh commentary on depictions of "maleness" and its many "faces" and "masks" (Warner 10). Gaston, depicted as a "man's man" is merely a parody of that unrealistic and problematic stereotype. His treatment of Belle, his warped views on women, and general disregard for the lives of others paint a very dark depiction of outdated forms of patriarchy and how destructive it truly was (and still is today). The Beast, on the other hand, depicts a Byronic masculinity, stemming from the nineteenth century Romantic period. He is angry, yes, but once you look past his darkness, he possesses a heart of gold and a soul worth fighting for. But most importantly, he is emotionally vulnerable; a characteristic that had otherwise been only associated with women, especially in today's modern world. As we all know, and as we will learn in our lesson on Mulan, gender is not black and white and should never be depicted as such.
In terms of the film's storyline itself, Howard Ashman (co-collaborator with Alan Menken for Disney's The Little Mermaid soundtrack as well as Aladdin's), revamped the original work of Director Richard Purdum (as mentioned in the lesson's beginning) and helped avoid a "dragging" second half of the film by suggesting that household objects be featured as enchanted servants of the Prince. Given how essential the characters of Lumière, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and chip are to this film, Ashman's suggestion no doubt makes him a Disney legend. Unfortunately, Ashman did not live to see the final product of Beauty and the Beast: he died in March of that year. The film is dedicated in memory of him: "To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful. Howard Ashman 1950–1991."
Along with his inspirational "enchanted household objects" idea, Ashman set down another Disney tradition: what Altman coined as "the fairy tale musical" (129) which ultimately began with The Little Mermaid, the turning point of the Disney Renaissance, as well as with with Aladdin (which Ashman himself had pitched to the studio back in 1988).
Finally, Woolverton's team also did something relatively new (that sparked yet another Disney tradition); the team depicted Belle as someone who was fixated on the literary tradition that she herself stems from. Belle, a beautiful "bookworm", is constantly preoccupied with fairy tales. Her own subsequent falling into one is therefore a self-reflexive move by Disney writers. Since Belle enjoys reading fairy tales more than any other book, she therefore recognizes (though not out loud) the type of story she finds herself caught in. This motif of self-reflexivity is one that we'll continue to discuss in later lessons throughout this week, so be sure to stick around for more Disney magic!Works Cited
Altman, The American Film Musical. 129-99.
Erb, Cynthia. "Another World or the World of an Other? The Space of Romance in Recent Versions of 'Beauty and the Beast'". Cinema Journal. 34:4. 1995. 50-70.
Warner, Marina. "Beauty and the Beasts." Sight and Sound. 2:6. 1992. 6-11.
If you're eager to participate in more discussion on the film, please do:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tJ3wUQ00-OlJGQmBe2vMb53Q1-K-oscBEhfeWPRMAAw/edit?usp=sharing
Tomorrow, you'll be introduced to another Howard Ashman legendary film: Disney's Aladdin.
EH
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