Album: Beauty And The Beast (1991)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, this is the operetta-style opening number of Beauty and the Beast, performed by our heroine Belle (Paige O'Hara) and the villainous Gaston (Richard White).
  • Ashman, who wouldn't live to see the film's release, nearly backed out of submitting this song to Disney. Menken told Entertainment Weekly: "The story behind this is that Howard Ashman was HIV-positive and wasn't telling anybody - he had been very quiet. And here we had written this crazy seven-minute opening number that was much more ambitious than anybody had asked for, and I remember his fear [about everything] in that moment. I remember Howard was very, very reluctant to send it out, thinking that we were going to be laughed at. He delayed sending it for two days. Finally, of course, we sent it, and Disney loved it. You didn't open an animated movie with a seven-minute number, but it redefined the form. We wanted to keep it very classical Mozart, very She Loves Me, with a quiet opening - 'Little town, it's a quiet village…' And then it explodes. 'Bonjour!'"
  • This was one of three songs from the film, including "Be Our Guest" and "Beauty and the Beast," nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Ultimately, the title number would take home the prize.
  • Disney executives insisted that Paige O'Hara perform this at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1992, even though the show's producers wanted pop stars to sing the nominated songs. She was given the option to lip-synch but chose to sing live.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"They're Playing My Song

Armed with a childhood spent devouring books, Mike Scott's heart was stolen by the punk rock scene of 1977. Not surprisingly, he would go on to become the most literate of rockers.

Vanessa Carlton

Vanessa CarltonSongwriter Interviews

The "A Thousand Miles" singer on what she thinks of her song being used in White Chicks and how she captured a song from a dream.

Women Who Rock

Women Who RockSong Writing

Evelyn McDonnell, editor of the book Women Who Rock, on why the Supremes are just as important as Bob Dylan.

Chris Frantz - "Genius of Love"

Chris Frantz - "Genius of Love"They're Playing My Song

Chris and his wife Tina were the rhythm section for Talking Heads when they formed The Tom Tom Club. "Genius of Love" was their blockbuster, but David Byrne only mentioned it once.

Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty

Rob Thomas of Matchbox TwentySongwriter Interviews

Rob Thomas on his Social Distance Sessions, co-starring with a camel, and his friendship with Carlos Santana.

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"They're Playing My Song

Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.