Just like many of you out there, I spent ‘way too much time over the past couple of days looking at the newly released Platinum Edition of Disney’s “Beauty & the Beast – Special Edition” DVD. All in all, I think that Buena Vista Home Entertainment did a wonderful job with their latest release … and yet …
Well, call me picky (Okay. You’re picky). But would it have killed these guys to have folded in a little footage from the aborted non-musical version of “B & B”? You know, the one that director Richard Purdum reportedly spent several months supervising over in London? Before then-Disney studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg shut the whole project down in the Fall of 1989 for radical revamping?
Or – better yet – how about showing us a story reel of the original prologue for the picture?
What’s that? You say that you don’t know anything about how “Beauty and the Beast” was originally supposed to have opened? The version that wasn’t just a series of stained glass windows but a fully animated sequence?
Well then … Pull up a chair, kids. For now it’s time to get a new take on “A Tale as Old as Time.” By that I mean, would “Beauty and the Beast” have been just as enjoyable for you if ithad started out like this …
The prologue started off as the opening for most Disney animated films that are based on classic fairy tales usually do: With a shot of an ornate storybook. The storybook opens to reveal an illustration of a shining white castle that looms over a lush green country side. An off-screen narrator says:
NARRATOR Once upon a Time … There lived a spoiled, self-centered little boy who would – one day – grow up to rule a kingdom …
The camera now pushes in on the palace and – as the illustration gives way to full animation – we see this eleven year old boy as he is being dressed and fussed over by a slew of harried servants. But the Prince is making it impossible for his staff to do its job. He’s sick and tired of getting all dressed up … sick and tired of being polite … sick and tired of boring old ceremonies.
As he’s being dressed, the Prince’s two loyal Regents try to explain to the boy that a wise old woman, a person who’s respected throughout all the land, is coming to pay him a visit. This wise woman once gave advice to his parents and is rumored to have magical powers.
PRINCE I don’t care! It’s my castle and I’m only going to do what I want!
Pushing the servants away, the boy races from the room.
PRINCE Just try and stop me!
The Prince then races outside into the courtyard – where he collides with a Beggar Woman who’s carrying a basket of flowers. Onlookers gasp as the boy accidentally knocks the old crone to the ground. Then the two Regents rush over and help the old woman to her feet.
The old Beggar Woman now levels her gaze at the boy. She’s a craggy old crone who has the wisdom of the ages in her eyes.
BEGGAR WOMAN I’m waiting for an apology.
Surprised that a commoner would dare to say such a thing to a royal, the boy laughs.
PRINCE You can wait all day.
BEGGAR WOMAN You’re not going to apologize?
The Prince crosses his arms.
PRINCE I don’t have to.
The Beggar Woman smiles patiently.
BEGGAR WOMAN I’ll give you one more chance.
The boy’s temper flares.
PRINCE Why should I say I’m sorry to some old beggar woman? I don’t care about you!
The Prince now angrily kicks the old Beggar Woman’s basket, scattering her flowers across the courtyard.
Fierce power now emanates from the eyes of the old Beggar Woman, as she gazes deeply into the Prince’s soul.
BEGGAR WOMAN I can see that … you care for nothing … you love no one but yourself ..
PRINCE (arrogantly) Why should I?
The old Beggar Woman shakes her head.
BEGGAR WOMAN Then you are no better than a beast …
The old Beggar Woman now raises her arms. The Prince gasps as the crone begins to glow with magic and power. His eyes grow wide and he bolts back into the castle.
The boy flees past his two Regents, who now – as they step in front of the Beggar Woman – attempt to apologize for the Prince’s impetuous behavior.
REGENT 1 Forgive him! He’s just a child!
BEGGAR WOMAN A child in need of a lesson.
The two Regents now try to stop the crone from entering the castle.
REGENT 2 Please! We can’t let you harm him!
BEGGAR WOMAN I warn you not to interfere.
The two Regents still attempt to block the Beggar Woman’s way. With a wave of her arm, the crone turns the two men into enchanted objects: a mantle clock and a candleabra.
The Beggar Woman now enters the castle, continuing after the fleeing boy, transforming any and all who dare to get in her way.
The frightened Prince races through the castle, looking over his shoulder as he flees. Eventually, he reaches the safety of his own room. The terrified boy attempts to bar the way by shoving furniture against the door, then cowers in a corner.
Moments later, the Beggar Woman appears in front of him. The Prince hides behind a chair.
BEGGAR WOMAN Since you are no better than a beast, then you deserve to look like one.
With a wave of her hand, the Prince is turned into a hideous creature: half-boy, half-beast.
BEGGAR WOMAN And you will remain a prisoner in this enchanted place with no human company.
The Beggar Woman now takes a single red Rose from her basket. The flower then begins to glow with enchantment.
BEGGAR WOMAN This Rose will bloom until your twenty-first birthday. If you can learn to love another and earn their love in return by the time the Rose withers … then the spell will be broken. If not, you will be doomed to remain a beast forever.
The Beggar Woman places the enchanted Rose in an empty vase on the table.
BEGGAR WOMAN I leave you with that … and a gift.
The Beggar Woman again reaches into her basket. This time, she produces an ornate, golden Mirror. The old crone places it on the table next to the Rose.
BEGGAR WOMAN This enchanted Mirror will show you any part of the wide world that you wish to see. Look well … for it’s a world you can no longer be part of.
And – in a flash of mystical light – the old Beggar Woman is gone.
The beastly Prince now races desperately through the castle … Up to the highest tower. From there, he spies the old Beggar Woman walking away from his palace. Disappearing into the deep, enchanted mist that’s now engulfing the castle.
PRINCE I’m sorry! Please! … Come back! I’m sorry!
The camera pulls back – away from the Prince as he continues to shout down at the crone from his tower – and the palace is swallowed up by the mist …
Pretty cool, huh? Now, before Disney’s lawyers descend on JimHillMedia.com with their nasty little briefcases, let me point out that the above is just an approximation of what the original prologue of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” was supposed to have been like. (Where did I get all of my info? Well, I’m lucky enough to have a few friends at Disney Feature Animation who once showed me what the storyboards for this proposed prologue for this picture looked like. Over the past 10 years, I’ve also had access to the first draft of the Ashman / Menken redo of “B & B” – dated 6/14/90 – as well as the second draft of Linda Woolverton’s screenplay – dated 6/29/90. The recreated dialogue used here is a melding of what I remember from reading those two versions of the script.)
So why did Disney not to open “Beauty and the Beast” in this manner? Admittedly, there are some great dramatic moments in this version of the opening of the movie (I particularly like the idea of getting to see Lumiere & Cogsworth – in a valiant attempt to protect their lord & master – block the way of the old beggar woman. Only to have the loyal servants then be transformed into a mantle clock and a candlelabra. And that scene between the arrogant young boy & the ugly old crone out in the courtyard isn’t half bad either). But – beyond that …
Oh, let’s be honest here, folks. The middle part of this proposed prologue for the picture (Where the old crone is spelling out the exact way her curse works. What the Mirror does. What the Rose signifies. Blah blah blah) gets real talky. “B & B”‘s screenwriter Linda Woolverton tries to cram a fairly large chunk of exposition down the audience’s throat in a small amount of time. Which is – perhaps – why we all had trouble swallowing this particular section of the sequence.
Still, as originally written, “Beauty and the Beast”‘s prologue did end really strongly. With the anguished Prince in the highest tower of the Castle, yelling down at the crone. Begging for the old Beggar Woman’s forgiveness as she walks off into the fog.
What’s particularly interesting is – after this point in the script – the screenplay indicates that the film’s title was to have appeared (albeit briefly): Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” rising up out of the mist. Then – as the title and the mist faded away – we’re outside Belle’s village. We see Belle and Maurice’s cottage in the distance. As the music rises, Belle steps out of her front door on a crisp fall morning and …
The film picks up right where it does today. With Belle, Gaston, Lefou and the villagers singing “Belle.”
So why did “B & B” directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale ultimately decide to ditch Woolverton’s proposed prologue for “Beauty and the Beast”? Opting instead to go with the stain glass window version of the opening that the film has now? Two words (that almost every animator has heard ‘way too often): “Cheaper” & “Faster.”
If Wise & Trousdale had gone forward with Linda’s prologue as originally written, that would have translated out to an additional five or six minutes of screen-time. And – back in the late 1980s/ early 1990s – it was reportedly costing Walt Disney Feature Animation over $100,000 to produce a minute of finished animation. So – by cutting out this one sequence – Disney could shave over a half million dollars off of “B & B”‘s production costs.
But – more to the point – by putting together a shorter, more cost effective opening for “Beauty and the Beast,” Kirk & Gary could get their film underway that much faster. So Linda’s five to six minute prologue was dropped in favor of a 2 ½ minute long opening sequence that elegantly & concisely laid out all of the film’s necessary exposition. (Of course, it should be noted here that Wise & Trousdale spent months massaging the exact wording of the film’s opening narration. In fact, they supposedly continued to refine the wording right up until late September 1989 – just six weeks before “B & B” was due to hit theaters nationwide. All in an effort to get the wording of the film’s opening narration just right.)
Which is how we all ended up with the opening sequence that you can see today on your DVD or Home Video version of the Plantium Edition of Walt Disney Pictures’ “Beauty and the Beast.” Rather than the one I recreated earlier.
Of course, some of you might now be saying “But, Jim … That B & B opening sequence seems awfully familiar to me. I just know that I’ve seen or heard something similar to that before.” Well, that’s because you’ve probably seen the 1997 direct-to-video sequel to “Beauty and the Beast,” “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas.”
While they were getting ready to write this “B & B” sequel, “The Enchanted Christmas”‘s writers (Flip Kobler & Cindy Marcus and Bill Motz & Bob Roth) unearthed Linda Woolverton’s original screenplay for the movie. Why? Because they were hoping that they might find a few unused ideas that they might be able to fold into their direct-to-video project. Which is why the teleplay team also went over to WDFA’s Reference Library and dug out all of “Beauty and The Beast”‘s old storyboards … which is where they found all of the visualization work that had been done on the picture’s proposed prologue sequence.
Liking what they saw, Kobler, Marcus, Motz & Roth took the basic idea behind Woolverton’s prologue for “Beauty and the Beast” and bent the sequence a bit. So that it now fit into the storyline that Flip, Cindy, Bill and Bob had mapped out for “Enchanted Christmas.”
So – in this new version of “B & B”‘s original opening scene – the old Beggar Woman now shows up at the Prince’s castle on Christmas Eve. The arrogant young boy has just rejected a gift that his loyal staff has given him (A storybook, if I’m remembering correctly).
There’s then a knock at the front door of the palace. The Prince opens the door to find an old beggar woman, who ” … offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the Prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away …”
The rest of the story … I’m sure you know by heart. But what is kind of cool about this sequence in “The Enchanted Christmas” is you actually do get to see Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and Chip get turned into enchanted objects.
As for the rest of this direct-to-video sequel to “Beauty & the Beast” … Well, it has its moments. But nothing that’s as strong as this little leftover piece of “B & B”‘s original prologue.
Your thoughts?