| Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
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 Artwork for original release | ||||
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | ||||
| Released | October 22, 1991 (original release)[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1989–1991 | |||
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 50:12 (1991 release) | |||
| Label | Walt Disney | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Walt Disney Animation Studios soundtrack chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
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Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the officialsoundtrack album to the 1991Disney animated filmBeauty and the Beast. Originally released on October 22, 1991, byWalt Disney Records, the album's first half – tracks 2 to 9 – generally contains the film'smusical numbers, all of which were written by composerAlan Menken and lyricistHoward Ashman, while its latter half – tracks 10 to 14 – features itsmusical score, composed solely by Menken. While the majority of the album's content remains within themusical theatre genre, its songs have also been influenced byFrench,classical,pop andBroadway music. Credited to Various Artists,Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features performances by the film's main cast –Paige O'Hara,Richard White,Jesse Corti,Jerry Orbach,Angela Lansbury,Robby Benson andDavid Ogden Stiers – in order of appearance. Additionally, the album features recording artistsCeline Dion andPeabo Bryson, who perform a pop rendition of the film's theme songof the same name, which simultaneously serves as the soundtrack's only single.
Following a difficult period during whereWalt Disney Feature Animation struggled to release successful animated feature films, the studio, inspired by their most recent animated successThe Little Mermaid(1989), decided to adapt the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" into ananimated musical film after a non-musical adaptation had been attempted that failed to impressJeffrey Katzenberg, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios. Katzenberg ordered that production on the film be started over from scratch, hiring songwriting team Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, who had just recently completed scoringThe Little Mermaid, to write the film's songs. Dion and Bryson were hired to record a pop version of – and draw media attention to – the film's title song. Ashman, who was initially hesitant to join the project, died ofAIDS before the film's completion and the album's release.
Like the film, the soundtrack was a massive critical success, receiving universal praise and recognition from both film and music critics. The music featured on the album won several awards, including theGolden Globe Award forBest Original Score, theAcademy Award forBest Original Score and theGrammy Award forBest Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television. Its title track and only single, "Beauty and the Beast", achieved similar success, winning theGolden Globe Award for Best Original Song,Academy Award for Best Original Song and Grammy Awards for bothBest Song Written for Visual Media andBest Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The soundtrack was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
On December 18, 2001, the soundtrack was re-released as aSpecial Edition to coincide with theIMAX re-issue of the film and the upcoming two-disc Platinum Edition. The new release featured the film version of "Transformation", which had been replaced with an early unused version in some early pressings, the newly animated song "Human Again", the original instrumental intended for the "Transformation" scene (titled "Death of the Beast (Early Version)" here) and demos for "Be Our Guest" and the title track. On September 14, 2010, the soundtrack was re-released again as a Diamond Edition soundtrack; to coincide with the successful Blu-ray and DVD Diamond Edition release of the film, the 1991 version of the soundtrack was released and includedJordin Sparks' cover of "Beauty and the Beast" as a bonus track. The soundtrack wasreissued as the fourteenth entry inThe Legacy Collection on February 9, 2018, and includes previously unreleased score.
During the 1970s and 1980s,Walt Disney Feature Animation struggled to release animated feature films that achieved the levels of success that some of the studio's earlier productions did. In 1989,Walt Disney Pictures releasedThe Little Mermaid.Ananimated musical that features songs written by lyricistHoward Ashman (who is also the film's producer) and composerAlan Menken,The Little Mermaid was both a tremendous critical and commercial success. Hoping to release a film that achieved similar success, the studio decided to adapt the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" byJeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont into an animated film.
Prior to getting professionally involved with Disney, Ashman and Menken had collaborated on amusical adaptation ofLittle Shop of Horrors and its subsequent musicalfilm adaptation. Following the studio's attempt to adapt the fairy tale into a non-musical animated film under the direction of Richard Purdum, Disney CEOJeffrey Katzenberg, dissatisfied by the direction in which the film was headed, ordered that it be scrapped and restarted from scratch, this time in the form of a musical. In addition to hiring a screenwriter, Katzenberg recruited Ashman and Menken to write the film's songs.
Ashman was initially reluctant to agree to work onBeauty and the Beast because he had just recently been diagnosed withAIDS. Additionally, he had already begun writing songs forAladdin(1992). Ashman's health began deteriorating soon after he completedThe Little Mermaid. However, he wanted his illness to remain secret and decided to tell few about it. Too weak to travel, Ashman requested that he be allowed to work on the film's songs from his home, causing Menken and the filmmakers to frequently travel from the film's studio inBurbank, California to his home in New York in order to collaborate with him. Ashman wrote the majority of the song's lyrics from his deathbed.[2][3][4]
Lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken intended for the songs inBeauty and the Beast to serve asplot devices and assist in the telling of its story. According to Menken, the film's songs grew out of the fact that the film was written to "almost ... exist as a stage musical."[5] Stylistically, Ashman and Menken drew creative influence from several musical styles and genres, includingFrench,classical andBroadway music, using them as reference and inspiration when composing the film's songs.[6] Menken also revealed that the film's songs and score tend to convey a wide variety of emotions, ranging from poignancy to humor and joy.[7]
While composing the orchestral score that accompanies the film'sprologue, Menken was inspired by the FrenchsuiteThe Carnival of the Animals byCamille Saint-Saëns, referring to it as his own version of Saint-Saëns' composition.[6] Menken believes that all properly structured musicals should feature an "I Want" song because they are essentially "about a character having a big dream, then [there's] some obstacle to that quest."[8] "Belle", the film's opening number, is an "orchestra-driven",[9] "snare-tapping" song. Accompanied by a full orchestra,[10] it is consideredBeauty and the Beast's "I Want" song.[11] Musically, Menken based "Belle" on the narrative style of a traditionaloperetta, describing it as "something to portrayBelle in a world that is so protected and safe." Menken described the film's following musical number, "Gaston", as a hilarious "drinking song sung by basically a group ofNeanderthal level guys in praise of a complete lug-head", referring to Ashman's choice of song lyrics as humorous and "tongue in cheek".[6]
When it came time to write the film's large-scale "scintillating"[12] musical number "Be Our Guest", Menken originally composed and provided Ashman with a simple melody that was initially intended for temporary use only, simply for the purpose of allowing his co-writer to start developing the song's lyrics. He labeled the rough composition "the dummy". However, Menken eventually gave up on his attempt to improve upon the song's simple melody, and it ultimately became the version to which Ashman wrote his lyrics.[6] Menken described "Be Our Guest" as a song that is both "simple and tuneful" that "let[s] the lyric shine."[13]
Originally, Ashman and Menken had written a rather lengthy, large-scale musical number for the film called "Human Again". However, when it was deemed "too ambitious", they swiftly wrote and replaced it with a smaller-scale musical number entitled "Something There".[6] According to Menken, the film'stheme and title song, "Beauty and the Beast", was "a very hard song to come by" despite its relative simplicity.[12][13] He revealed that the writing process for "Beauty and the Beast" was the longest period of time that he had ever devoted to one particular song. Written to resemble alullaby, Ashman and Menken conceived "Beauty and the Beast" as "a song that could have a life outside the movie." The film's final musical number, "The Mob Song", was written as what Menken described as "a macho adventure underscore".[6]
When the film was released, it garnered three separateAcademy Award nominations forBest Original Song for "Belle", "Be Our Guest" and "Beauty and the Beast". ProducerDon Hahn expressed concern that this would cause confusion among audiences and voters, and potentially result in an unfavorable tie. In order to prevent this from happening, the studio fought in favor of the film's title song and decided to release apop rendition of "Beauty and the Beast" as a commercial single in an attempt to persuade voters to vote for it.[14] When "Beauty and the Beast" was written, it was composed with the potential of having "half a life outside the movie."[5] Menken revealed that this was the first time one of his compositions had been rearranged and "turned into ear candy".[15]
Menken recruited musician Robbie Buchanan to arrange[16][17] "Beauty and the Beast" into the form of a pop duet[18] whileWalter Afanasieff was responsible for producing the track.[15][19][20] Afanasieff also assisted Buchanan in the arranging of the song.[21] Menken was ultimately pleased with Afanasieff's production, explaining, "Walter Afanasieff ... took it and really molded it into something very different than I ever intended and I grew to love it. In a way, Walter made it his own, and I love that."[15] Because Disney could not afford to hire a "big singer", they drafted Canadian singerCeline Dion, who was relatively new to the music industry at the time, to record "Beauty and the Beast". However, the studio feared that she would not draw much media attention because of her relative obscurity in the United States, so they hired American singerPeabo Bryson, who was a more well-known recording artist at the time, to perform alongside her.[11][14] The newly arranged song was released as the album's lead single on November 25, 1991.[10]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [22] |
| Filmtracks | [23] |
| Sputnikmusic | 4.5/5[24] |
Similar to the overwhelmingly positive critical response that the film received,Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrackwas met with universal acclaim from both music and film critics, garnering nearly unanimous praise for both its songs and score. Tavia Hobart ofAllMusic awarded the soundtrack a nearly perfect overall score of 4.5/5 stars, describing Ashman and Menken's compositions as "positively delightful." However, she felt that the album's orchestral score was not as good asThe Little Mermaid.Filmtracks was very enthusiastic about the album, praising each of its songs and labeling them "remarkably upbeat". The reviewer also praised Ashman and Menken for avoiding "stupid comedic performances to appeal to children." Unlike AllMusic's opinion, the reviewer felt that the score was "a vast improvement" overThe Little Mermaid's. Sputnikmusik's Irving Tan awarded the album a "superb" overall rating of 4.5/5. Praising the film's entire collection of songs in a detailed review, Tan accredited the overall appeal of the soundtrack with much the film's success.[9]
WhenBeauty and the Beast was released in November 1991, several film and entertainment critics awarded specific praise to its music, both songs and score.Entertainment Weekly'sLisa Schwarzbaum wrote, "The songs unleash a chemical reaction of happiness."[25]
The soundtrack became the first (and so far, the only) animated film to receive aGrammy nomination forAlbum of the Year. The pop version of the title track "Beauty and the Beast" also received Grammy nominations forRecord of the Year andSong of the Year. In total, the soundtrack won five Grammys forBest Album for Children andBest Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television for the soundtrack, andBest Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (Celine Dion &Peabo Bryson),Best Pop Instrumental Performance, andBest Song Written for Visual Media for "Beauty and the Beast".[26]
In the movie, track eight comes after track nine.
All lyrics are written byHoward Ashman; all music is composed byAlan Menken.
| No. | Title | Recording artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Prologue" (Score) (Includes narration byDavid Ogden Stiers) | 2:26 | |
| 2. | "Belle" ([A]) | Paige O'Hara,Richard White, Chorus | 5:09 |
| 3. | "Belle" (Reprise) | O'Hara | 1:05 |
| 4. | "Gaston" | Jesse Corti, White, Chorus | 3:40 |
| 5. | "Gaston" (Reprise) | Corti, White, Chorus | 2:04 |
| 6. | "Be Our Guest" ([A]) | Angela Lansbury,Jerry Orbach, Chorus | 3:44 |
| 7. | "Something There" | Lansbury, Stiers, Orbach, O'Hara,Robby Benson | 2:19 |
| 8. | "The Mob Song" | White, Chorus | 3:30 |
| 9. | "Beauty and the Beast" ([B]) | Lansbury | 2:46 |
| 10. | "To the Fair" (Score) | 1:58 | |
| 11. | "West Wing" (Score) | 3:42 | |
| 12. | "The Beast Lets Belle Go" (Score) | 2:22 | |
| 13. | "Battle on the Tower" (Score) | 5:29 | |
| 14. | "Transformation" (Score) | 5:47 | |
| 15. | "Beauty and the Beast" (Duet) ([B]) | Céline Dion &Peabo Bryson | 4:04 |
| Total length: | 50:12 | ||
| No. | Title | Recording artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16. | "Beauty and the Beast" ([C]) | Jordin Sparks | 3:14 |
| Total length: | 53:26 | ||
| No. | Title | Recording artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Prologue" (Score) (Narration by Stiers) | 2:26 | |
| 2. | "Belle" | O'Hara, White, Chorus | 5:09 |
| 3. | "Belle" (Reprise) | O'Hara | 1:05 |
| 4. | "Gaston" | Corti, White, Chorus | 3:40 |
| 5. | "Gaston" (Reprise) | Corti, White, Chorus | 2:04 |
| 6. | "Be Our Guest" | Lansbury, Orbach, Chorus | 3:44 |
| 7. | "Something There" | Lansbury, Stiers, Orbach, O'Hara, Benson | 2:19 |
| 8. | "Human Again" (Previously Unreleased) ([D]) | Lansbury, Stiers, Orbach,Jo Anne Worley, Chorus | 4:54 |
| 9. | "The Mob Song" | White, Chorus | 3:30 |
| 10. | "Beauty and the Beast" | Lansbury | 2:46 |
| 11. | "To the Fair" (Score) | 1:58 | |
| 12. | "West Wing" (Score) | 3:42 | |
| 13. | "The Beast Lets Belle Go" (Score) | 2:22 | |
| 14. | "Battle on the Tower" (Score) | 5:29 | |
| 15. | "Transformation" (Score) | 5:47 | |
| 16. | "Be Our Guest" (Demo) (Previously Unreleased) | Ashman | 3:29 |
| 17. | "Beauty and the Beast" (Work Tape & Demo) (Previously Unreleased) | Menken & Ashman | 3:58 |
| 18. | "Beauty and the Beast" | Dion & Bryson | 4:04 |
| 19. | "Death of the Beast" (Score) (Early Version) ([E]) | 1:29 | |
| Total length: | 1:04:43 | ||
| Chart (1991–2017) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] | 14 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[28] | 50 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[29] | 28 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[30] | 25 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[31] | 21 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[32] | 95 |
| USBillboard 200[33] | 19 |
| US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)[34] | 9 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[35] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[36] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| Germany (BVMI)[37] | Gold | 250,000‡ |
| Japan (RIAJ)[38] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[39] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[40] | Silver | 60,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[41] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Walt Disney Records released a two-disc soundtrack album ofBeauty and the Beast as part ofThe Legacy Collection.[42] It includes the complete score and earlydemos.
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