Reports came out in early summer of 2014 that Disney was looking into making a live-action adaptation to their own Beauty and the Beast. After the recent financial success of Maleficent, Disney may start to remake their animated classics into live-action films. Even a teaser trailer for Cinderella was recently released and is set for a March 2015 release. However, Maleficent was met with mixed reviews and disappointed many fans of the original tale of Sleeping Beauty. With the hopes that Beauty and Beast does not make the same mistakes like Maleficent I will reveal my opinion on what I feel should happen with a live-action Beauty and the Beast by looking into the original fairy tale and 1991 classic.
To begin, the origins of Belle and the Beast must be explored. Belle explains in the opening song "Belle" that she and her father had moved to "this poor provincial town." Where did they originally come from? The original fairy tale explains that Belle actually isn't the only child of her father. She is one of three sisters and three brothers! She is the only daughter of pure heart as her two sisters are wicked and selfish. Her father is also a wealthy merchant who lost all of his money out at sea, not an inventor as depicted in the film. This would be an interesting storyline to explore to see how exactly Belle grew up. Also, Belle's mother is not mentioned in either the story or the film which could provide another storyline for Disney to create. With Belle's origins possibly explored, what about the Beast? The original story has the same origin of the Beast as the movie, in which a fairy turned him into a hideous beast after he refused to give her shelter from a storm, and that only true love could break the curse. However, there is an alternative origin story.
Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve published the first version of the story, while Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont republished it into the most popular version. Villeneuve's version included several elements that Beaumont did not include in her version. The alternate origin story is that the Beast was a prince who lost his father at a young age, and whose mother had to face a war to defend their kingdom. The queen left him in care of an evil fairy, who eventually tried to seduce him when he became an adult. When he refused, she transformed him into a beast out of spite. The alternate story of Belle is that she is not a merchant's daughter but the offspring of a king and a good fairy. The same wicked fairy had tried to kill Belle so she could marry her father the king. Belle was then put in care of the merchant in order to protect her.
There are also many other differences between the original story and the film. One is that the iconic Disney villain Gatson is not even a character in the original story! Also, Belle's father in the fairy tale tried to retrieve his fortune but on his way back he takes shelter in the Beast's castle and also takes a rose. Upset, the Beast decides that Belle's father must stay forever, but allows him to return the rose to Belle. Belle decides to become the Beast's prisoner instead. It's similar to the film, but not exactly the same. When Belle arrives, the Beast informs her that she is now mistress of the castle, and he is her servant. Unlike in the movie where she just lives with him as he lets his servants serve Belle. The Beast also gives Belle clothing and food and has conversations with her, while proposing to her every night only to be rejected. In the film, the two do not seem to be very interested in each other at first and barely interact. In the fairy tale, Belle dreams of a handsome prince who asks why she keeps refusing The Beast, she replies by saying the Beast is only her friend. Belle does not make the connection that the handsome prince is the Beast and thinks that the Beast is holding the prince hostage somewhere in the castle. She searches only to never find the prince. Like the film, the Beast allows Belle to go home, but only for a week and gives her the same magic mirror and a ring to transport her back immediately. This leads up to the same ending as the film's.
With all of this here is what I would love to see come from the live-action Beauty and the Beast. I would love to see the story be told from the Beast's point of view. I would really like to see the tragedy the occurred when the Beast was a boy. I think he should see his father be murdered by a man in the same fashion Gatson was almost killed. At the moment when the Beast did not drop Gatson he had a certain look in his eyes, I feel this would be a good way to justify that look. Also, his depressed lifestyle after his father's death would be a good way to see him transform into a selfish prince leading up to him being physically transformed into the Beast. My personal twist to the tale would be the Beast going down to town where Belle lives on Halloween when he is still young. During Halloween he befriends Belle for a minutes before people realize he is not wearing a costume. The Beast runs away and Belle is left curious leading into her interest in books. Also, the castle's servings would not become actual objects, but either ghosts or moving paintings, forcing the Beast to become more independent. This would allow him to build some chemistry with Belle when she first arrives at the castle to show him how to properly live. I would also like to see Belle sing a song to Beast and realize she may have feelings for the Beast. Lastly when the Beast dies, the whole town realizes that he is not evil and carries him out of the castle to Belle.
A lot can happen with the live-action film, but I would love to see the core that made the animated film so special be kept with some new twists and details from the original fairy tale. I hope that Disney can possibly surprise us once again. Until the live-action release of "The Tale as Old as Time."
-J.M.
To begin, the origins of Belle and the Beast must be explored. Belle explains in the opening song "Belle" that she and her father had moved to "this poor provincial town." Where did they originally come from? The original fairy tale explains that Belle actually isn't the only child of her father. She is one of three sisters and three brothers! She is the only daughter of pure heart as her two sisters are wicked and selfish. Her father is also a wealthy merchant who lost all of his money out at sea, not an inventor as depicted in the film. This would be an interesting storyline to explore to see how exactly Belle grew up. Also, Belle's mother is not mentioned in either the story or the film which could provide another storyline for Disney to create. With Belle's origins possibly explored, what about the Beast? The original story has the same origin of the Beast as the movie, in which a fairy turned him into a hideous beast after he refused to give her shelter from a storm, and that only true love could break the curse. However, there is an alternative origin story.
Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve published the first version of the story, while Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont republished it into the most popular version. Villeneuve's version included several elements that Beaumont did not include in her version. The alternate origin story is that the Beast was a prince who lost his father at a young age, and whose mother had to face a war to defend their kingdom. The queen left him in care of an evil fairy, who eventually tried to seduce him when he became an adult. When he refused, she transformed him into a beast out of spite. The alternate story of Belle is that she is not a merchant's daughter but the offspring of a king and a good fairy. The same wicked fairy had tried to kill Belle so she could marry her father the king. Belle was then put in care of the merchant in order to protect her.
There are also many other differences between the original story and the film. One is that the iconic Disney villain Gatson is not even a character in the original story! Also, Belle's father in the fairy tale tried to retrieve his fortune but on his way back he takes shelter in the Beast's castle and also takes a rose. Upset, the Beast decides that Belle's father must stay forever, but allows him to return the rose to Belle. Belle decides to become the Beast's prisoner instead. It's similar to the film, but not exactly the same. When Belle arrives, the Beast informs her that she is now mistress of the castle, and he is her servant. Unlike in the movie where she just lives with him as he lets his servants serve Belle. The Beast also gives Belle clothing and food and has conversations with her, while proposing to her every night only to be rejected. In the film, the two do not seem to be very interested in each other at first and barely interact. In the fairy tale, Belle dreams of a handsome prince who asks why she keeps refusing The Beast, she replies by saying the Beast is only her friend. Belle does not make the connection that the handsome prince is the Beast and thinks that the Beast is holding the prince hostage somewhere in the castle. She searches only to never find the prince. Like the film, the Beast allows Belle to go home, but only for a week and gives her the same magic mirror and a ring to transport her back immediately. This leads up to the same ending as the film's.
With all of this here is what I would love to see come from the live-action Beauty and the Beast. I would love to see the story be told from the Beast's point of view. I would really like to see the tragedy the occurred when the Beast was a boy. I think he should see his father be murdered by a man in the same fashion Gatson was almost killed. At the moment when the Beast did not drop Gatson he had a certain look in his eyes, I feel this would be a good way to justify that look. Also, his depressed lifestyle after his father's death would be a good way to see him transform into a selfish prince leading up to him being physically transformed into the Beast. My personal twist to the tale would be the Beast going down to town where Belle lives on Halloween when he is still young. During Halloween he befriends Belle for a minutes before people realize he is not wearing a costume. The Beast runs away and Belle is left curious leading into her interest in books. Also, the castle's servings would not become actual objects, but either ghosts or moving paintings, forcing the Beast to become more independent. This would allow him to build some chemistry with Belle when she first arrives at the castle to show him how to properly live. I would also like to see Belle sing a song to Beast and realize she may have feelings for the Beast. Lastly when the Beast dies, the whole town realizes that he is not evil and carries him out of the castle to Belle.
A lot can happen with the live-action film, but I would love to see the core that made the animated film so special be kept with some new twists and details from the original fairy tale. I hope that Disney can possibly surprise us once again. Until the live-action release of "The Tale as Old as Time."
-J.M.