Beauty and the Beast (Disney song)

was hesitant to record "Beauty and the Beast" because it had been written in a style with which she was unfamiliar; she ultimately recorded the song in one take."Beauty and the Beast" was written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken in 1990. Intending for the song to be "the height of simplicity", Due to Ashman's failing health, some of Beauty and the Beast pre-production was relocated to a hotel in Fishkill, New York, near Ashman's residence. Of the songs he wrote for Beauty and the Beast, Menken devoted the most time to the title song. The track was first recorded by British-American actress Angela Lansbury, who voices the character Mrs. Potts, an enchanted teapot. The songwriters first introduced "Beauty and the Beast" to Lansbury as a demo recording, which was accompanied by a note asking her if she might possibly be interested in singing it. Although a seasoned film and stage performer who had previously done her own singing for Disney in the musical film Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Lansbury, who was more accustomed to performing uptempo songs, was hesitant to record the ballad because of its unfamiliar rock style. Although she liked the song, Lansbury also worried that her aging singing voice was no longer strong enough to record "Beauty and the Beast", and was especially concerned about having to sustain its longer notes. Lansbury suggested that the songwriters ask someone else to sing "Beauty and the Beast", but they insisted that she simply "sing the song the way [she] envisioned it". Unaware of her whereabouts for several hours, the filmmakers had begun making plans to reschedule the session until Lansbury finally telephoned the studio once she arrived safely in New York. At the behest of one of the directors, Lansbury recorded a demo of the song for them to use in the event that no other actress was available to sing it on her behalf, or no character other than Mrs. Potts was deemed suitable. Ultimately, Lansbury recorded her version in one take, which wound up being used in the final film. Producer Don Hahn recalled that the actress simply "sang 'Beauty and the Beast' from beginning to end and just nailed it. We picked up a couple of lines here and there, but essentially that one take is what we used for the movie". Some of Ashman's cut lyrics from the 1991 film were reinstated for the version in the 2017 film. == Animation of the Beauty and the Beast and ballroom sequence ==

The scene in Beauty and the Beast during which the song is heard is the moment when Belle and the Beast's true feelings for each other are finally established. referring to the emotion as "a tale as old as time". According to Armen Karaoghlanian of Interiors, "Belle familiarizes the Beast with the waltz and as soon he feels comfortable, he gracefully moves her across the floor". Believed to be the "centerpiece that brings Beauty and her Beast together," Meanwhile, Belle begins to fall in love with her captor. Writing for The Globe and Mail, Jennie Punter reviewed it as the scene in which "romance finally blossoms". Film critic Ellison Estefan, writing for Estefan Films, believes that the sequence is responsible for "add[ing] another dimension to the characters as they continue to fall deeply in love with each other". Explaining the song's role in the film, director Kirk Wise described the scene as "the culmination of their relationship," while producer Don Hahn pegged it as "the bonding moment of the film when the two main characters finally get together". was responsible for syncing the two traditionally animated characters with their constantly changing computer-animated environment; principal design of the ballroom was handled by Scott F. Johnston. The scene had long been envisioned as having a more live-action feel to it than the rest of the film, an idea that originated from story artists Brenda Chapman and Roger Allers, who were the first to suggest that the ballroom be built using computers. As the film's executive producer, former Head of Disney's film division Jeffrey Katzenberg recalled that he began working on Beauty and the Beast deciding what its "wowie" moment would be, defining this as "the moment in the movie where you see what's on the screen and go, 'Wow-IEE'"; this ultimately became the film's ballroom sequence. According to Hahn, the scene was conceived out of the filmmakers' desire to manipulate the camera in order to "sweep" the audience away. Allers and Chapman conceived the ballroom in order to provide the characters with an area in which they could linger, and were surprised by the amount of artistic freedom with which they were provided by the animators, who agreed to adjust to the changes in perspective that would result from the moving camera. Beauty and the Beast was one of the first feature-length animated films to use computer-generated imagery, which is prominently exhibited throughout the film's "elaborate" ballroom sequence. Light Science: Physics and the Visual Arts author Thomas D. Rossing believes that the filmmakers aimed to achieve "a moving perspective that would follow the dancers around the room, giving visual expression to the soaring emotions of the scene". CGI supervisor Jim Hillin was hired by Hahn to oversee the design of the scene's graphics. However, because the computer-animation medium was so unfamiliar to the filmmakers at the time, First rendered as a simple cube, According to Hillin, the revolutionary use of computers allowed for a combination of theatrical lighting and "sweeping" perspectives, which ultimately introduced live-action techniques to animation. a "virtual camera" was used to allow the animators to create the illusion of tracking, panning and zooming In his book Basics Animation 02: Digital Animation, author Andrew Chong wrote that "The sweeping camera move with a constantly shifting perspective during the ballroom sequence was a composition of traditionally drawn elements for the characters with digitally animated scenery". Several computer animators, layout artists, art directors and background artists used their combined efforts to achieve the scene's end results; the ballroom's official dimensions read 72 feet high, 184 feet long and 126 feet wide. The space also houses 28 windows and a dome that measures 86 by 61 feet; the dome's mural was first hand-painted before it was texture-mapped onto it using a computer. Writing for Combustible Celluloid, Jeffrey M. Anderson believes that "The animators understood that the new technology couldn't be used to represent organic beings, so they simply used it for backgrounds; i.e. the swirling, spinning ballroom during the 'Beauty and the Beast' dance number". At first, Belle and the Beast were vaguely represented by computer-animated box and egg-shaped "stand-ins" in order to choreograph their dance while the ballroom was still little more than a "chicken wire" frame. The characters were eventually updated to "stiff, line-drawn" versions of themselves. Because Belle and the Beast are so "interconnected" during this scene, both characters were animated solely by Belle's supervising animator James Baxter; the Los Angeles Times film critic Charles Solomon observed that Belle looks "liveliest and prettiest" during this scene. At one point, both Baxter and Keane plotted out their characters' routine themselves under the guidance of a professional dance coach. A software created by Pixar named CAPS (Computer Animation Production System) allowed the animators to paint Belle and the Beast using computers as opposed to the more conventional and time-consuming method of painting animated characters by hand. Art director Brian McEntee suggested a blue and gold colour scheme for the characters' costumes at a late-night meeting because he felt that the colors were "compelling" and "regal". Adhering to the ballroom's blue and gold color scheme, Belle's gold ballgown complements the trim on the Beast's tuxedo, as well as the color of the ballroom itself, while the Beast's royal blue attire complements his eyes, the night sky, the curtains and the floor tiles. The entire sequence took several months to complete, much of which was spent syncing the traditionally animated couple with their computer-animated environment, which otherwise would have been virtually impossible had the filmmakers decided to use a more traditional method. When Beauty and the Beast was released, many animators were impressed with the studio for "pushing the envelope", while some considered the scene to be "a miserable failure", accusing its new technology of distracting from "the moment". Describing the scene as "an early experiment in computer animation," Josh Larsen of Larsen on Film observed that the ballroom sequence features "the camera swooping in and around to provide an expansive sense of space that 3-D still isn't able to capture". In her book The Beautiful Ache, author Leigh McLeroy wrote that the scene represents "one of those strange moments where love creeps in against all odds and insists on staying put". Audiences tend to remember the ballroom sequence as "the one in which Belle and the Beast share a romantic dance as the camera files and spins around them". Angela Lansbury recalled being "astonished" when she first saw the "huge" and "unique" scene. IGN believes that the scene "signals the completion of [the Beast's] inner change - from irascible recluse into [Belle's] true love". == Music and lyrical interpretation ==

The original film version of "Beauty and the Beast" performed by Lansbury was written in the key of D-flat major at a "moderately slow" tempo of 84 beats per minute (Andante), at a duration of two minutes and forty-six seconds. rock-influenced Stephen Whitty of NJ.com described "Beauty and the Beast" as a "Broadway ballad". Film critic Roger Ebert described the song's melody as "haunting", while Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum dubbed the song as a "lullaby". The Disney Song Encyclopedia author Thomas S. Hischak described Menken's melody as "flowing", while BuzzFeed's Aylin Zafar wrote that the song is "Tender and warm". Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Gene Siskel described Lansbury's voice, which spans two octaves from F3 to B♭5, Meanwhile, Michael Cheang of The Star and Bill Gibron of PopMatters wrote that Lansbury performed using a "fragile" Instrumentally, "Beauty and the Beast" features several chord changes, woodwinds, and violins. GamesRadar observed that "Beauty and the Beast" includes a key change during which "the music swells, and then the orchestra subsides to leave just trembling violins". R.L. Shaffer of IGN identified "Beauty and the Beast" as a "tear-jerking poetic ballad". Film Genre 2000: New Critical Essays author Wheeler W. Dixon believes that the song's lyrics are about the couple's "implicit promise of regeneration through love". 29 lines in length, all of which are exactly five syllables, "Beauty and the Beast" is a love song about a couple's transformation from friends into "something more". The film's theme song, its lyrics "capture the essence of the film" by describing the relationship between Beauty and the Beast two main characters, specifically citing ways in which the two have changed each other for the better and finally learned to accept their differences and mistakes. According to Jake Cole of Not Just Movies, the first stanza begins "in earnest, and the subtlety of it has the ironic effect of being overpowering". Meanwhile, Songfacts believes that "The message of the song is that a couple can be 'as old as time' no matter how different they are". According to Chris Lucas of Moviepilot, Ashman's lyrics describe the couple's "hesitation and surprise at falling in love unexpectedly," Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune believes that the ballad "makes the case for all lovers to look past their partners' faults and into their hearts," According to the lyricist's website, "Beauty and the Beast" summarizes the way in which "Belle tames the beast and finds the happy ending she has dreamed about". The Meanings of "Beauty and the Beast": A Handbook author Jerry Griswold believes that the song's opening line "tale as old as time" alludes to the fact that Belle's story is an ancient, timeless one "deliberately situated within the context of other traditional tales;" hers is simply "the newest incarnation" of it. ''The Translation of the Songs in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast": an example of Manipulation'' author Lucía Loureiro Porto agrees that although the song "does not tell any story, it is made of phrases that imply that love is as old a feeling as mankind". According to Perry Seibert of AllMovie, "Beauty and the Beast" is "as sappy as Ashman ever got as a lyricist". Seibert believes that the song "acknowledges its own banality ... without minimizing or mocking its inherently sweet description of true love". Reflecting upon Ashman's death, Roger Moore of the Chicago Tribune believes that the song "was [Ashman's] farewell to love and life and imagination". == Reception ==

Critical response "Beauty and the Beast" received widespread acclaim from film and music critics alike. Film critic Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised "Beauty and the Beast", describing it as "a glorious ballad" while dubbing it Ashman and Menken's "biggest triumph". Beliefnet called the song "stirring", while Hal Hinson of The Washington Post considers it to be among the film's best. Roger Moore of the Chicago Tribune referred to "Beauty and the Beast" as a "brilliant" song that "can move you to tears," while James Berardinelli of ReelViews cited it among the film's most "memorable" songs. Anthony Quinn of The Independent highlighted "Beauty and the Beast" as the film's best song, going on to praise Lansbury's "magnificent" performance, while the Deseret News Chris Hicks called it "beautiful". Simon Brew of Den of Geek specifically enjoyed the lyrics "bittersweet and strange, finding you can change," describing the song as "superb". Lansbury's vocal performance has also been singled out for praise: Slant Magazines Jaime N. Christley wrote that Lansbury "delivers the film's title tune, gooey treacle that it is, like nobody's business". Describing the song as "beautiful", the Chicago Tribunes Gene Siskel wrote that "Beauty and the Beast" is "performed poignantly by the richly textured voice of Angela Lansbury". Aylin Zara of BuzzFeed opined that Lansbury's version is superior to the single, penning, "Though the commercial pop version of 'Beauty and the Beast,' sung by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson, is great, the film version — performed by Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts — is even better. Tender and warm ... it tugs at all the right heartstrings to get your eyes a little misty". The ballroom sequence during which Belle and the Beast dance to "Beauty and the Beast" continues to be praised, especially for its use of computer animation. The first time the "Beauty and the Beast" musical sequence was made available to the public, it was in the form of an unfinished scene at the New York Film Festival in September 1991, to which Disney had been invited to premiere an incomplete version of Beauty and the Beast that largely consisted of uncolored pencil tests and storyboards. The New York Times' Janet Maslin appreciated being previewed to the unfinished ballroom scene, writing, "when the radiant sight of Beauty and the Beast waltzing together, to the sound of the lilting theme song by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman stirs emotion even in this sketchy form, then both the power and the artifice of animation make themselves felt". while The Globe and Mails Jennie Punter called the scene "glorious". The Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr praised both layout artist Lisa Keene and computer animator Jim Hillin's combined efforts on the scene, identifying it as the film's "most impressive setting". When Beauty and the Beast was re-released in 3D in 2012, Annlee Ellingson of Paste appreciated the way in which the sequence was adapted, describing it as "positively vertiginous". Mike Scott of The Times-Picayune hailed it as a "gorgeous" and "memorable" scene that "still stands out as one of the film's more dazzling", while Joanna Berry of The National wrote that "the ballroom sequence now seems to sparkle even more". Although Boxoffices Todd Gilchrist's response towards the film's 3D conversion overall was mixed, the critic admitted that "the times when the animators use computer animation to render the backgrounds", including during "the dance sequence between Belle and Beast ... are effective, immersive and maybe even memorable". Contrastingly, Chris Hicks of the Deseret News felt that "Today, the ballroom sequence no longer feels fresh and new after so many recent computer-animated 3-D efforts, but that doesn't diminish the power of its gorgeous design". Although James Berardinelli of ReelViews had originally reviewed the sequence as "the best scene in the movie", he felt that the 3D conversion "diminishes the romance and emotion of the ballroom dance". were astonishing. The Beauty and the Beast ballroom sequence "thematized marriage in the dance" by illustrating a "nuptial rehearsal" which contrasts the "now" (3D animation) with "then" (2D animation) in a "successful marriage of character and set". The Studios After the Studios explains: "This chronological fusion was itself classicised by Mrs Potts' song: she turns a moment of industrial novelty into balance". Awards and recognition "Beauty and the Beast" has won several awards. The song garnered the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 49th Golden Globe Awards in January 1992. The following March, "Beauty and the Beast" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 64th Academy Awards. The award was for Ashman, who had died of AIDS on March 14, 1991, eight months before the film's release. Menken acknowledged Ashman in his acceptance speech, while thanking Lansbury, Dion, Bryson and Afanasieff for their contributions. one for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. An instrumental version arranged and conducted by Richard S. Kaufman won the 1993 Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. This rendition was performed by the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra for the album Symphonic Hollywood, under the record company Varèse Sarabande. The James Galway instrumental movie version performed by The Galway Pops Orchestra and featured on the album Galway at the Movies was nominated in 1994 for the Best Pop Instrumental Performance Grammy. The American Film Institute ranked "Beauty and the Beast" 62nd on the organization's list of the 100 greatest songs in film history. "Beauty and the Beast" is one of only four songs from Disney animated films to have appeared on the list. When BuzzFeed organized "The Definitive Ranking Of The 102 Best Animated Disney Songs" list, "Beauty and the Beast" was placed at number four, Similarly, "Beauty and the Beast" is the fourth greatest Disney song according to M. Spin placed "Beauty and the Beast" at number 30 on the magazine's ranking of "Every Oscar Winner for Best Original Song". The same website included the pop version on its "Top 20 Disney Songs by Pop Stars" list. In Den of Geek's article "Top 12 most memorable dance scenes in films", the ballroom sequence was ranked fifth. GamesRadar also included the scene on the website's "50 Greatest Movie Dance Sequences", with author Kim Sheehan lauding it as "more moving and romantic than most live-action dances". Oh No They Didn't ranked the song 2nd in its The Top 25 Disney Songs of All Time article, writing of its "vintage feel...brimming with life and originality", the "surprising effectiveness" of Lansbury's performance, and the "captivating on-screen animation". The song was listed 8th is Metro's article Ranked – the top 20 Disney songs ever, with writer Duncan Lindsay commenting "...this dance sequence with Angela Lansbury's gorgeous tones was one of Disney's most romantic. What a song". Certifications == Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson version ==

• Walt Disney • Epic • Columbia }} }} Background and recording Much to Disney's surprise, Beauty and the Beast received three separate Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song. leading the studio to commission a pop arrangement for the film's end credits – the first time a Disney song had been adapted in this manner. Menken described the experience as a "turning point" in his career, as it marked the first occasion on which one of his compositions had undergone such a transformation. The song was produced by Walter Afanasieff and arranged by musician Robbie Buchanan. Menken praised Afanasieff for shaping the track in his own distinctive way. Unable at the time to hire a "big singer", the studio selected rising Canadian recording artist Celine Dion. Menken, who admired Dion's work, personally wrote her a letter of approval. Dion, who came from the French‑Canadian province of Quebec, had only recently begun learning English. Ronstadt, producer Steven Spielberg's first choice, agreed to record "Dreams to Dream" only after hearing Dion's demo. The song's instrumental tracks were recorded first at The Plant Recording Studios in California. The singers then recorded their vocals at The Power Station in New York over the Labor Day long weekend, The song was released as the soundtrack's only single, appearing alongside Lansbury's version, on October 28, 1991, by Walt Disney Records, and Sony Music labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. It begins in the key of F major at a moderately slow tempo of 72 beats per minute, then modulates to D major, G major, and finally E major. The orchestration of the "conservatively-rendered pop song", Additionally, the song's "jazzy" instrumentation relies heavily on drums, an element largely absent from the remainder of the soundtrack. According to Molly Lambert of Grantland, the track is "a sweeping downtempo ... ballad" that evokes an "early '90s gossamer high-tech style". Molly Horan of Refinery29 described it as a slow jam. According to the Chicago Tribune Brad Webber, Dion and Bryson's vocals are "resonant and multiflavored". The opening line "Tale as old as time" is preceded by Dion ad-libbing "Ooh". Filmtracks.com wrote that Dion's performance "made many fans wish that she had been given it as a solo". Arion Berger of Entertainment Weekly praised Dion's vocals, calling the song "a perfect showcase for what she's best at". Describing the duet as "extremely effective", Sputnikmusic's Irving Tan lauded the single, writing that "as the entirety of the film's poignancy is hinged on the chemistry between Bryson and Dion, having the pair pull their assignment off beautifully is ultimately a fantastic conclusion to events". Jeff Benjamin of Fuse described the track as "a fantastic duet". However, the Chicago Tribune Brad Webber criticized the rendition as a "sickly sweet, by-the-book ... standard" that "belie[s] [Dion's] talent". Dan Caffrey of Consequence of Sound felt that "It's a shame that the most globally known version of 'Beauty and the Beast' is the one sung by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson as opposed to the one sung by" Lansbury. Industry awards At the 35th Grammy Awards, "Beauty and the Beast" won the award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals. The song was also nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, In Canada, "Beauty and the Beast" won a Juno Award for Single of the Year, beating Dion's own "If You Asked Me To". In 1993, the song also received an ASCAP Film and Television Music Award and an ASCAP Pop Award for most performed song in the United States. Awarding the Dion–Bryson version an 'A' grade, Grantland ranked the song second in its article "Counting Down the Top 10 in ... Kids Music!", Commercial performance "Beauty and the Beast" was a commercial success worldwide. Billboard ranked it as the 5th biggest hit from animated Disney films in Hot 100 history. The song peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Dion's second top‑ten hit on the chart after "Where Does My Heart Beat Now". It reached number three on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart. In Canada, "Beauty and the Beast" peaked at number two. Music video Dion and Bryson's recording session at The Power Station The video premiered on the music channel VH-1, exposing viewers who were not accustomed to seeing animated characters within regular programming to a new format. Dion and Bryson also duetted at the Grammys, the World Music Awards, the AMAs, Wogan, The Tonight Show, and Top of the Pops later that year. The duo reunited in 1996 to perform the song for the television special Oprah in Disneyland, while Lansbury delivered an encore performance at the 25th anniversary screening of the film. Each of the three artists has performed the song in concerts later in their careers, outside the context of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Lansbury, for example, sang it at the 2002 Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Dion and Bryson also duetted at the JT Super Producers 94 tribute concert to David Foster, and during Dion's 1994–95 The Colour of My Love Tour. Dion has also performed the song with Tommy Körberg, Brian McKnight, Terry Bradford, Maurice Davis, Barnev Valsaint, and René Froger, among others. Bryson has performed it with Coko, and Regine Velasquez. Personnel • Celine Dion – vocals • Peabo Bryson – vocals • Walter Afanasieff – production, synthesized bass, keyboards, synthesizer, drum programming, percussion • Joel Peskin – oboe • Ren Klyce – Akai AX73 and Synclavier programming • Dan Shea – MacIntosh programming Formats and track listing • 7-inch, 12-inch, cassette, 3-inch CD, and CD single • "Beauty and the Beast" – 3:57 • "The Beast Lets Belle Go" (instrumental) – 2:19 • Canadian CD maxi-single • "Beauty and the Beast" – 3:57 • "The Beast Lets Belle Go" (instrumental) – 2:19 • "Des mots qui sonnent" – 3:56 • "Délivre-moi" (live) – 4:19 • US promotional CD single • "Beauty and the Beast" (radio edit) – 3:30 Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications and sales Release history == Ariana Grande and John Legend version ==

}} American singers Ariana Grande and John Legend covered "Beauty and the Beast" for the 2017 live-action adaption of the same name. Charts Certifications == Covers and use in media ==

In 1993, jazz singer Chris Connor covered "Beauty and the Beast" for her album My Funny Valentine. In 1998, O'Hara recorded a version of "Beauty and the Beast" for her album Dream with Me. This marked the first time O'Hara had ever recorded the song, although she has covered it live several times. Billboard reviewed O'Hara's performance positively, writing that the actress provides each song with "the right youthful and gentle touch". In 2000, singer Kenny Loggins covered the song on his children's music album More Songs from Pooh Corner. In 2002, music group Jump5 covered "Beauty and the Beast" for the Walt Disney Records compilation album Disneymania; a music video was released later that year and included as a bonus feature on the film's Platinum Edition DVD re-release, Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition. Belonging to a segment known as "Chip's Fun and Games - For the Young at Heart", the music video features the group performing their "bouncy" teen pop rendition of the song interpolated with scenes from the film. Lauren Duca of The Huffington Post described the group's uptempo cover as "ridiculously '90s pop". Meanwhile, musical duo H & Claire covered the song for the film's Platinum Edition re-release in the United Kingdom, which Betty Clarke of The Guardian dismissed as a "boring" rendition. On the country-themed compilation album The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney (1996), "Beauty and the Beast" was covered by country band Diamond Rio. To support the film's Diamond Edition re-release in 2010, singer Jordin Sparks recorded an R&B version of "Beauty and the Beast", which was released on iTunes in September. A music video directed by Philip Andelman was included on the re-release as a bonus feature, part of the disc's "Music and More" segment. The video depicts Sparks performing "Beauty and the Beast" in a castle. The cover is believed to have initiated the singer's gradual transition from music to film. The compilation album Eurobeat Disney (2010) features a Eurobeat cover by singer Domino. In 2014, actors Clare Bowen and Sam Palladio covered "Beauty and the Beast" for the television special Backstage with Disney on Broadway: Celebrating 20 Years, which documents the development of eight of Disney's Broadway musicals. Both known for their roles in the television musical drama Nashville, Bowen, a fan of the film, arranged the cover herself to satisfy the documentary producers' vision, who "were looking for performers who could offer unexpected interpretations of the [musicals'] familiar tunes". Hilary Lewis of The Hollywood Reporter observed that Bowen and Palladio's rendition "is more stripped down" than the stage, Lansbury and Dion-Bryson versions. We Love Disney Indonesia (2015) featured a cover by Chilla Kiana, while We Love Disney (Latino) (2016) featured a cover by Jencarlos and Paula Rojo. The song appears in the Broadway musical adaptation of the film, which premiered in 1994. When the song first premiered on Broadway, there were few Broadway musicals at the time that featured ballads about love. Originally covered live by actress Beth Fowler as Mrs. Potts, "Beauty and the Beast" was included on the Original Broadway Cast Recording of the musical, again performed by Fowler. While critical reception towards the musical ranged from negative to mixed, John Simon of New York commended Fowler for "manag[ing] to heat up and brighten [her] material". Within the realm of reality television talent competitions, "Beauty and the Beast" was covered on The Voice Australia by contestants Lionel Cole and Sabrina Batshon in 2014. Candice Barnes of The Sydney Morning Herald reviewed that the "song suited Sabrina best" while it was "too high" for Cole, in the end accusing both contestants of "destroying one of the best loved Disney songs with their vocal gymnastics". In 1998, a version of the song, called "Beauty and the Bees", was made for the 3D movie ''It's Tough to Be a Bug!'' queue at Disney's Animal Kingdom and Disney California Adventure Park. The song, written by Bruce Broughton and George Wilkins, was released on the album The Legacy Collection: Disneyland. In 2021, the song was featured in the second season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. == Impact and legacy ==

The overall success of Beauty and the Beast is partially attributed to the song's popularity. Andrew Unterberger of Spin believes that the song "set the template for the quivering love theme in '90s Disney movies". Gary Trust of Billboard determined that "Once Beauty and the Beast followed in 1991 ... Disney was dominating charts like never before". The single ended a thirty-year-long absence of Disney-released chart hits between the 1960s and 1990s, and inspired several similar hits; popular recording artists such as Elton John, Vanessa Williams, Michael Bolton, Christina Aguilera, Sting, Randy Newman and Phil Collins each experienced varying degrees of success with their own pop renditions of Disney songs throughout the decade. Writing for Sputnikmusic, Irving Tan wrote that "Although the number's 1992 Academy Award for Best Original Song is something of an old chestnut at this point, it still bears some worth repeating - mainly as it is very likely the most famous of all the feature theme songs ever commissioned by Walt Disney Studios". Famous for successfully combining volumetric depth with dancing animated characters, the scene is now revered by film critics as a classic, groundbreaking and iconic moment in animation history, responsible for "chang[ing] the game" of contemporary animation. Gaye Birch of Den of Geek pegged the scene as a Disney landmark because its accomplishments were "visually impressive in a way we hadn't experienced in a Disney movie before". On the sequence's pioneering Mike Scott of The Times-Picayune holds the scene responsible for the subsequent success of Pixar' computer-animated films, concluding that "the warm reaction to that single scene would serve as a major springboard for the computer-animation industry -- and a major blow to hand-drawn animation". According to Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation author Tom Vito, the scene "made many skeptics in Hollywood begin to look at CG seriously," Additionally, the scene is also appreciated as a dance sequence. The Houston Press' Adam Castaneda extolled it as "one of the finest dance sequences in the history of film". The golden ballgown Belle wears in the scene is now revered as iconic, with Vogue ranking it among the most famous dresses in history. as an international recording artist. Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack continues to be best remembered for spawning the Dion-Bryson single, which established itself as an instant classic. Before agreeing to record "Beauty and the Beast", Dion had been fired from recording the theme song of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West in favor of the more well-known Linda Ronstadt. Although both singles were released around the same time, the success of Dion's song ultimately eclipsed Ronstadt's "Dreams to Dream". According to Lifetime, the song "cemented her international success," while People wrote that the release of "Beauty and the Beast" is when the singer truly went "global". In the wake of "Beauty and the Beast"'s success, young fans who had not yet learned Dion's name would simply refer to her as "Beauty and the Beast". serving as the record's "cornerstone". American musician Prince was so moved by Dion's performance on "Beauty and the Beast" after hearing it on the radio that he personally wrote a song for her to include on the album. According to Filmtracks.com, "Beauty and the Beast" offered "a glimpse at a forthcoming mega-movie song presence for Celine Dion". including "When I Fall in Love" from Sleepless in Seattle (1993), "Because You Loved Me" from Up Close & Personal (1996) and finally her signature song "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic (1997). "Beauty and the Beast" has since appeared on several of Dion's greatest hits albums, while the singer has returned to Disney as a special guest to host various segments for certain Beauty and the Beast re-releases. In addition to establishing Bryson as a mainstream recording artist, the singer has since returned to Disney on two separate occasions to record pop versions of "A Whole New World" and "As Long as There's Christmas", the theme songs of the animated films Aladdin (1992) and Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997), respectively, both of which are duets. Although "A Whole New World" was very successful, "Beauty and the Beast" remains a larger hit for the singer. Bryson also included "Beauty and the Beast" on some of his compilation albums, including Through the Fire (1994) and Super Hits (2000). Meanwhile, Afanasieff would go on to produce several Disney singles, including "A Whole New World" from Aladdin, for which he reunited with Bryson, and "Go the Distance" from Hercules (1997). In 2004, Bryson was forced by the International Revenue Service (IRS) to auction off several of his personal belongings in order to help repay the singer's $1.2 million tax debt, among them his Grammy Awards for "Beauty and the Beast" and "A Whole New World". While the latter song's Grammy was purchased by a friend and gifted back to the singer, Bryson's Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals trophy for "Beauty and the Beast" was ultimately sold to a stranger for $15,500. Both the song's film and single versions have been included on several compilation albums released by Disney, including The Music of Disney: A Legacy in Song (1992), Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic (1995), Disney's Superstar Hits (2004), Ultimate Disney Princess (2006), The Best Disney Album in the World ...Ever! (2006), and Now That's What I Call Disney (2011). In 2005, actress and singer Julie Andrews, a Disney Legend, included Lansbury's rendition of "Beauty and the Beast" on her album Julie Andrews Selects Her Favourite Disney Songs, although she does not cover the song herself; the album is simply a compilation of Andrews' favourite Disney songs. Parodies The pilot episode of the animated TV series The Critic featured a minute-long "musical lampoon" of the Beauty and the Beast ballroom sequence and song entitled "Beauty and King Dork", written and composed by The Simpsons writer Jeff Martin. In the context of the episode, the unappealing protagonist Jay Sherman falls in love with a beautiful actress named Valerie, and this song is performed as they dance in his apartment where they are serenaded by a sentient vacuum cleaner and toilet. AnimatedViews deemed it "a spot-on rendition" due to its use of singing furniture and "lavish" CGI-animated backgrounds. Hollywood.com listed it in its article The Best Parodies of Disney Songs from Cartoons, writing " It's a quick one, but the inclusion of singing dust busters, a Mork and Mindy reference, and Jay Sherman's attempts to cover up the embarrassing lyrics make for one of the best gags on the list". It was TelevisionWithoutPity's "favorite musical number" from the series. Slant Magazine saw it as a "gut-busting parody". CantStopTheMovies said the "nice scene" was "a bit crass" due to the singing toilet, yet had mostly "pretty great" lyrics. In Disney's fantasy film Enchanted (2007), the Jon McLaughlin ballad "So Close" serves as a "deliberate" reference to both the song and scene. Because director Kevin Lima had always wanted to recreate the cinematography exhibited in Beauty and the Beast ballroom sequence in live-action, an entire dance sequence was filmed to accommodate his vision. In addition to being composed by Alan Menken, one-half of "Beauty and the Beast"'s songwriters, "So Close" was arranged by Robbie Buchanan, who arranged the Dion-Bryson single. In a duet with Jimmy Fallon, American singer Ariana Grande impersonated Dion while performing "Beauty and the Beast" live on the comedian's late-night talk show in 2015. M Magazine deemed it "amazing", while 2DayFM said "the singing is so good it gave me goosebumps". SugarScape deemed it "pretty hilarious and surprisingly pretty much spot on". Billboard said the duo "put their own spin" on the song, and that she "nailed her Celine impression". NineMSN called it a "pitch-perfect rendition", while Access Hollywood said she belted out the song like a diva. The ballroom sequence was parodied in an episode of Family Guy. == See also ==