Music!
Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast © Disney 'I want adventure in the great wide somewhere...'

From the opening titles on, whose ominous and brooding score leads you into the story of the Prince become Beast, Beauty and the Beast is packed with great music and wonderful songs. They are the result of a productive musical partnership between two men who had more experience of writing for the stage than for animation...

A Songwriting Partnership

Howard Ashman and Alan Menken met and began their musical work together in 1979. It was to lead to acclaim with 'The Little Shop of Horrors - and a phone call from Disney in 1986. The two men were reunited to work on The Little Mermaid, but the demos for Beauty and the Beast - in which the whole story was practically laid out in song - confirmed that the animated musical was about to have a dramatic and successful comeback.

If you see the stage show version, Beauty and the Beast - A New Musical, you'll hear one song that, although originally written for the film but ditched due to time constraints, has since reappeared: Human Again.

Howard Ashman died of AIDS in 1991. A dedication in the closing credits of Beauty and the Beast reads:

'To our friend, Howard,
who gave a mermaid her voice
and a beast his soul,
we will be forever grateful.'

Soundtracks

Title Source Info. Total Time Track List
Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack		 Walt Disney Records / Pickwick Music (UK)

CD: DSTCD 458 (Pickwick - 1991)

 50:56 1. Prologue
2. Belle
3. Belle (Reprise)
4. Gaston
5. Gaston (Reprise)
6. Be Our Guest
7. Something There
8. The Mob Song
9. Beauty and the Beast
10. To The Fair
11. West Wing
12. The Beast Lets Belle Go
13. Battle On The Tower
14. Transformation
15. Beauty and the Beast (Duet)
Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast - A New Musical		 Walt Disney Records

CD: 60861-2 (1994)

 72:25 1. Prologue (The Enchantress)
2. Belle
3. No Matter What
4. No Matter What (Reprise) / Wolf Chase
5. Me
6. Belle (Reprise)
7. Home
8. Home (Reprise)
9. Gaston
10. Gaston (Reprise)
11. How Long Must This Go On?
12. Be Our Guest
13. If I Can't Love Her
14. Entr'acte / Wolf Chase
15. Something There
16. Human Again
17. Maison des Lunes
18. Beauty and the Beast
19. If I Can't Love Her (Reprise)
20. The Mob Song
21. The Battle
22. Transformation
23. Beauty and the Beast (Reprise)

'Music Behind The Magic'

There is a four-CD boxed collection of 'work in progress' and demo material that Alan Menken and Howard Ashman produced during the writing of songs and score for The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast.

I found this collection a fascinating insight. During demos, Howard Ashman sang the parts he had just written; elaborately, with humour and illustrating the way the song should come across. The demo of Belle, (complete with transition to the final version half-way through) is a perfect example. Also here are Human Again (ditched from the original film, resurrected in the stageshow), working versions of Angela Lansbury's (Mrs Potts) scene-setting love song Beauty and the Beast, with Ashman in the role; and two subtly different versions of the final Transformation of Beast.

A highly recommended collection!

Title Source Info. Total Time Track List
The Music Behind The Magic
The Music Behind The Magic		 Walt Disney Records

CD: 60014-7

 Not Known ATM 1. Belle (Demo/Final version))
2. Prologue (Final version)
3. Belle, Reprise (Demo)
4. Belle, Reprise (Final version)
5. Wolf Attack (Unreleased master)
6. Gaston (Demo)
7. Gaston (Final version)
8. Gaston, Reprise (Demo)
9. Be Our Guest (Demo)
10. Be Our Guest (Final version)
11. West Wing (Final version)
12. Human Again (Demo)
13. Something There (Final version)
14. The Mob Song (Final version)
15. Beauty and the Beast (Work tape)
16. Beauty and the Beast (Demo)
17. Beauty and the Beast (Final version)
18. The Beast Lets Belle Go (Final version)
19. Transformation #1 (Final version)
20. Transformation #2 (Final version)
21. Beauty and the Beast (Single)

Contents
Facts & Figures | Animators | Key Scenes: No Frames | Frames | Library | Music | A Test Of Animation
Voices | 'Hidden' References | More... | The Sequel

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